We had sunny blue skies all day but a 10-20 mph headwind from the west made a long and mostly uphill ride to Frisco a very long, hard day. We left Evergreen at 8:15AM and checked into our hotel at 8:15PM. But we made it, at times facing down our doubts and challenges but we made it.
After rideing west on US 40 for the first 10 miles or so we now jump onto dirt or paved trails along I-70 that will take us to Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Dumont and Bakersville before we make our assault on Loveland Pass.
Did I mention we had strong headwinds today? It made grinding up the climbs more challenging plus the wind takes a toll on your mental state when it’s so relentless, always tugging at you or pushing you back.
In Dumont around 11 we shared our old standby pick-me-up, a giant mocha Frapaccino, this one was a triple mocha! Ahhhhh.
Around noon we are entering Georgetown where we’ll split a Subway sandwich and some Vitamin Water to recharge our furnaces, hopefully with something mild but healthy that won’t disagree with us on the rest of the hard ride.
Georgetown Lake is beautiful in the summer. In the winter they drive cars on it.
Clear Creek is our constant companion on our route today until we make a turn on US 6 to go over Loveland Pass.
There’s about a 5 mile stretch of I-70 after Bakersville where there aren’t any side roads any more. To get to the Loveland Ski Area and then onto US 6 Colorado state and the county have built this nice trail so cyclist don’t have to ride on the interstate. Unfortunately it was along this stretch where I had a severe crisis of my lower intestinal track. My sincerest apologies to the bears, elk, deer, racoons and other fauna that live in the area for what I had to do in their forest. ☹️
OMG, when will this climb end? It’s almost 4PM, the sun is lowering in the western sky and we’re still on the wrong side of the Continental Divide. Embarrassing and fatalist thoughts of trying to hitch a ride to the top have crossed our minds the whole afternoon.
About a half mile up the beginning of the pass Angela stops to catch her breath in the thinning air. It’s never a good sign when Angela puts her hands on her hips in moments like this!!
We keep on trucking slowly up the pass stopping occasionally to catch our breath. Nearing the top we get a nice view back down the mountain to I-70 and the switch backs on US 6 that have got us to this point, We are well above the tree line now and nearing the 12,000 foot summit.
Tadahh!! We made it!! It’s 5:30 now and we still have 20 more miles to get to our hotel but at least it’s mostly downhill for a change! Time to get our cold weather gear on and get a quick photo then dash off to enjoy the steep decent for the next 8 miles or so past Arapahoe Basin and Keystone ski areas.
We knew that once we checked into our motel for the night based on the late hour and our tiredness it would be hard to go back out for dinner so we grabbed some sandwiches and chili at Wendy’s and then finally made it to our home away from home for the night, The Snowshoe Motel in the heart of Frisco.
And for those that like graphs this was our elevation profile for the day. Tomorrow we head up over Vail Pass on our way to Eagle, CO for our next nights stay.
Sounds like a brutal day. I'm glad you were successful. Keep on trucking on your Long Haul Trucker! By the way, have either of your bikes needed any repairs with all of the touring / riding that you've been doing. Hopefully Angela's bottom bracket replacement at James' Local Bike Shop in 2016 is all that you've needed.
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