Distance: 29.8 mi, Climbed: 1,161 ft
Completed: 2,636.0 mi, 121,288 ft
Sometimes it happens. At the end of yesterday’s ride, I noticed that my handlebars were no longer aligned with my front wheel. That’s never a good sign. Fortunately, I travel with my own personal bicycle mechanic. Rich quickly straightened everything out, and before long, my bike was ready to go again. Thank you, Rich!
One of my favorite parts of bicycle touring is that there is always something unexpected to discover. As we rolled through Kremmling this morning, Rich and I noticed a military helicopter displayed as a monument near the local school. Naturally, we had to ride over for a closer look. The Bell AH-1 Cobra serves as a memorial honoring military veterans. It was placed on the campus through a federal military surplus donation program after it was retired from active service. If I had been traveling by car, we probably wouldn’t have noticed it let alone stop. I’m glad we did.
Leaving town, we followed the Colorado River toward Granby. Kremmling sits at the confluence of the Colorado River, the Blue River, and Muddy Creek, making it a popular destination for whitewater rafting and fly fishing. There is something so peaceful about seeing someone standing knee-deep in the river, casting a line into the current with the morning sun reflecting off the water.
On long stretches of open road, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “There’s nothing out here.” But every so often I see a farmer working a field, someone repairing a fence, or a rancher tending cattle or horses, and I’m reminded that these beautiful landscapes are someone’s workplace and livelihood.
That made one scene especially surprising. We passed two horses calmly standing together in what looked like a pile of discarded building materials. They seemed perfectly content, even though it was certainly not where I expected to find them.
Today’s ride also marked the beginning of our climb toward Willow Creek Pass. From Kremmling, it’s roughly fifty miles of climbing to the summit. Today we completed the first thirty miles. I keep wondering when I’ll stop being amazed by the mountains.
It hasn’t happened yet. Every bend in the road seems to reveal another spectacular view.
Rich and I can barely ride for more than a few minutes without stopping to take another photograph.
No matter how many mountains we see, each one somehow feels different from the last.
Along the way, we passed the entrance to a National Forest, where the fire danger was posted as only Very High. The danger has been Extreme all week. I wonder if the reason it wasn’t listed at the highest level is because of yesterday’s rain.
We kept hearing repeated gunshots echoing through the valley. A few minutes later, the mystery was solved when we rode past a massive outdoor public shooting range. The range was maybe a half mile long with drive up shooting platforms every 100ft or so.
About twenty miles into the ride, we reached the town of Hot Sulphur Springs. Even though we had started early because afternoon thunderstorms were in the forecast, today’s shorter mileage gave us time to enjoy one of the town’s famous attractions. Rich and I spent a relaxing hour soaking in the natural hot springs, which have welcomed visitors since 1840. We gradually worked our way through the pools, each one a little hotter than the last. Rich tolerated the hottest pools much better than I did.
Just as we changed back into our cycling clothes, the first raindrops began to fall. Noooo! We had been moments away from leaving. At first it was only a sprinkle, but about forty-five minutes later the skies opened up completely. Heavy rain and booming thunder confirmed that staying put had been the right decision.
Eventually, the radar showed a window of lighter weather, even though it looked like we might still get wet before reaching Granby. By then, we had already waited nearly two hours, and staying any longer would get us back to the hotel very late. So we took our chance.
As it turned out, the additional rain forecast for late afternoon never arrived. Instead, Rich and I enjoyed a beautiful ride into Granby, grateful that the weather had given us just enough of a break to finish the day.
