Idaho City to Boise

This morning started late for most of the team, but early for Aaron, Dan, and I. Aaron had lost his phone yesterday so we woke early and drove 20 miles back so that Aaron and Dan could re-trace the ride to try and find his phone. When I returned to the church, it was already time for route meeting, so we hurried on out of the church. 

It was a short ride, so I set up lunch only 25 miles in, at the top of the only climb, at a store where the sign read "it's all downhill from here."  As many stopped along the route to swim and play, I had ample time to chill in the shade and play guitar. After lunch, I dropped the trailer at showers (as we couldn't go to our host until later) and ran so many errands. Halfway through errands I realized I never ate lunch, so I may have had a small mental breakdown and then devoured some French fries.  I then rode with Jay to pick up dinner donations and meet up with the Portland 4k route for dinner. Again, it was kind of neat to meet another team and see what differences we have and what we have in common. 

Moved trailer to church. Talked to Natalie on the telephone. Went to some bar with a lot of the team. Ended up watching highlights from the tour and having Dan educate me whilst there. Turned in early because we had some big plans for our day off. 

Day off: We woke up early for a day off to hop in the van and drive just outside of Boise for ...skydiving. Jay has had this dream of skydiving during bike & build since his first route in 2011, and so 13 of us joined him in the act of jumping out of a plane. It was crazy. I was scared. The pilot flipped the plane while I was in it, which only made me more scared. Then we jumped, free fell for 40 seconds, and then floated down to the ground. 'Twas crazy. 

After skydiving, I realized how incredibly dehydrated I was. We went to breakfast and ate a ton, I drank 6 glasses of water, and then napped for 2 hours upon returning to host. Showered. Wrote post cards. Had dinner with the team at the nicest local family's home who had met some of our riders the day before and invited us all over. 'Twas dandy. Went on a walk with Em and returned to host just in time to, again, fall asleep outside until I was woken and told to go in. 

Tomorrow we cross our final state line. Not ok. 

Stanley to Idaho City

We woke up to frost over everything, frozen water, and no one wanted to move. We packed up our tents and were too frozen to eat the food we had in the trailer, so our entire team ate breakfast at a cute lil place just down the hill. After we were all fully satisfied, we shed our layers and layers of jackets and hit the road. The first 10 miles were freezing, then when it finally warmed up, my chain started skipping gears and we had to stop to play with my derailleur tension. Sam and Albrecht both tried to fix it, but I felt super smart when I finally got it workin right. At mile 25 we started going downhill, and it seemed like the downhill would never stop. 

It stopped. We finally hit a 10 mile( ish) climb after 56 miles, and it was rough (but wonderful). Sam and KK rode ahead and Albrecht and I took our time up the mountain. Throughout the ride, the road curved around so you could see what you had just done. It was really cool. 

We met Sam and KK at the top and rode down to second lunch before the second climb. The second climb wasn't nearly as bad except there were constantly bees all around my bike. Once we reached the top of that climb, it was all downhill to host. Glorious.

Got into town. Went to te grocery. Made a Twinkie cake for Jays birthday. Celebrated. Printed/copied cue sheets. Hoorah. 

Challis to Stanley

I woke up in the very chilly Challis ID , ate breakfast, played with my bike, and then asked Hannah if I could ride with her. I haven't really ridden with Hannah since the first week because she is a boss and rides really fast. Having felt like I got my legs back recently though, I thought I might not hold her up too much. Everyone stopped at a local coffee shop on the way out of town to warm up (Idaho is cold in the mornings). And then we were off with Soko and Dan joining us. 

We kept a really good pace all the way to lunch despite Hannah getting a flat. Took a brief nap at lunch and hit the road again. About 13 miles from the host we stopped at some hot springs, which was pretty cool and extremely hot if you stepped in the wrong place. 

Eventually we hopped back on bikes, made it to Stanley, drank coffee at a local store while Dan bought warmer clothes for the coming weather, and set up camp and a nearby park (playground park, not camping park). 

After cooking dinner, we went to a nearby lake (Red Fish Lake) and hung out on the beach as the sun set. Came back just in time to sleep...though halfway through the night I had to move from hammock to tent because it was so incredibly cold. Yay for sleeping bags. 

Arco to Challis

Sweeeeeep. 

Today I swept with Ashton. It was both of our last sweep day of the summer and we spent ample time talking about how close we were to the end of the trip. Then we got over it and kept riding. 

