The morning weather was still dull and threatening rain, so we decided there was no hurry to get away. When we finally left the room at 11am the skies looked like they were beginning to clear. The roads in Colorado are so much busier than we have been used to and the mountains scattered with Condo’s. This is obviously a very touristy area and we came across a huge reservoir with campgrounds dotted along it’s edge. Again we opted for the shorter route along the main road rather than the quieter backroad on the otherside of the lake. Stopping at one of the campgrounds, we got away from the traffic for our lunch and a rest in the sun. The campground was pretty full of families with motor boats and rubber tubes to tow behind them.

As we rolled into Silverthorne we were amazed by the beautiful new houses on the several golf estates on the way into town. This place looks expensive. The weather turned again and we decided to take shelter in Dairy Queen and get some food so that we wouldn’t have to cook tonight in the rain. Silverthorne didn’t really seem to have a downtown, it just had loads of chain stores like fast food chains, Wallmart, Target etc. It wasn’t somewhere I would want to stay, but I guess there is lots to do in the local area.

We carried on towards the Dillon Dam, where there was a cycle path towards the next town of Frisco. Not really the weather for swimming now though. We had been earlier informed that the Dam road was closed to cars due to a terrorist threat. Apparently the security services had received intelligence that the dam, which provides the water supply for Denver, was going to be bombed and had closed the road as a result. Thankfully we could still ride our bikes along (I guess terrorists don’t ride bikes). It was very beautiful and the cycle path was great; in between the trees and well design so that we flowed along, often not needing to pedal, even on the little uphill sections. We found the huge National Forest campground before we got to Frisco and after checking the notice board at the entrance, cycled around for 40 minutes unsuccessfully looking for a pitch. We eventually stopped at the camp host and asked if they were full. The very unhelpful host informed us that they were full and that we should have made a reservation. Also to make matters worse all the other campsites in the vicinity were closed due to beetle infestations. He advised us that he hadn’t bothered putting a notice at the entrance as no one took any notice of them. What?! We wouldn’t have wasted 40 minutes of our night if there had been a notice! Very angry we cycled off to try and find ourselves a motel in the exclusive resort of Frisco. As is often the case, we ended up at the first place we tried, but only after wasting more time cycling around and trying to find a better deal. Oh well, we like staying in hotels and the Summit Inn was very nice, with a hot tub, WiFi and a continental breakfast and Frisco looked like it had a really cute downtown area. After checking our emails we found at that Alan was in Breckenridge, but there was no way we would have made it 11 miles up hill tonight. Looks like we won’t catch Alan up now.

Total climb:

2632 feet

Summed up:

A pleasant day despite all the climbing.

Mmmm a perfect dessert for Ryan, a pecan mudslide

The dam(n) bridge in Silverthorne!

Dillon Reservoir

Really great to get on the cycle paths

Frisco's cute Main Street

The hot tub at the Summit Inn

Total Distance:

45.720 mi

Total Time Cycling:

5h 58m 15s

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

Today’s ride was hard work. We don’t know why but we really struggled. Thank goodness we only planned to go 49 miles!

As we were leaving the campground at 11am (late as usual, but we had been using the internet trying to put some blog on!) a Belgian couple were just arriving from Walden (today’s destination). It was 11am and they had already done their day’s riding! How could that be?! They kindly informed us that that had enjoyed a tail-wind the whole way, which meant a head-wind for us!

We got the initial climb out of the way and stopped for lunch after 20 miles. As has become common place in Wyoming, we sat at the side of the road with no shade as there are very few trees. A decision was made that we should have just hired a U-Haul truck in Dubois and driven this section, as, with the exception of Lander, it’s been pretty dull and very hot.

