Two weeks we crossed into Colorado from Utah. On the 11th we biked from Strawberry, Utah to Vernal, Utah, and got to celebrate Jace’s birthday at a Church. The following morning, we woke up and started our ride into Colorado. Along the way, the Chevy Tahoe broke down right outside of Dinosaur, Colorado. Fortunately, a mechanic (who had owned Tahoe’s) happened by us and graciously helped us fix it. We biked against a brutal headwind and ended up in Wrangley, Colorado where the members of Wrangley Christian Church treated us to dinner and homemade ice cream. On Tuesday we biked into Craig, Colorado, and celebrated Trent’s birthday with cake while watching the NBA finals.
From Craig, we went to Steamboat Springs. Once we arrived there, we had the opportunity to meet residents of Casey’s Pond senior living facility. It was an incredible day with live music, good food, and even better company. Each of us got to meet several residents and hear their stories. They offered sage advice and several of them talked gleefully about their children and grandchildren. Steamboat Springs turned out to be a gorgeous town that boasted the Yahmi River which is the longest free-flowing river in the West and hot springs. Eager to try the hot springs out, we wandered our way down to the river where the supposed hot spring was located. A few guys got in, and to their dismay and perhaps disappointment, the hot spring wasn’t so hot. Nevertheless, even if we couldn’t relax in a hot spring, we still could appreciate the beauty and calming sound of the rippling river.
The next two days were some of our most challenging so far as we climbed the infamous “rabbit ears pass,” that we had been forewarned of prior to our even leaving Bowling Green. We climbed 6,000+ feet on our first day and ended up in Gould, Colorado where we met with our incredible board member Dana Hesse who had reserved cabins for us. The next morning, we woke up and continued on to complete the “bunny ears.” The area is known to be the moose viewing capital of the country, so it was no surprise when we saw moose, though it was a pleasant surprise when we saw droves of elk along the ride as well. We arrived in Fort Collins on Thursday and set up a table at a brewery shortly after arriving. At the Brewery, we were presented new jerseys and a goodie bag from RideforAlz founder, Brian Tatum. We had a rest day in Fort Collins the following day and several of us hiked and got to check out Colorado State’s campus while others went to see a showing of the new Top Gun movie.
W then we biked into Denver, Colorado, tabled at a Farmer’s market, and spent the afternoon at a Rockies baseball game. Shoutout to fellow Fiji, Doug Draper for buying our tickets. The Chevy Tahoe also broke down again, but we got it resolved only to lose the truck keys the following day. Nevertheless, it all got worked out and on the 23rd we completed our 120-mile day that took us into Kansas. We had four days that were made to be challenging with the heat, the wind, and higher mileage days. Despite this, we made our way into Kansas City, Missouri yesterday and enjoyed a Royals baseball game! We had a much needed off day today and look forward to seeing our family in Kentucky within the next week.