It was a really great ride, but it was super windy. Around mile 26 we hopped in with a group so that the wind wouldn't be so bad, but that only lasted a few miles before we ran into someone with some flats. When we got to lunch, several folks were nappin, so I curled up under the table for shade and we waited an hour and a half for nippers to wake. Luckily, they let us ride with them for the rest of the day. Right after lunch, there was a mountain, and I was afraid that we had lost that group and would have to fight winds all day, but when we rounded the corner and saw the top, they were all there and my heart melted. 

Lots of downhill until the very end where we did 5.5 miles uphill to the ranch where we would be staying. 

Super nice ranch with BEDS where they provided burgers n such for dinner. I fell asleep at 8:45 in a hammock and woke up at 11 long enough to grab my sleeping bag (it was super cold). So much for beds. 

Idaho Falls to Arco

Very calm van day. Drove 38 miles to lunch stop. Played guitar, wrote some music, took a nap, hung out with riders. Desert everywhere. Mountains in the distance. Got in really early and took another nap after reading about two pages. Spaghetti and birthday cake for dinner (Joey's 25!)

After dinner, Jay and I tag teamed shuttling folks out to Craters of the Moon to look at a bunch of rocks from lava. I don't understand geology, but I know it was cool. Also, the stars were beautiful and we listened to good music. 

By the time I got in, some folks had layed down outside to keep looking at the stars. I put my thermarest down and ended up sleeping outside. 'Twas glorious. 

Jackson WY to Idaho Falls ID and build days

I don't think words could accurately depict how good today was. We started the day an hour early as it was a 90 mile day through two passes. Em and I each had our own headphone dance party in the parking lot, Sunny and I tagged on to a group for the first few miles, and then we were on our own. It took a good bit of time for just the first 12 miles because that was the bulk of our climbing for the day. There was a bike path that led up Teton Pass that had beautiful views of the city, and then we got to go downhill for miles at 10% grade through the state line. It was awesome. After lunch, we knew we had one more pass, so we were quick to get back on the road. Soon, we reached the top and didn't believe there wasn't more climbing. 'Twas a nice surprise. Hit a lot of wind for the last 20 miles, but it was still a great ride. 

The next two days we worked with habitat on a house that needed some painting and landscaping. The first day was a bit weird for me because I had to run a bunch of errands for the van or to call hosts and whatnot, so even though I was working I felt like I was slacking off by not being at the build site. Even after the build, I continued working well into the night and got a chance to chat on the phone with a good friend. On day 2 I was pumped to get to the build site, and spent all day painting trim on a ladder and washing tons of brushes. 33 people can get a lot done really fast. Afterward, several of us went to the falls after visiting a coffee shop. Had town hall. Played guitar. Fell asleep outside until I was woken to move inside. All in all, a good build day. 

Pinedale to Jackson

I never thought that I would refer to a 77 mile day as a restful day, but that's exactly what today was.  After 101 miles with strong headwinds, the fairly downhill ride into Jackson felt like a breeze. We woke an hour early to pancakes and sausage made by some wonderful early risers. After listening to Jackson by Johnny Cash an ample number of times fully aware that he was not singing of Wyoming, I headed off with Christine, Prechter, and Em completely bundled up (riding in flannel for the first time). Not even 10 miles in we were pulled over by local law enforcement for yet another "stay in the shoulder" speech. We kept riding, hit some baby hills and cursed Jay for telling us it was all downhill (always a lie). 

We soon joined up with Alex, Blake, and Ashton for an awesome descent to an extremely early lunch.  Followed the river through the forest mostly downhill all the way to Jackson. Just outside of town, we saw a familiar van next to the bike path we were riding on. Christine used to work for a company called Backroads, and they had an office just next to this bike path. We stopped in and I got to watch Christine light up as she ran into folks she knew from her olden days. It was refreshing to see her light up this way. 

We got into town super early, so I had so much time to do some much needed things. I drank coffee, called my parents, went to a brewery and a bike shop with Dan, did some logistical work, FaceTimed my friend Molly, drank more coffee (and water), did more logistical work, and walked back just in time for bed. 

I've been kind of bogged down by my logistical to do list and by some other relational frustrations and by the end of today the weight was so much lighter. Good times. Great oldies. Peace. 

Rock Springs to Pinedale

Today I rode out with Borch and many others, but ended up spending the majority of the day with just Borch. Exciting times as today was Borch's first century as she's been fighting injury for the first half of the trip. I was pumped to see her finish this, especially to see the drastic changes between the Borch I rode with in Ohio and the Borch of today. Huge difference. 