We trudged on with no service stops, so we couldn’t even have a cool drink. Eric, a Canadian from Montreal, traveling the other way, stopped for a chat. He was covering 100 miles a day, but traveling very light as he was staying in motels. We stopped various times to refuel with energy bars and cakes, stopped at the Colorado sign for a photo and finally made it to Walden at about 5pm. Note: The “Welcome to Walden” sign claims this is the best place in Colorado to see moose. After calling at the Sheriffs office to ask permission, we camped on the lush and green city park. The park keeper came over as we had just set up the tent and kindly told us he would turn off the sprinkler system in our bit of the park, to stop us getting soaked. He also said that they occasionally get moose in the park. Our stove has not been used for a least four days and we decided to carry on with this tradition and go out for food. Our camping was free after all and we couldn’t be bothered with the washing up. We had two burgers in the Moose Creek Cafe , whilst watching Wheel of Fortune. Very pleasant. When we got back to the park another cyclist, Terry, had pitched up. He was nearly at the end of his journey to Denver. We had a good chat, Terry is an artist from Wisconsin, but unfortunately we won’t see him again as we take different routes tomorrow.

Total climb:

2516 feet

Animal Alert:

An Eagle eating on the ground that was so big we first thought it was a turkey and a vulture

Summed up:

No Moose today, let’s hope we see some tomorrow!

Some cowboys en route moving their cattle

Carly and the cowboys

HOORAY, a new state and we are leaving Wyoming!

We were surprised (and happy as we were really thirsty) to find this machine still working

A vulture eyeing up his dinner

Total Distance:

49.360 mi

Total Time Cycling:

5h 40m 56s

After another tasty breakfast at the hotel, we set on our ride towards Riverside. It was an up and down day (mostly up it seemed!). The map showed services at Sinclair, about 9 miles out of Rawlins, which I was expecting to be a little village with a store. The village was there, but it was right beside the Interstate (motorway) and behind it was a huge oil refinery for the Sinclair brand of fuel. It was about 12 noon when we passed it and all the workers were coming and going in their blue overalls. We’d been so used to pretty landscapes that this industrial scene was a bit of a shock. We picked up some sandwiches from the Interstate services and joined the Interstate for 13 miles. This was the first time our route had taken us on the Interstate and it wasn’t very pleasant. The shoulder was wide, but the traffic heavy. As we pedalled along we passed another couple sitting on the grass verge with their bikes. They had a puncture, but said they were fine and didn’t need any help (we were thankful of our super fat, super strong Marathon XR Schwalbe tyres – touch wood no punctures for us so far!). We pulled off at a rest area to eat our sandwiches in the shade and get a break from the road. As we finally turned off the Interstate we came across the couple again who had stopped for water at Walcottt, a village that we had just bypassed. They were riding the Great Divide (the same as Luke and Josh) and had just come of the route to go to the hot springs at Saratoga. We rode off ahead of them hoping to catch them at the hot springs.

Saratoga was a cool little town and a great respite from the dull surroundings. We were tempted to stop here for the night, but the only campground was a bit out of town and had no showers. We weren’t feeling tired yet so we decided it was best to keep going. After stopping at the gas station for some drinks and snacks, a man kindly informed us that the hot springs were behind the local swimming pool and that you could use them for free, so we went there to soak our feet. The main hot pool was so hot I couldn’t even put my feet in it and Ryan, who loves his baths really hot, even found it too much. But just behind this pool their was an outlet into the river and a little rock pool had been built to catch the hot water. This was a much nicer temperature and our feet got a relaxing soak while we chatted to the fellow bathers.

Ever onwards, we managed to drag ourselves away from Saratoga and keep on to Riverside. Riverside turned out to be a very nice small village with a great little campsite called Lazy Acres. We pitched our tent amongst the trees and headed over the road the the Bear Trap Café for dinner. We had “chicken fried steak” for the first time! It had been mentioned to us back in Baker City, by Dave the fellow cyclist, who had said that we had to try it. It’s like a bashed up steak, battered (like KFC chicken) and then fried. I can’t say that we necessarily enjoyed it and Ryan felt a bit sick in the night, but we tried it!

Total Climb:

1962 feet

Summed up:

The break in Saratoga to soak our legs was just what the doctor ordered

Sinclair refinery

What a random sign?!

The hot hot pool

The hot springs in the river

Updating the blog in the Bear Trap Cafe

Total Distance:

63.373 mi

Total Time Cycling:

6h 58m 29s