BikeandBuild.org

Boulder, Colorado to Steamboat Springs, Colorado
highlights from each of the last few towns...
Boulder: Boulder is just wonderful, sometimes I wish I could have gone to school there. We stayed really close to Pearl Street Mall, so we spent a lot of time just walking around there exploring. There was tons of good coffee, a really cool vintage shop, and great food! The build day was the most organized one we have had so far. Build days are always my favorites. We helped prep for the second story to go up, we put up cap plates and joists.

Estes Park: 59 miles. One of my favorite days. We climbed all morning which I have surprisingly come to enjoy. The descent into Estes Park was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. We could see the city and the lake on our way down, got to go through a bunch of rock formations and were surrounded by mountains. It almost didn't seem real, it was absolutely breathtaking. We stayed at this alternative high school that is sponsored by Honda. It was up on this hill secluded from everything. We spent a lot of time outside relaxing and talking.

Granby: 86 miles. Trail Ridge. It was epic. Trail Ridge is the highest continuous motor way in the US. We got to an elevation of 12,183. The climb wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, it just took a long time. The wind at the top was so bad I had to get off and walk my bike, it was blowing us off the road. We could see everything from the top. There was a point where we looked down into the valley and could see the road we started on. It was incredible seeing how high we had climbed. I got to have dinner with Jamey and Jess. We went into Winter Park and ate, it was really good to see them and catch up. That night we had Bike&Build prom. I had the best date, Jen Carboni, we both looked phenomenal. I wore a green velvety dress and hers was pastel and striped. I was on prom court. It was a really good night.

[This was the view from close to the top of Trail Ridge, the road in the middle of the picture is where we started and the road to the right of that is the one we used to climb to the top, beautiful isn't it?]

[at the top of Trail Ridge]

Kremling: 26 miles. We got to sleep in until 9. Then got up and went to a coffee place across the street and had breakfast. We didn't leave the church until noon. The ride was really really windy but pretty short. We ate at a pub in Kremling and then went to our campsite and set up the tents and made dinner. It was really windy and got pretty cold. We watched fireworks at the town park downtown. It got really cold and rainy at night. Waking up the next morning was really slow.

Steamboat Springs: 52 miles. It was freezing! We were all in leg and arm warmers all day long. The ride was beautiful. We climbed for the first 33ish miles. Having beautiful scenery to look at makes the ride go so much quicker and seem much easier. We have crossed the continental divide three times, that is a big monument for me. It has always been really exciting when we drove over it to go skiing or visit family but I actually biked across it. The reality of what we are doing this summer hasn't caught up to me yet. I keep waiting for it, expecting to be overwhelmed with emotion at anytime. I think it will either happen when we get to Cannon Beach or when I get home and start to put together my video of the summer, when I am forced to sit and process through everything. Bike and Build has become my life now, the end is fast approaching and I am no where ready for this to end. I am really focusing on taking advantage of every moment of every day and learning to live in the moment. These people and these experiences are some of the greatest of my life. Life doesn't get anymore real than this.