For the first 40 miles, it felt like we were flying through rolling baby hills in the perfect temperature weather. Traffic was pretty scary, especially when we learned that another cyclist had been hit last week on this same road. 

We hit first lunch in no time at a stellar ice cream joint. As soon as we left, the winds picked up and it suddenly felt like we were pedaling through sand. Super frustrating and it slowed us to about half of our speed from the morning. 10 miles from 2nd lunch I fell asleep on the side of the road during a stop that was not intended to be a nap, but Borch was enjoying the time off the bike so I never woke up (for a solid 20 minutes). Woke up to the sound of a semi whizzing by and got back on the road to lunch. 

After lunch, we added Dan to our rag tag group. He had spent ample time at lunch fixing his first flat of the trip, taking a nap, and journaling. On rough days recently, he's made a point to stick around to check in before heading out.  Today I had the lowest expectations of him still being at lunch because of the huge gap between his group and ours. 'Twas a pleasant surprise. 

10 miles out we picked up one more rider who had apparently been riding alone all day. We ended up getting to host right around 6:20 where there were tons of snacks, and where we learned showers were closing at 7. We sprinted over while the remaining groups on the road biked directly to showers and somehow everyone still got clean. Yippee. 

After a great dinner of burgers and grilled corn, a few of us explored the town and found some live music and a local bar. This town was a lot more lively than we had expected for a town with 2000ish population and the motto "all the civilization you need." 

Fell asleep super early so se can wake super early. 

Flaming Gorge UT to Rock Springs WY

I woke up this morning to Dan diving into my hammock with a girl's voice telling me I'd overslept. Somehow, I still made it in time for bins out and had ample time to clean my bike (a huge pro to van days). I was originally bummed to be in the van on a day with such cool descents, but today turned out to be my favorite van day (surprised that that's a thing) of all time. 

Only 3 miles in, after the first hill, I saw a line of almost all of our bikes by a bridge. I stopped and walked under the bridge to find our whole team cliff jumping at 8:45 in the morning. Originally, I planned on just hanging out and enjoying the fun since I had sworn off cliff jumping 4 years ago, but eventually peer pressure got to me. After hanging out with sweep in the sun to dry off, I eventually headed onward to the Wyoming state line. 

The views throughout the entire day were gorgeous as we headed through the "little mountains" of Wyoming, which actually weren't so little. Blake and Albrecht skipped swimming , so I didn't catch them until mile 21 at the top of a huge climb. Naturally, I pulled over, turned really loud music on, and danced at the top as they arrived. 'Twas a blast. Then I found a solid lunch spot 10 miles later where there was nothing but views for days. Played guitar with Blake and Albrecht as we awaited any other groups. Watched everyone bomb in from a nice downhill with huge smiles on their faces. Happy days. 

I turned on some bumpin music for the remainder of the trip to host, dropped trailer, took water back to the last groups, played drums on the water cooler waiting for sweep, and ran some errands. 

We had the most wonderful dinner, and then went out to run (more) errands. Whilst errand-ing, we missed a text from Jay asking for a milkshake before a certain local shake place closed, so we went back to a grocer to pick up some ice cream and made the most wonderful shakes that ever existed to surprise Jay. 

Jay and Dan had very different days from mine, so it was interesting to talk about all the different things that had happened in the day and how many different things our one team experienced.  We layed in the parking lot for a long while, eventually started talking about Cannon Beach, and realized that meant it was time for bed. 

101 miles tomorrow. Hoping to see some Dalmatians. 

Vernal to Flaming Gorge

Today was only 40 miles, but was predominately climbing. The difference between Colorado and Utah was extremely apparent in the colors that surrounded us. Where Colorado was lively and green, Utah is red and brown everywhere. There were signs up throughout the ride explaining the history of the rock formations and weathering...and also dinosaurs. It may have been the DayQuil, but after the signs explained which Dinos hunted and hung out at different places I could have sworn there were dinosaurs. (Don't worry. I'm fine). 

We got to our campsite rather early and hung out with some alums who were also camping at Flaming Gorge. Hammocked. Had dinner with the alums. And then (day highlight), we went to Red Canyon just before sunset. Pictures can do no justice, and rarely have I been so aware of how small I am, but I still attempted to document the momentous occasion. 

