Our Approach to the Rockies

Catching my first glimpse of the Rockies was an experience I can't put into words. This day was one of our longest and most exhausting so far, but also hands down one of the most exciting. 

With 107 miles to bike and a high-90s forecast, the day began with another painful 4 am alarm, and we were rolling at 5:30 on the dot. We were to bike through Denver, a huge metropolitan area.

At mile 15, we came upon a 12-mile gravel road. There was nothing paved in sight. Nitkin, Chelsea and I had spent hours planning the route the day before, but we had spent so much time figuring out how to get through Denver that we hadn't looked closely at the roads for the beginning of the day. We took that part of the route from Portland 2010 and so we assumed it'd be fine. However, gravel it was. And not just gravel.. it was really like 2 inches of poorly packed sand and dirt. Looking at our phones we discovered that it wasn't paved for 12 miles, and there was no other way to go that was paved.

Having no choice, we started trudging through the sand and dirt, but it was really scary and nearly impossible to ride on. You get no traction and feel like you're going to fall all the time. It was going to take forever and be really dangerous. So, we decided we should get in the van and shuttle to the end of the gravel. Unfortunately, we couldn't use the big van, because it had headed straight to our destination to unload and was already 60 miles away. We only had the water van, which has room for 3 bikes and one passenger (the rest of the van is literally filled to the top with our food and supplies). With 21 riders on the road, it was going to take forever to shuttle everyone the remaining 10 miles. We were also in a hurry since we still had 90 miles to bike, and the heat of the day was coming.

That's when we saw a pickup truck approaching, and had the bright idea to hitchhike! We flagged down the truck, and basically begged the farmer driving it to help us get across the gravel. He seemed a little confused as to why there were 20 young cyclists riding around on this road in the middle of nowhere, but was sympathetic. He said he could only take us 3 miles because that's where his farm was. So, we loaded up 6 bikes in the bed of the truck and crammed 6 riders in. Hitchhiking with a farmer!!!!!

Gina and Joanna in the bed of the pickup truck

Riding in the truck with Farmer Bob

We talked with Farmer Bob throughout the ride and learned about his crops and his farm. He really warmed up to us and ended up driving us the full 9 miles and then even went back to get other riders. We were bummed about the gravel, but getting to hitchhike with a farmer was pretty sweet.

After that, our spirits were sort of low, and the rolling hills we were doing were hard. It was also getting hot already. And that's when the sighting of the Rockies went down!

Sarah and I had fallen behind the rest of our group on a long, gradual hill, and we were struggling to catch up. We were out of breath from the altitude and felt discouraged that we still had like 80 miles to go. "I think we'll be fine after we catch sight of the Rockies," said Sarah. I agreed.

That's when we saw the rest of our group had stopped at the top of the hill. They had their hands up in the air in a weird formation.

Me: "What in the world are they doing?"

Sarah: "Maybe they see the Rockies."

Me: "Nahhhhhh. Don't get my hopes up."

Sarah: "I dunno.. I think they see the Rockies."

Just then, we came up to the crest of the hill, and my breath caught in my throat as the most amazing sight became visible in the distance. Far, far away along the horizon was the unmistakable snow-topped caps of the Rocky Mountains.

It might be impossible to see in the picture... but I promise they're there!!!!

I cannot put into words the feeling I had at that moment. Sarah said I looked like I was going to cry, and I believe it. A huge sense of accomplishment welled up as it finally hit me that we just rode our bikes to the Rocky Mountains. Usually it feels like we're just going on a bike ride every day... but to see the mountains in the distance made this trip really real. They looked so beautiful, majestic, and powerful, looming in the distance as far as the eye could see. At that moment I was so proud of our team for making it this far, so proud to live in this beautiful country, and so happy to be there with my teammates. It was literally one of the happiest moments of my life.

We stopped for a quick photoshoot and I captured everyone’s gleeful faces. Nitkin was especially over the top because he just lived in Aspen and absolutely loves Colorado.

"I'm home!!!"

"Yeah I just biked to the Rockies, no big deal"

The Rockies were way out in the distance, but we knew that we'd spend the whole day approaching them, and at the end of the day we'd be right at the foot of them! With that, we continued on and were basically flying at a ridiculously fast pace because we were so excited.

Our pace was slowed by excessive heat and a ton of flats. My group got 6 flats total. We also had to stop more often than normal for water because we were going through our water bottles so quickly. The altitude makes it even more important to hydrate. Other groups were also having flats and other bike problems right and left, and we blew through the entire team's last few inner tubes, to the point that even the vans' stashes were used up. When I got a flat with only 20 miles to go, my group had 1 inner tube left, so we used it on that. 

We quickly changed the flat, but Nitkin, who does everything with 110% effort, broke the valve of the new tube clean in half while pumping it up too fast. That left us with no tubes... luckily Rowen had a patch kit, which are never a long-term solution but can sometimes get you 20 miles. We had no choice but to try our luck with the patch kit. I was crossing my fingers the whole rest of the ride that the tube would hold out until we got to the host!!

