Day 45: I’m On Top of the World

Idaho Springs, CO to Breckenridge, CO — 56.0 mi, 5927 ft

Though I am not a native Coloradan and have never officially lived in the state, I would consider it one of my homes. Specifically, the ski slopes dotting its landscapes that have hosted my family and me year after year for our annual spring break trip. 

Today was the first day that we would be officially passing through resorts that I had grown up visiting, specifically Keystone and Breckenridge, and understandably, I was extremely excited. Today was also the day that our team would be crossing the Continental Divide through Loveland Pass, a monumental bike ride marking our ascent to the tallest point of our ride as well as the geographic ridge that separates the Pacific and Atlantic watersheds. Additionally, today was also the day that I would get to see one of my best friends from home, Ashley Fisher and her family. They were visiting Ashley’s brother, Kenny, in Denver, who joined us for dinner on Day 42, so I had already been looking forward to their arrival for a few days. Momentous day in my book, and I am grateful to get to write about it.

When we woke up in the morning, I was confronted with my biggest daily dilemma: what do I eat for breakfast? Seeing as we were still staying in the extremely kindly donated Airbnb in Idaho Springs, breakfast thoughts converged on the snack box, and the seven of us descended like vultures on any food still available in the fridge and pantry. For me, this consisted of stuffing my face with the pasta and salad from two nights before, and consuming a random assortment of snacks.

This bizarre “breakfast” prompted me to think about what exact amount of random food and junk I consume in a day on this trip, which inspired my idea for a theme of this blog (on top of the amazing things that already happened during the day). Today I will record everything I consume in one day, along with a simultaneous recording of everything Drew eats for comparison. When we decided this and I informed Drew I would be monitoring him for the blog, I added a comment about his eating habits, to which he promptly responded, “I EAT A LOT SO I CAN HAUL THIS A** UP A MOUNTAIN.” Point taken, Drew. I have been told that we burn ~4,000 calories a day on these bike rides, so we will see how our calorie intake fares up to our a** hauling.

Tatiana’s Breakfast:

1. 1/2 bowl of Nunu’s vodka pasta with chicken sausage
2. 1 Gogo squeeze
3. 1 brownie
4. 5 bites of Aarushi’s garden salad
5. 1 grapefruit piece
6. 2 dried mangos
7. 1 cup of water

Drew’s Breakfast:

1. 2 donut sticks
2. 10 donut holes
3. 1 lemon lime Gatorade
4. 2/5 of a sesame chicken Chinese takeout
5. 1 fortune cookie
6. 1 bottle of water
7. 1 Advil (for pain from a previously tweaked neck muscle)

Nate looked especially stylish during breakfast, demonstrating a previously unheard-of leg-sleeve look at the table.

Once the face-stuffing had commenced, our team descended down the incredibly steep gravel driveway to the road, with Aarushi and I opting to treacherously walk our bikes down the path rather than risk road rash from falling down. Funnily enough, on this perilous walk down, Aarushi was also inspired by the same leg-sleeve look as Nate, suddenly looking extra stylish.

The first stretch of our ride was spent almost completely uphill, though at a moderate grade, cluing Aarushi and me into the ascent yet to come at Loveland Pass. Our ride was interrupted by our fearless driver, Carmen, letting us know the rest stop had moved CLOSER to us (always a win) and by a detour at the dam monitoring the lake’s water flow with gorgeous scenery.

Once we arrived at Carmen’s newly prescribed coffee shop rest stop, we were greeted by the wonders of a perfectly curated store with our favorite things: coffee, art gallery, book nook, and outdoor supplies. Could it get any better? The team spent some time loitering around, with Drew deep in thought, Aarushi, Caroline, Carmen, and I exploring the art gallery, and Nate and Nunu wandering off to explore the nearby lake.

Tatiana’s Coffee Shop:

1. 1/2 Arnold Palmer
2. 1/2 Beekeeper’s latte
3. 1 bottle of water
4. 1/2 fig bar
5. 1/2 s’mores bar

Drew’s Coffee Shop:

1. 1 Sprite
2. 1 bottle of water
3. 1 Nature Valley strawberry wafer bar

One thing this blog may clue you in on is exactly how much I enjoy sharing food with my friends. It is definitely one of life’s greatest pleasures to get to try two things and share both 🙂

After securing prints from the art gallery and chatting up the leader of a Federation of North American Explorers group who had brought his troupe to Colorado, Aarushi and I finally set off towards Loveland Pass!