We got back around 9:45 and I hopped into my hammock for an early bedtime accompanied by a healthy dose of NyQuil. (Though I woke to Dan climbing to his hammock stacked above mine about an hour later). 

Epic descents tomorrow (accompanied by climbs and a state line). 

Maybell CO to Vernal UT

We woke early this morning to break down our campsite and in excitement to meet up with another route toward the end of the day. 

Knowing the energy that I had yesterday, I hopped in a group with Dan & Albrecht hoping to get some good riding in. About 4 hills in, I was beat (partially because I kept sprinting up the hills thinking they would eventually end).  We lost Albrecht to the joy of napping at first lunch and headed on. Sometime between first and second lunch, my brakes started rubbing and I had no idea and nearly broke down because I didn't understand why everything felt so hard. Finally, Dan pointed it out to me and we got moving just in time for another flat. Yippee. 

We got to second lunch in a town called Dinosaur where we met up with the SC2SC route. It was cool to see 60ish of us in one place, but also extremely overwhelming when all I wanted was food, sleep, and to never move my legs again. 

I forgot to eat at second lunch, and then we headed on to the Utah state line on a pretty solid downhill. Dan found the perfect tumbleweed. 

About 10 miles from host (about 80 miles into the day) I started crashing hard, but refused to admit it or stop. I yelled at Dan (with the small amount of voice I have), I slowed down to about half the pace we had been going, and tried to force myself to drink water but learned that I'm a terrible salesman. It was kind of embarrassing because a group of riders from the other team passed us and I couldn't make myself say anything and I was going so, freaking, slow. But they shouted encouraging words and seemed to know what was up (even though they had about 19 more miles than us today). I love Bike & Build.  I then played a game with myself to not lose sight of the other folks' safety triangles. I kept it up until the last mile, where they may have turned off. We then rode through sprinklers, silently admired all the dinosaur themed stuff in the town, and pulled into the host. I didn't even make it all the way to the parking lot before I layed down in the shade, half cuddling my bicycle, and fell asleep in the driveway. 

Eventually I made it inside to a sweet package from my mom, a shower, and a bunch of pizza.  After napping, eating, cold medicine and slurpee retrieval, we headed out to fraternize with the riders on the other route in town. We played them in pool and lost, compared leader stories with their leaders, and had an overall good time. 

Came back, ate more, took NyQuil, slept. Tomorrow's only 40 miles, but apparently we have somewhere near 4000 feet of climbing. I might die. 

Peace, love, and DayQuil y'all. 

Steamboat Springs to Maybell

Today was our last day in CO , and our first night of camping. Only about 15 miles into our ride, the landscape started to look vastly different and Utah-ish. I rode with Sunny all day, and Connor for part of the day. Throughout the trip, I've seen a lot of folks get several flats, and been happy not to be part of that club, but today that changed too. Riding in a pretty grimey shoulder, I got two flats within 15 miles of each other. Due to my good luck in the past, I've only been carrying one tube on me, so luckily Sunny was there to rescue me with a spare tube and Topeak Roadmorph pump. Woot. 

We got to lunch rather early in the day in the beautiful town of Craig. Many folks had gone out and gotten an assortment of foods donated for dinner. Then we all headed to a local book/coffee shop. Whilst there, the woman working mentioned that the owner was on his way to meet us. Turns out that the owner is also the mayor, and an avid cyclist. He talked about our route with us and chatted for a while before heading out. It's always really neat when random stuff like this happens in small towns we go to. 

When we left, we had been told to go to the newspaper. As we were pulling out, my toe clipped my tire and, again, I fell. Hard. Onto the same knee I previously fell on. Though it was slightly less scary, it was super painful, and we accomplished the feat of first roadside tears. Jay and Sunny sat with me while I sprayed water on my new/old scrape and while I waited to see if my knee would be shot for the rest of the day again. 

Luckily, it wasn't too hard to ride on, so Sunny and I ventured on into the rolling hills out of Craig. Went for a little swim. Stopped at a general store that was literally 1 street over from our campsite, and then got ready to camp while trying to defeat a giant swarm of Mosquitos. 

A huge storm was blowing in and winds were knocking over our tents left and right. Eventually, the winds died down and we had a fire where s'mores were created and eaten. I soon fell asleep in a hammock (my favorite place to sleep). 

