On Tuesday we all woke up knowing that this would be the best ride of our lives. We biked 20 miles up hill and 20 miles down hill through the Rocky Mountain National Park. At the top of the park we rode on Trail Ridge Road, which is the highest continuous road in the US and reaches a peak elevation of 12,183 feet. At the top it got pretty windy and a bit chilly so I put my leg warmers, arm warmers and zip up jacket on. The cold wasn't too noticeable though because the sun was shining and we were lucky to get great weather. The entire ride was beautiful and I also saw some great wild life such as elk, a mother moose, a baby moose, and some deer with antlers. After reaching the peak we also crossed the Continental Divide, which had a lake on both sides of it. So far this entire trip I have always ridden with at least one other person but on this ride I chose to ride by myself, which I enjoyed even more. I climbed and descended the hills at my own pace and stopped whenever I wanted to enjoy the scenery. A lot of people also approached our group members and asked what we were doing. I think people were much more impressed by our cross country journey on this ride since they drove through the mountains that we all biked through. We received much appraisal from them, which made the ride even more memorable.
Morning in Estes Park.
Bottom of the park.
Past the tree line.
Top of the climb.
View at top.
Baby moose in a stream.
After the ride in Granby I stopped by a small bike shop before heading to the host. I talked to a guy who was also biking across the country by himself. He had a mapped out route but he never knew how far he would be going the next day, but he would try to bike between 60 and 100 miles a day. He also was never really sure where he would be staying the day before but would often try to use Hot Showers, churches, or go camping. That night we was planning on camping outside of the bike shop because he had talked to the owner previously. I was really interested in his story and was impressed he was able to travel so leisurely.
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