At first, the two of us stayed together, with rest stops every five miles to split an energy bar, but as we hit the final 4 miles and 1,500-foot ascent to Loveland Pass, Aarushi went forward, and I took my time going up the trail. Simultaneously, seeing as crossing the Continental Divide is a momentous occasion for bikers, Carmen hatched a plan to leave the car at the top of Loveland Pass, bike down to the 4-mile mark, and then bike back up to meet us at the top.

Tatiana’s Mid-Ride Snack:

1. 1 bottle of water
2. 1/2 cookies and cream bar
3. 1/2 strawberry bar

You can probably tell by the numbers themselves, but this ascent was steep and brutal. Especially combined with the high altitude, I could feel my body straining against the mountain, eager to ascend and complete the climb but exhausted from the required effort. My goal of stopping every mile transitioned into stopping every half mile, and then at the very end, every 100 ft of elevation as I felt my body hit my last energy stores. I played one of my favorite reflective songs, “Que Sera, Sera” by Doris Day, to gather my strength, and willed my body to keep pushing up the mountain. As I rounded the final corner, barely pedaling and 0.2 miles away from the end of the climb, I saw my team waiting for me at the top of Loveland Pass. I began to weep tears of pride, joy, and exhaustion, making the final ascent into our highest peak and seeing my team waving and cheering me on. 

I am used to being the last one to rest stops, especially since my greatest enjoyment from biking comes from taking the rides slowly and enjoying the surroundings, but this time I felt especially grateful to be last and fall into the open arms of my teammates. Our team was truly ON TOP OF THE FREAKING WORLD!!!! Seriously, look at the photo evidence.

Though Loveland Pass is nothing close to the end of our journey, I felt such immense pride for the fact that our team has hauled a** on bicycles for all of the 11,990 ft of elevation needed to reach the summit. It truly is such an accomplishment, and one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. It reminded me of when Aarushi and I backpacked 23 miles to reach the destination of a beautiful secluded beach in Hawaii. The beach was beyond incredible and was cemented as one of our core memories. However, when we took a boat ride around the island a few days later and saw the same beach from an easily accessible boat, it lost some of its magic. I think the same is true with Loveland Pass, and with many of the other sights we see on this trip. They are all beautiful on their own, but their magic lies in the efforts we put in to reach them. To commemorate and remember the magic of the moment, Aarushi even made a playlist of the exact songs she was listening to as she made the ascent to Loveland Pass, which you can listen to as well!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KXkijetKE2GUsQVYVr6hn?si=pyNAk_ApTwqRRwptRjI9zA&utm_source=copy-link&pi=H6HMu_01TKCy0

After soaking up the views and taking countless photos, we took our lunch break at the top and huddled together with our blankets to stay warm against the wind. Inspired by Caroline’s past conservation efforts and a sign that said “NO LITTERING,” we even had our bravest soldier, Carmen, chase down a paper napkin that mischievously blew away in the brutal wind. To no one’s surprise, Carmen came out a hero.

During this lunch break, the team also informed me that they had met a group of three bikers called HDWND (Headwind) who were completely mogging us and attempting to bike across the country in 20 days rather than our 75, biking roughly 200 miles a day and, unlike us, taking extremely short rest stops. At the time this blog is being posted, they did, in fact, complete their journey in only 22 days!!

As you know, once you have reached the summit, it’s allllll downhill from there 😉

Lol, excuse my pun, but unfortunately Drew did start to feel some altitude sickness at the top, so he quickly shoved his sandwich in his face and started the next stretch to try and escape the worst of the elevation.

Tatiana’s Lunch:

1. 1 bottle of water
2. 1 gogo squeeze cinnamon
3. 1 gogo squeeze
4. 2 Advil
5. 1 sandwich with 2 slices of turkey, 2 slices of cheese, mayonnaise, 6 slices of pepperoni, and half a pack of guacamole 
6. 6 pickle slices
7. 1 glass of sweet tea

Drew’s Lunch:

1. 3 bottles of water
2. 1 bottle of Gatorade
3. 5 gummy worms
4. 1 sandwich with 4 slices of turkey, 6 slices of pepperoni, 4 pickles, mayonnaise, 2 slices of bread

On the way down, I blasted “I’m On Top of the World” by Imagine Dragons in my headphones, and enjoyed the most blissful 10-mile downhill of my life. Imagine speeding down a huge descent, never pedaling, and going 35 miles an hour from gravity alone, accompanied by insane mountain views. I think some may call this bliss, and I personally think this is the reward for all of the painful ascents our team has conquered on this journey.