Day Off: Steamboat Springs

Throughout the summer, we get three days off. After yesterday, a day off in Steamboat was perfectly timed. After a late night, we slept in until a late 8am. Many folks woke up at 5 to see hot air balloons go off, but I was happy to settle with resting. A group of us then went to breakfast and meandered around town. 

After breakfast, a bunch of folks headed to Fish Creek Falls for some hiking and such. I ended up spending more time climbing around the falls than hiking, followed by some hammocking and reading (surprisingly, I'm trying to make time to read a pretty stellar book). 

While I was laying on a rock near the falls, I realized how tiny my arms had gotten. Random realizations, but these led to random deep thoughts about strength and what that really is and what the purpose of it is. I haven't used my arms much at all on this trip, and suddenly, it seems like they've disappeared. End random rant. 

After the park: napped, shuttled to hot springs, ran errands and got work done, and then had dinner at one of our rider's family friend's home. 

It may sound like not much was done in this day off, but it was super refreshing to get to rest as much as I did. There's been a cold or plague or something running through our team for the last month and I thought I had beat it...but it turns out I'm not immune to that. 

Here's to days of Emergen-C, Zicam, and Zinc. 

Kremmling to Steamboat Springs

This morning was a rather chilly one in Kremmling.  After over sleeping and missing what I heard was an incredible sunrise hike, I coped by asking Blake to ride with me.  I had started Trail Ridge day with Blake's group, but the day slowly turned into an every man for themself kind of day, so this day was perfect to catch back up...or so I thought.

The rolling hills/mountains were beautiful, and there is no doubt in my mind that I will end up back in CO one day.  We rode on a fairly curvy, well trafficked road, but were still able to have lots of conversation throughout the day.  At mile 16 I looked down at my odometer and couldn't believe that we had been riding that long (as in, it felt like we had only gone about 5 miles).

At mile 22ish, I realized many things: 

1. I am not invincible. 

2. Blake is freaking amazing.

3. Shoulders don't last forever.

4. I don't always know that I'm hurt until much later.

Scenario:
We had just rounded a corner on a fairly busy road and were going uphill at a moderate pace when the shoulder of the road kind of cut off into some mud.  My front tire got caught in the mud, my bike fell away from the road, and I fell into the road.  Several cars were coming around the corner and somehow Blake hopped off his bike and grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the road.  The car behind us barely missed hitting my bike, which was further out of the road than my body had been before Blake pulled me to the grass.  At the time, I was so confused about what had happened that I didn't really process it, but looking back it was a pretty scary situation (and I may have had several bad dreams about how that could have played out since then).

We hung out on the side of the road to clean my bloody knee off, and then looked to fix my chain and brake on my bike.  After fixing the chain, I reached down to grab my brake and saw that my had was covered in blood as well.  I really hadn't noticed any pain and couldn't find the cut until we doused my hand in water.  Apparently, somewhere in the fall I had sliced part of the tip of my middle finger. Luckily, Blake carries the essentials (toilet paper and hockey tape) with him.  We covered it up and headed on to lunch where I would yell and be an overall child about cleaning it with alcohol (kind of a necessity as it was covered in dirt and chain grease).

After lunch, Blake and I had only gone about 2.5 miles up a hill when a new pain set in.  While I've gotten kind of used to riding with a bum right leg, my left leg had yet to quit on me.  Something must have happened in the fall, because a shooting pain went down the front of my knee through my shin with each pedal stroke.  (It's gotten a tad better since then, but it felt like I was getting shot every few seconds).  Blake convinced me to stop pushing it too far, and I had to van...again.  I may have thrown my helmet out of anger.  I was pumped about a good day for my right leg, and then this random fall happened and messed with me even more.

Dan picked me up and we sang along with a really bad CD in the van.  We got to Steamboat, I got my bike checked out and went to mass. Then everyone ventured to explore. As great as donated fast food is, Dan and I have both been dreaming of steak or real food for a bit, so we ventured into the real world and had a real world night of good food, drinks, and chillin by the river. We even saw some surprise fireworks! 

Free day tomorrow. Resttttttt. 

Granby to Kremmling

 Today started in one of the best ways possible. Jay, Dan, and I woke up at 4ish to go adventuring. Since yesterday was Jay's van day, he missed one of my favorite rides of the trip. At the end of the day he started joking about being dropped off at the beginning of yesterday's route and doubling up. The joke soon became a reality and then, out of nowhere, the three of us were driving in the early morning dark through Rocky Mountain National Park. And then, the sun rose in Rocky Mountain National Park. And then we got emotional in Rocky Mountain National Park. 

