After a good night’s sleep in the park, we got packed up in record time as we hadn’t cooked and had no cereal left for breakfast, so we headed straight for the garage (service station) we had seen last night. We had a real feast; microwaved breakfast burritos and a huge cinnamon wheel, along with a 42oz tropical drink. All for less than $10.

No moose sightings on our way out town, but we did come across a road direction sign which made us re-evaluate out route. We were heading to Hot Sulphur Springs, which was 60 miles away and then tomorrow we would go through the town of Kremmling 17 miles into the journey. The sign we had seen advised us that if we turned right we would be in Kremmling in 61 miles. Hmmm. What should we do? Ryan checked the GPS and it looked like the shorter route also involved less climbing. To us this was a no-brainer – less climbing and less miles. We took the right turn. We’d miss out on Hot Sulphur Springs and maybe the road was less suitable for cyclists, but it would be worth it!

The scenery gradually moved away from the Sage brush we had become so used to in Wyoming and mountains started to appear. The roads were a little more windy, along shallow valleys. The shoulder was terrible, really smashed up in places, but the traffic wasn’t too heavy. Making good progress, we crossed the Continental Divide (again), joined the busy road number 40 and covered over 30 miles before stopping for our picnic in a layby along the busy road. We haven’t had a picnic area for lunch for a long time! It had been fairly cloudy and we weren’t sure if we were going to get wet. The ride was pretty fun, with the exception of the lack of shoulder and busy traffic, as we wound up and down hills. This last section of the ride was far more downhill than up.

About 6 miles out of Kremmling a couple pulled over in their car, waving at us. It was a couple we had chatted to at Old Faithful and they had been all the way down to Albuquerque for a weeks hiking and were on their way back home. They congratulated us on our efforts and were very impressed that we had made it this far. We have met so many nice people on this trip. When you read the newspapers at home, it’s very depressing and it seems that there are very few good people left in the world. But getting out into the real wide world has definitely restored our faith in humanity.

We stopped at the grocery store on the outskirts of town to resupply. Just as we were about to leave the heavens finally opened. Our bikes were soaked and the thought of finding the camp ground and pitching our tent filled us with dread. We were feeling pretty worn out lately; I think the 1500 miles is taking it’s toll. We decided to try for a motel and if we could get a cheap room we’d go for it. When we called a Motel from the map they had a room for $55. After looking at room we negotiated them down to $35, the lady must have felt sorry for us! The room was nice enough, but there was no bath, internet, fridge or microwave, but it beat camping in the rain. Woohoo, a proper bed and a TV! Ryan cooked up our stirfry on the doorstep and I went over the road to the laundromat to do our laundry. We watched the animated movie “Robots” on the TV and made the most of being out of the rain. We hoped it was dry tomorrow, especially as we were going to be in the towns of Silverthorne and Frisco beside a lake. We wanted to get there early and go for a swim. Here’s to a good night’s sleep.

Total climb:

2632 feet

Passes Climbed:

Muddy Pass – 8772 feet

Summed up:

A nifty diversion which helped us miss the rain

Crossing the Continental Divide again

Total Distance:

61.362 mi

Total Time Cycling:

6h 11m 53s