To sweeten the pot even more, our next destination was Keystone, a ski village that is extra close to my heart, and the location where Ashley and her family would meet us! While we waited for them to arrive, Drew remained passed out on a chair to combat his elevation sickness, I took a lap on my bike around the village to reminisce about my childhood, and the girls on the team planned the ultimate crepe sharing rotation. We even met this extremely awesome biker who shared his own experiences with joyrides and “fast downhills,” teaching us some unorthodox fueling and biking strategies that I think our team may not be yet advanced enough to attempt.

Tatiana’s Keystone Snack:

1. 1 Arizona sweet tea
2. 1/5 coconut banana chocolate crepe
3. 1/5 brown sugar Nutella blueberry crepe
4. 3 bites of vanilla peak cookie
5. Few sips of Arnold Palmer iced tea

Drew’s Keystone Snack:

1. 1 berry lemonade soda

When Ashley and her family arrived, I was filled with love and appreciation for their immense efforts to drive across the state just to see and support me for a few hours. There are so many people across the country cheering me on, and seeing one of my best friends on the journey was icing on the cake.

You may think that the day simply cannot get any better, but it in fact did! Ashley decided that she wanted to ride the last segment with us, so Carmen generously let Ashley borrow her bike, and after some quick trial and error on how to get on and off a taller bike, as well as how to change gears and feel comfortable, Ashley was ready to rock and roll with us! Thank you to Ashley’s parents, who also agreed to drive Carmen back to the top of Loveland Pass to retrieve the car we had left there so that Carmen could fully conquer both the ascent and the descent of the Continental Divide.

We got a grand total of 2 miles in (during which Ashley was killing it and the trail was, in fact, beautiful), when we began to see lightning and hear rounds of thunder cross the sky. We had to take shelter at a gas station, where our team fell right into our usual routine of loitering around and looking at things we clearly have no intention of buying. This, of course, did not include Drew, who is apparently an insulator and not fearful of lighting, leading to him biking onwards on his own all the way to Breckenridge.

After waiting it out for a bit, the rest of the team followed in Drew’s suit and made it another few miles before we realized that the storm was not leaving any time soon. We pulled over at a shopping center and began discussing the best course of action to end the night, considering that at this point, it was already 8 pm. Drew was at the end, and it looked like the storm would not be passing for a few more hours. We decided that we would SAG Aarushi and me so that I could have dinner with Ashley’s family and so that Aarushi could blog and avoid biking in the dark, while Caroline, Nunu, and Nate wanted to finish the ride and would bike regardless of what time of night it cleared up.

With this, the Fishers and I began the process of attempting to fit the three of them, my bike, a huge package for their son, Kenny, and me into their small SUV. This required a bit of maneuvering, taking off my front wheel, some humor, and even some strength as we settled on a method that required me to hold up the bike for the 25 minute car ride. Finally, I got to experience an arm workout this summer 🙂

Once we arrived at our wonderful host, Alison greeted us warmly with a prepared dinner. We decided to eat in two shifts because Ashley’s family still had to drive back to Denver that night to see Kenny. Alison’s husband, Phil, is currently on a bike tour, so we had a wonderful time eating the delicious taco and burrito bar while discussing his journey and learning about his potential tattoo of bike grease on his calf. All of us were slightly bemused and inspired looking at the grease on our own legs and remembering that we share the same experience with bikers across the country!

Tatiana’s Dinner:

1. 1 tortilla burrito with chicken, fajita veggies, rice, cheese, salsa, beans, lime
2. Chips and salsa
3. 2 cups of water

Drew’s Dinner:

1. 4 bottles of water
2. Chips and salsa
3. 2 tortilla burritos with rice, chicken, cilantro, lime, tomatoes, onions, green salsa
4. 1 grapefruit sparkling water

With the day coming to a close, and my tracking being extremely diligent throughout the day, I decided it was time to run our food consumption lists through an AI agent at the dinner table to have a fun conversation topic of how many calories Drew and I had consumed that day. What began as a harmless question to Claude instead led to the AI agent expressing its concern for us and our eating habits, and not answering the question I had asked it.

For any curious readers, ChatGPT shared no similar qualms and spit out the exact answer I was looking for with zero hesitation. 

The overall results were that Drew probably consumed roughly 4,300 calories, and I consumed roughly 3,400. Considering that my Garmin says I burned 4,600 calories that day, we may in fact still be undereating, but what are numbers and tracking anyway?

With a humorous discussion on AI agents coming to a close, I finally said goodbye to Ashley’s family, hopped in the shower, greeted the second wave of bikers who arrived in the night, and then turned in on Alison’s wonderfully comfortable bed. Goodnight, and sweet dreams!

With love for food and downhills,

Tatiana ❤