Day 10 Monarch Pass, CO to Gunnison, CO

Today we woke up nice and early! The air was chilly and everything was full of dew. To our surprise our AMAZING route leaders had set up a pancake and bacon breakfast for us to help fuel our final three   miles of our climb up Monarch Pass. Some cool kids decided to rock it down the mountain in their Hawaiian shirts! 

We finished the last 3 miles of our climb and made it to the top of the pass. We checked out the give shop and then took the gondola up to the peak. 

The descent was next and my goodness I was scared. Almost 30 miles of curves going straight down the mountain. Sara was AWESOME and stuck with be for a lot of the downhill to make sure I made it.

We did a quick stop to refuel then went on too a Gunnison. 

One of our riders Linda, who completed the Northern Tier route last summer and has MS, bought us all lunch/dinner. She found out about the ride after having seen the group of riders 2 summers in a row climbing monarch pass.  She is an amazing person who is truly an inspiration on how to live a positive, active, and joyful life! We ate at an awesome BBQ place called 5B's. After an amazing pulled pork sandwich we headed to camp! We showered up, did some laundry and waited out some rain. Then a few of us ventured out to a local brewery, Gunnison Brewery! 

After a few beers, tons of $1 fish tacos, and some great games of pictionary we headed back to camp and called it a day! 

Day 8 Westcliffe,CO to Monarch Pass, CO

Today we woke up and got ready to

leave our camp site for the infamous climb up Monarch Pass. This is a 11,386 ft climb to the top. We started with a great little breakfast at the Happy Day Cafe. I had amazing homemade doughnuts. They were delicious! We headed for our first rest stop in a little town called Cotopaxi! We entered the town with a great steep descent. The town was on a beautiful river, and it had a very cute little general store. 

From here we were kept on to the town of Salida. An amazing little mountain town with great shops, restaurants, and bars. We had lunch at a local pizza brewery. 

We wondered around for a while checking out the stores and bike shops. After a couple hours in town we made our way up the mountain to climb monarch pass. It was going to be a steep climb up the mountain, to our camp site about 3 miles from the top. We made it about 5 miles then we ran into a local brewery. So we needed to stop. I just tried a few beers since I had a big climb ahead of me. 

After that we took off! We headed up for the climb and it was getting steep! Slowly but surely we made our way. About half way up it started to rain and get cold. We slowly kept climbing and Kurt caught up to me! He pushed me through the last 2 miles into camp! 

The camp site was beautiful! It was located deep in the wooded area.  It was freezing cold and wet. I set up my tent and cooked some dinner with my jetboil. Then it was bed time! I was spent and tomorrow was going to be another big day! 

Day 7 Peublo,CO to Westcliffe,CO

Today we left pueblo to head to Westcliffe, CO. Today we were heading for the first climbs since the flat roads of Kansas! We left earlier and headed right for the roads. Not to long into the trip I was riding with Sara and she got her first flat since Virginia! So we stopped and fixed it and were on our way! All was good again. 

Then.....not to much further down the rode I joined the flat tire club! I got my first flat and so we stopped and patched my tire. Everything was good for about 10 minutes then psssssssss flat again! This time I needed to replace the whole tube. Once we got this taken care of all was good and we were back to climbing! 

The temperatures starting raising pretty quick and so did the elevation! We made it to the first rest stop hot, tired, and really thirsty! We filled our water bottles and were surprised with Popsicles. Ahhhh so good! We kept on up the mountain in the blistering heat. It was rough, and we decided to pull off in the shade for a minute! We had about 8 miles of climb left till the next rest stop! It was rough! Then, out of nowhere we a miracle! Cassie, one of the route leaders, was waiting on the side of the road with more Popsicles and fresh ICE cold water! Just what we needed to recharge us a little further up the mountain! 

We got to rest stop number two and chilled and ate lots of food and just enjoyed our break. The mountains and views today were unreal! We kept up our climb and descent into Westcliffe. The views seriously took my breathe away. 

We camped at a great little RV park on the edge of the mountain side. What an amazing sunset to fall sleep too! 

Day 6 Pueblo, CO Rest Day

Today was a rest day! I had a few things to get done and the group had some things planned. 