Luckily, soon after that we were visited by the Tube Fairy -- the vans had gone out to get more tubes and a local bike shop actually donated 37 to us! Since all groups on the road were out of tubes, they met up with us on the road and handed tubes out to riders like candy.

The Tube Fairy (Tom)

We were on trails going through Denver, and it turned out to be a really nice, low-stress way to get through the busy city. Pros of other cyclists being on the trail: rattlesnake warnings. A passing cyclist told us to watch out for 2 giant rattlesnakes sitting in the road up ahead. (We didn't see them though)

I was happy we had Nitkin's Garmin though, as directions on trails can get really nasty when there are forks in the trail with no signs. Getting past Denver and into Golden, we had amazing views of the Rockies, but it was stressful as it was rush hour and we were on busy roads in a lot of traffic. Luckily, many of the roads did have bike lanes, but drivers weren't thrilled about them. To top it off, the last 10 miles were a solid uphill that was definitely noticeable. Those last 10 were just grueling. Huffing and puffing, we all finally made it to the host: Angelica's house! Arrival was between 6:15 and 7:30 pm... 13-14 hours is a longgggg time to be on the road.

Approaching Golden

Angelica is from Golden, so we got to stay with her family and some of her neighbors. Beds for all!! Yay! It's pretty cool for her that she got to bike to her house from Baltimore. Angelica's parents cooked us a great dinner and threw us a party and had all the neighbors and Angelica's friends over. It was a lot of fun!

The 4K van at the foothills of the Rockies. This is literally Angelica's front yard!!!

The next day was a much needed rest day. We got to stare at the Rockies all day wondering how we will ever get over them. We picked up Stephen Hersey, the 4K program director, in Boulder (he came to visit us!), and WOW, the ride from Golden to Boulder was nothing short of spectacular. Going right through the foothills on a giant windy road was incredible. Prairie on one side, mountains on the other. Pictures can say it better so here ya go. 

In Boulder we also visited REI, where I bought a bunch of inner tubes and rim strips (I'll explain), walked around an awesome Farmers' Market, and walked up and down Pearl Street, a popular shopping district.

Guess who we ran into at REI.... Team San Francisco!!!! They are in Boulder as well!

Okay, Boulder is awesome. It's SUCH a cool city. It has a great vibe, and everyone is outdoorsy and fit. Okay everyone is also a hipster. Some people were borderline scaring me with their levels of hipster-ness. At the farmers' market, everything was organic/natural and super eco-friendly. Bikes were parked everywhere, indicating that many people bike around the city as their main mode of transportation. Not to mention the amazing views of the Rockies literally RIGHT next to the city.

*I have pictures but can't get them uploaded right now!

There were so many people out and about in downtown Boulder (there was even a running race going on in the middle of Pearl Street) that I thought it was the weekend. When I remembered it was a Wednesday at 5 pm I was shocked! It was a beautiful place to go and hang out with family/friends after work and obviously everyone wants to.

Back at Angelica's house, I made a few phone calls to hosts, helped the Leg 3 leaders fill in some gaps we still have in our accommodations, and of course blogged ;) Angelica's parents made another amazing dinner for us that included gnochetti - mini gnocchi - and homemade tomato sauce. Needless to say I was basically in heaven because I loooove my tomato sauce and I haven't had homemade sauce the entire trip so far.

After dinner I changed into some work-friendly clothes and got to work on my bike. I changed my rim strips, which is a strip that goes around your wheel to protect your inner tube from the spoke holes. The rim strips our bikes came with are really low quality, according to Porter (our mechanic) and they have been the cause of many a flat on this team. So I bought cloth ones (supposedly good quality), and had to take apart both of my wheels to change them out. While I was at it I also replaced both inner tubes because the patched one had already gone flat and my back one may have had a slow leak. I also lubed my chain, which we do about once a week to keep it running smoothly.

I don't particularly enjoy doing any maintenance on my bike, BUT it's much more enjoyable to work on it at a host than it is on the side of the road in the sun and heat of the day, with 5 people waiting on you. Hopefully the new rim strips will prevent some flats!!

Well, it's past my bedtime, so I'm out. In the next few days we will be crossing the Rockies by bike... and I couldn't be more thrilled! Cyclists bike these mountains all the time and I'm excited to join the ranks as a cyclist that has done these big mountain passes. 

Tomorrow we have only a 30-mile ride to Idaho Springs, but it's mostly uphill... and by uphill I mean mountains. We will climb to 8,000 ft. The altitude will definitely be challenging. I'm glad tomorrow is a short day because it will give us a taste for what's to come. Since most of the day is uphill, we're doing ride buddies instead of ride groups. You pick one person about your speed and you stick with them all the way. Mine is going to be Paul. The view from the mountains tomorrow is going to be incredible... can't wait!!