Stats for today
95.73 miles
Time in saddle 8.17
Average speed 11.5,
Max speed 41.6
Ascent 4164
Current elevation 7404
Temp in morning 17 C sorry my clock gives Celsius not farenheit.
Another beautiful ride, but brutal for me. I left camp at 645 and arrived in Kremmling at 545. I was completely exhausted. It took me 2.5 hours to climb to the false summit of Rabbit Ears Pass. The grade was 6-8% for 7.3 miles.
Hank took a SAG to the top of the mountain along with Mary and Bill. They rode down from the false summit into camp and arrived at 2 PM. Hank had the tent and sleeping bag all arranged for which I was very thankful. Hank, Mary, and Bill were very rested and had an enjoyable ride.
Joan and I started the day strong. We enjoyed the ride from Kremmling to Steamboat Springs which is a tourist town with lots of biking, hiking and skiing. This is a place both of us want to come back to as we did not have any time to really look around. It was quaint with lots of interesting shops. We did stop at two bike shops as I need a new water bottle holder and Joan needed something to help with the constant numbness in her hands. We enjoyed a cup of coffee in Steamboat and left to tackle the mountain around 12 noon.
Scenery along the road before Steamboat SpringsThe ride up the mountain was very beautiful as you can see from the pictures, but it took us a long time. We first tried to do a mile at a time than a half mile. Eventually we got to the false summit. Julie our SAG at the top was a sight of sore eyes. The real summit for Rabbit Ears was another 5 miles across the top of the mountain range. Half way, we were greeted by Leanne Geisterfer, who was giving our freezes that a family from Denver had provided. Wow did this ever taste great at the top of long hot climb. We crossed the continental divide at the summit of Rabbit Ears.
Pictures starting at the bottom of our climb to the top where we crossed the continental divide.
After the summit we had a nice descent for 15 miles. While going down my feet starting hurting a great deal. I was looking for Walter our next SAG stop, but it was a long time coming. I started to hyper ventilate and had a panic attack going down. I was having a serious melt down. By the time I did get to Walters SAG I just sat down and cried. I am sure it was because I was just exhausted from the climb and from the pain in my feet. Walter was a blessing for me. He provided a cold towel, some cold cranberry juice, and cold water for my feet. Thank you so much Walter for your kindness and thoughtfulness.
All the cyclists really appreciate the SAG drivers as we do have many difficult times. One day Cory had chocolate chip cookies for everyone, Julie had chips and Walter has had licorice or watermelon. These treats are special and very much appreciated by everyone. The freezes along the highway were also special.
By the time I got to camp I was completely spent. I quickly took a shower as supper would be served shortly. After supper we found it getting very cold and people were needing long pants and jackets on for the first time since the tour started. I was so cold, I had the chills, that I put on a fleece plus another jacket. It was suppose to be in the 40s for the night.
Everyone who climbed the mountain found it exhausting and tough. They also thought it was also a beautiful ride. At night many people went to bed by 9. Since tomorrow would be a short day of 34 miles, Ed said breakfast would be a half hour later and told people to sleep in.
Hank and I were in bed by nine.
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