I rode up to the coffee shop for a so missed iced coffee! Then I grabbed a cab to get a package at FedEx. My cab driver was very nice and I told him all about our trip! Then as a group we headed to complete a service project for a lady named Michele. She has MS and needed some basic chores and yard work done! The gang rolled in deep to help. We washed windows, dusted, cleaned, trimmed bushes, and planted flowers! It felt great to help give back and make such a big difference in someone's life! 

After the service project I went to the bike shop and got some essentials. I also cleaned my chain and got everything ready to go on my bike for the first climb day tomorrow! 

The team welcomed 4 new riders, and said goodbye to the youngest member of our team. We had a very long dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant. While eating dinner Claire, one of the route leaders, premiered her video. She puts together footage from all the days on the trip! What a great job she did! 

Tonight will be the last night to rest up in a bed before making it over the mountains!! Nervous and excited for the first day of riding and climbing in the Rockies!!! 

Day 5 Haswell, CO to Pueblo, CO

 HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!! And a happy birthday to Wendy, one of my fellow teammates! She is amazing and super sweet lady! 

We woke up pretty early to get a jump start on the day! This wasn't to hard since I barely slept, due to the creepy town and the insane winds blowing my tent. I rode with a different group of riders today and was feeling strong! I flew to the first rest stop! 

I didn't stop too long, then I headed out. I was pumped to be riding this beautiful country on the 4th of July!!! Heading to the next stop feeling good! We got to Ordway and had a quick brunch. The sun had heated up the day and it was hot!!! We had 30 miles left till the next stop and I was pushing it! After nearly being attacked by a wild dog, thanks to Chris for scaring him away for me, we made it to the next stop! 20 miles to go until Pueblo!  I felt the anticipation raising as we approached! Ready for a hotel, a rest day, a service project, and a fireworks celebration! 

Staying at the Santa Fe Inn in Pueblo was nice!!!! Hot shower, laundry, and a bed to sleep in! 

We headed to get some dinner, celebrate Wendy's birthday, than to the fireworks celebration! As a group we went down to the Riverwalk to listen to the band play as we watched fireworks! 

After that we headed out to celebrate a little more! Tomorrow will be a much needed rest day! 

      !!!!!!!!!!!!HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 4 Tribune KS to Haswell CO

Today was the day I have been waiting for! Crossing the boarder to Colorado, and entering the first state that I will be riding ALL the way across! We started the day off with a short 16 miles ride to the boarder! I rolled over the state line and welcomed the wonderful land of Colorful Colorado! 

We celebrated this wonderful event and kept riding 63 more miles to Haswell! Along the way we met some great people who wanted to talk about our ride and a great 97.5 year old veteran who told us stories from his time in the war! The people I've met along the way have been unreal. The ride went by well, one girl I've been riding with had a few flat tires, so we waited with her while she fixed things up! 

We rode on to our stop on Haswell, CO which was the creepiest yet most unwiue place I've been so far! The run down town of about 70 people was pretty quite! A lot of riders had also decided to push on through to Pueblo to meet family or enjoy a little more time of a rest day! I stayed with the group and we camped out! Around the teeny tiny town were a few run down buildings and the most disgusting port-a-potties I have ever seen

A run down and very cool old Texaco Station!

Tent city! Very fine establishments! 

Tomorrow, the Fourth of July and Pueblo, CO! 

Day 3. Dighton KS to Tribune KS

Woke up perusal, got my things packed up and got my bike together! Today we were going 70 miles to Tribune KS. I was feeling pretty sore this morning and it was pretty chilly! I made it through the first rest stop and things were looking a little low! The skies were dark and there were some rain showers coming in! 

I went with one of the route leaders and helped her grab the mail from the post office. Tribune was a set mail drop so there were a TON of packages! We set up tent in a town park near the pool and tennis courts. Then we walked down the road to the most amazing little restaurant ever! It was called Elliot's and it specialized in local, fresh foods and craft beers from KS and CO. We spent a good amount of time here, became friends with the owner, and managed to get free tshirts to help him advertise. Beyond that he was very supportive of our ride! He posted our stickers in the window! 

We managed to find our way back to the camp site and get ready for the next day, COLORADO!!