Day 33 – More Great Memories

By Mark Heggestad
Sitting on a bench under an overhang at a strip mall in Silverthorne, CO.  Watching the rain fall.  We are 3/4 of the way through today's ride and for the third day in a row we are dodging thunderstorms and avoiding rain.  We just biked forty miles with few options to take cover should the rain start to fall; but the rain held off until after we got here.  As I said yesterday, I don't know why we keep lucking out, but I am very thankful we do.

Our ride thus far has been filled with majestic mountain views.  And dark clouds. Other than a ten-mile stretch of busy State Highway 9 that had no shoulder all has been good.

Fast-forward two hours.  Just waited the storm out in a great little café, where we had a rare afternoon snack.  At 4:00 they informed us that the restaurant was closed.  I was wondering why it went from bustling to just the two of us.  We walked outside and noted the rain is now a light mist.  Clouds are gray but not dark.  We have fifteen miles to go to get to Breckenridge, and we decide to tempt fate once again.

There is a fantastic bike trail from Silverthorne to Breckenridge that is picturesque, well maintained and best of all: allows us to escape busy State Highway 9.  So off we go.  One problem.  The trail is not well marked, our overpriced bike maps are worthless, and GPS doesn't recognize bike paths.  At least not well enough to give us any confidence.

I wish I knew how many wrong turns we made and how many times we stopped to discuss, "Where now?"   At one point, about nine miles from Breckenridge, Brian and I had two options so we decided to split up and see what happens.  Both options got us there.  Mine may have been more picturesque than Brian's but unfortunately I overshot our final destination by over a mile and had to back track.  We will probably stick together going forward.  But at least both options got us to the same destination.  Oh yeah – and we did not get rained on.

By the time we finally finished we had gone 53.3 miles from Kremmling, CO to Breckenridge, Co.  Thanks to waiting out the storms and getting lost often it took us well over eight hours to travel those 53 miles, likely our least productive day so far.  On the one hand it was a little frustrating.  But on the other hand, I wouldn't have traded this day for anything.  Today was truly a journey, and great memories were made.

One final thought on today.  We finished the day in Breckenridge, CO.  I have been here many times in my life.  But always in the winter and always to ski - my first love among my pastimes.  The skiing here is great and the views are outstanding.  The town is an energetic little ski resort and the locals are so welcoming.  As I biked with the view of the Breckenridge ski slopes in front of me (still covered in snow), I couldn't help but think of all the ski trips I have made out here - some with good friends and some with family.  The memories from all those ski trips are many and provide feelings of happiness and gratitude.  Now I am experiencing this place that has provided so many wonderful memories and good times in a completely different way.  And I just keep adding to the great memories.

I am truly: Blessed Beyond Measure. 

Beginning of the day.
More thunderstorms ahead.

Mid-day

The last fifteen miles of the day was on a bike path

Comments

  1. john.nealon2@gmail.comJune 3, 2017 at 1:47 PM

    Love this ride, your pics, description of the ski slopes covered with snow! Also, any update on how many miles you have biked on this trip to date?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blessed Beyond MeasureJune 3, 2017 at 10:20 PM

      Thanks John. I do plan on providing some stats on the trip soon. I keep a running log and find it all very interesting. I have been waiting for our next day off to publish that information. As of today we have biked a total of 1,838 miles.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 70 – Reflections

By Mark Heggestad
Image
The well-aged guy spotted my bike and glanced at me.   I know, most consider me old, but this guy was older.   I could tell by his quick smile and the way it spread across the lines of his face and through his eyes that he was an old soul making the most of life.   “What will you gain from this journey?” he asked.   He used the word journey, not me.   I had been asked a lot of questions since this bike trip started, but not this one.   “That’s a good question.” I responded, and then I stumbled through an answer I don’t remember.   But I do remember the question.   In fact, I thought about the question often the rest of the journey. This journey taught me a lot about myself.   I learned I have the fortitude to complete a 4,064-mile bike trip.   It reinforced the value of perseverance.   I learned I have very little control over a lot of things that impact me; and I learned to expect, and embrace, whatever surprises the day may bring.   It taught me the importance of taking things o
Read more

Day 63 – One Last Dog Story

By Mark Heggestad
Image
Today’s bike ride was 80.3 miles from Wytheville, VA to Catawba, VA.   It was another great day.   Scenery was beautiful, but cannot compare to the Appalachian’s of the past couple days.   Weather was good.   Road conditions and traffic were good.   I biked through a couple small cities (Radford and Christiansburg), so that slows me down a little.   There were hills, but a gentler kind: shorter and not as steep as previous days.   With that said, I did climb enough hills today to accumulate 5,213 feet of ascent.   That marks the eighth day in a row I have climbed more than 5,000 feet, or a mile straight up. It was just a really nice peaceful ride today.   I love the gentle (gentler, ok, not quite as hard) hills, and the scenery.   It was about as stress-free as it gets. It has been bothering me that I spent so much time in my previous blog posts complaining about the dogs of eastern Kentucky.   I love dogs; in fact I have been missing our black lab (Tess) while on this long jo
Read more

Day 68 – Blessed Beyond Measure – No Doubt About It

By Mark Heggestad
Image
I awoke this morning excited to bike the last thirty miles of this journey.   I took my time with everything: a little longer than usual getting ready, a little longer than usual eating breakfast, a little longer than usual prepping my bike.   In retrospect I suppose I was just savoring the moment.   The first seven miles of today’s ride were on a beautiful designated bike trail.   I took it slow and easy.   All was perfect. Then my perfect world turned imperfect.   The majority of the last thirteen miles of the ride is on Colonial Parkway.   Sounds like a peaceful road, doesn’t it?   It was one of the bumpier roads of the trip and it was the busiest two-lane no-shoulder road I have been on in weeks.   Cars were zooming by fast and constant.   All focus went from savoring the moment to dealing with traffic.   And then it started raining – not a hard rain but enough to get me wet.   I increased my speed in hopes of beating any potential hard rain.    I started bumming about the sit
Read more