As we rounded the top of the mountain and saw one of the most amazing sunrise views, I realized how ridiculously fast these guys have become my family. A lot of this team is aware that I'm careful with the word "friend" or worse, "best friend." And as we were headed back toward Estes Park for Jay, I mentioned how crazy it was that I got to watch the sun rise in the most beautiful place with two of my best friends. It was like catching a little kid cursing for the first time, and they caught it, but I meant it. I sincerely doubt I would have survived these rides or this entire experience without these fellas. I got tiny shivers, but it was cold so maybe that's why. Whatever. 

I dropped the guys at the entrance and drove the two hours back to host trying to beat the clock and be able to move the trailer before bins out (basically, when the riders have to pack the trailer in the morning). I got stuck behind elk and was 15 minutes late, but I was happy to hang out with the elk and just sit and know there was nothing I could do to be there faster or work better, so I just sat for 10 minutes staring at the elk and breathing. 'Twas nice. 

To be absolutely honest, it was hard to return to a normal ride day after the 4 hours of early morning I had just experienced.  My head was in a completely different place than all of the folks I was with, and I was already scheming ways to surprise Dan & Jay toward the end of their ride. A few riders shared in my excitement, but soon they were on the road, and I in the van alone.  Drive highlight: there was a really cool canyon at mile 12, I may have turned around to drive through it twice. 

As the shortest day of our whole trip, we were all at host fairly early. Many went hiking, some exploring the surprisingly vibrant community of Kremmling, and I hopped on my bike and headed back to find Dan and Jay as they couldn't be too far off.  I was hoping to meet them at the canyon, but they're amazing beasts and had already passed it by the time I reached them. Apparently they were kind of tired from the long day, so I pulled for the last 6 miles. I thought I had accidentally slowed them down, but later learned that they had been slow movin toward the end. 'Twas reassuring after a few painful days to feel like I could contribute in a way that felt worth it.  When we approached the turn for the host, I made Jay pass so that he could victoriously enter with Dan.  It was still early afternoon, so I continued on riding and exploring until I had done almost as many miles as the actual ride today. Just as I was finishing up, a storm rolled in. 

I showered. I napped. Ate some chili prepared by dinna crew. Ventured to a local saloon in the pouring rain. Had the best night of sleep yet. 

Estes Park to Granby

I started the day knowing that I wouldn't finish the day on a bike. It's been frustrating to enter into climbing days thinking I can't ride like I want to. 

I was wrong. 

The ride through Rocky Mountain National Park into Granby quickly became my favorite ride.  When we entered the park, a ranger told us some scary things about a storm we had to beat at the top of the mountain. Then, about 20 of us started up the mountain.  After about 6 miles, we had all spread out so much that I was alone. Occasionally I would pass someone on the side of the road who had stopped to breathe, or snack, or cry. Eventually, I found myself continually passing and being passed by the same 3 girls. After the experience in Blue Ridge of spending the whole day alone, it was reassuring to find myself alongside some of my teammates.

Around mile 24, one of my teammates who was passing, asked if I had even stopped for any breaks yet. Normally, 24 miles wouldn't be break worthy, but when consistently climbing, it's surprising that I hadn't noticed a need to stop. By lunch, I had made it 31 miles without taking any breaks longer than 4 minutes. I then stayed at lunch only 30 minutes before finishing the day with Dan. 

The whole way up the mountain, I couldn't stop thinking about how impossible and crazy this was. I have a tear in a major muscle in my leg, I've been biking on it for a month, and somehow I still expected to climb to 12,000 feet. After lunch, it was real that I was going to finish the day, and I was going to finish it with someone. 

After lunch, we had 11 miles of downhill, with lots of curvy turns, and plenty of uphill as well. At one point after we had left the park, Dan was talking and I was hearing everything, I just wasn't responding at all. Jay drove past and later described what he had seen as me completely zoned out and Dan just goofing off beside me. It may seem like it was stupid for him to ramble for two hours, but I would not have been able to focus on anything but my leg had it not been for his rambles. When we reached the stop sign before host, I put my right foot down and quickly learned my leg had completely rejected me and buckled underneath me. 

We reached host, ate lasagna, and schemed a mighty plan for Jay to experience the ride he had missed in the van that day.  'Twas cute how excited Jay was once he realized it was completely feasible for him to experience the mighty Trail Ridge Road. More on that tomorrow. For now, mountains.