Day 45: What a Wonderful World

Black Hawk, CO -> Frisco, CO – 69.75 mi, 7,848 ft

Today’s a big day. We’re set to cross over the continental divide, a true dividing line that separates East from West. And any big day needs a big breakfast. The team ate a final breakfast at Amanda’s place, preparing for the day with the single most elevation gain of the entire trip. Some people are nervous, some are anxious, but we’re all determined.

We set off at different times, with Ruth, Tian, and Ramona in front, Charles and Greta in the middle, and me and Sarah in the back. The big climb of the day was the long ascent to Loveland Pass, the highest point of the whole trip, but the climbs at the beginning were no joke either. I could see the glistening glaciers at the top of the Rockies in the distance. We would have to pass up and over those later in the day, but first we had to descend to the I-70 corridor, nestled in one the few valleys in the Colorado Rockies that go east to west and are big enough to hold settlements and something like a major Interstate. We descended 1000ft down a steep dirt road into the Black Hawk, the gambling capital of Colorado. There, Sarah and I stopped at our first cafe of the day, where Charles and Greta were also around… except Charles was busy playing poker at a nearby casino!

After I munched on a delicious cheese Danish, we continued on, climbing out of Black Hawk, up and over another steep mountain pass, then descending 1600 feet down a winding dirt road to Idaho Springs. It was both terrifying and beautiful, with the sharp drops being both an ever present danger and opening up wide vistas into the distant mountains and the thousands of cars zooming across these once impassible mountains. Sarah’s back tire kept on leaking, so I would wait at the bottom of a steep descent for her. This process happened multiple times until we eventually got off of the somewhat treacherous Virginia Canyon Road, leaving the two of us quite a bit behind the frontrunners of the day. We stopped at the second cafe in a row, and while I was inside, Ishaq seemed to go mad. He threw my bike onto the ground and chucked one of my water bottles across the parking lot! I came back to the scene of the crime confused and angry. Ishaq denies the allegations placed against him, but he has no alibi. I know it was you. Ishaq.

We continued on, slowly making miles as the elevation ticked up, foot by foot. There was beautiful scenery wherever I looked. Gushing rivers, evergreen trees moving against the wind, and boundless mountain vistas in every direction. Today felt like more of a pure adventure than any other day of the trip. I passed through Georgetown, a small town with a passenger railway going up to a mountain pass. I was very happy to actually catch the train making its way down the mountainside.

At the third rest stop, I realized there really would be no catching up to the frontrunners of the day. They were only two miles from the top! We still had over 2000 feet of climbing over 10 miles to go. We continued on, slowly climbing ever higher. The road wasn’t actually all that steep compared to previous climbs, but the sheer elevation and endurance game meant that things were very slow going. I spent so long staring at each foot of elevation gained on my bike computer, watching the number get further and further away from anything I’ve ever done before. Eventually, I could see the top of the pass. It really does feel like I’m climbing up to the top of the world.

A few minutes later, I saw the van, and the Loveland Pass sign right next to it. As I like to do when I’m close to the end, I sped up to reach the top. I had done it. I conquered the biggest climb, the highest high of our journey. Sarah trailed behind me, reaching the top a minute or so later. With this, Spokes conquered Loveland Pass. What a day.

…Except we still had 20 something miles left to go. And it was 5pm. So at this point I started zooming down the backside of Loveland Pass. What a lovely reward for our hours and hours of climbing. 2600ft of descent over 8 and a half miles. And just like that I was out of altitude. After waiting 10 or so minutes for Sarah (she is a lot more cautious on descents than I am), we continued on a series of bike paths towards the Dillon Reservoir, the big lake that the town of Frisco sits on. This part of the country really is just so beautiful.

The cool mountain air kept my spirits up as we continued toward Sapphire Point, the site of our last rest stop. Unbeknownst to us, there was a wedding happening at the same time. So we basically became a bunch of wedding crashers. I can see why they picked this location for a wedding, though. Its absolutely stunning.

We descended down to the surface of the reservoir as we followed its coast into Frisco. Ruth and Ramona had the idea to dip into the water for a swim, and independently Charles and Greta came up with the same idea.

The sun slowly started to sink below the mountains as we made Sarah and I, finally ahead of the middle of the pack, made it into the quaint town of Frisco. Nearing the end, I saw two blobs ahead that looked suspiciously like Ruth and Ramona! We had finally caught up with them. It turns out that this duo had spent the last couple of hours goofing around in all sorts of places, including downtown Frisco.

I sped ahead of them to make it to the finish line as second of the group, very satisfied to have beat most of the team when I was so far behind… and also because I had a long, long drive ahead of me. You might remember that I lost my prescription sunglasses way back on Day 35. If you pay close attention to any pictures of me with shades from day 36 onwards, you might notice a different pair of sunglasses every day. I’ve actually been borrowing the driver’s glasses this whole time! It does mean that I am biking with impaired vision, but I’m not so blind that I can’t manage without. Its just very annoying, especially on gravel. Turns out that I had in fact left them at the church we stayed at in Macksville, KS and the nice people there had them mailed to Black Hawk, a place they would surely get to before us… not. They in fact were delivered the day after we left! I now had no choice but to drive all the way back to Black Hawk to grab them. What a tragedy. Thankfully, our Black Hawk host Amanda offered to meet me halfway in Idaho Springs. And so the plan was set. I would drive our van through mountainous I-70 in the cover of darkness to grab my shades. And that was AFTER one of the most physically intense cycling days of the whole trip. And to top it all off, our now nearly empty roof storage decided to start intensely THUMPing against the roof of the van continuously for the entire ride… I was quite shaken after that drive, and when I finally met up with Amanda she had the bright idea of taking the roof storage off of the roof of the car. The drive back was much more relaxing. And now I had my shades! Yay.

It was a long day full of trials and tribulations, but also with adventure and beauty. So much experienced, all in one day. All the emotions I feel and everything I experience, this is what it means to live, to be human. I think to myself, what a wonderful world.