Today saw the formation of Team Mountain Men, which included us men with overgrown and unkempt facial hair (sorry Mom). This included Tom, Andrew, Jesse, Ankit, Rob, and myself. We of course only communicated in grunts and growls.
The day involved two significant climbs. On the first one, I saw a biker a good distance ahead. Thinking it was a 4Ker, I pushed myself to catch up, only to find out it was in fact a 66 year old woman. Amazed, I biked alongside her for the rest of the climb. It turns out she was training for a bike ride she wanted to do with her son into Moab, UT. It was inspiring (and a good kick to my ego) to see this woman pushing the physical limits of the body at such an old age.
The downhill after the climb lasted a good 15 miles into a beautiful canyon, where we had a great burrito lunch at a rest stop. Following this year's tradition, it started to rain and we all huddled under a shed before be forced back on the road. After a few more miles of pleasant, yet wet and cold, downhill, we all learned the downside to being in a canyon – you have climb out of it. I found it weird when, at the top of the climb, instead of being at a picturesque peak, we looked out onto rolling plains.
We got what turned out to be one of our last glimpses of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains before continuing on to the little town of Naturita, CO. While sitting around at the school we were staying at that night, a few local kids came by with their BMX bikes to show us some tricks. We tried to imitate the wheelies, unfortunately to no avail. The only cool thing we could show off was our mud-covered bikes and bodies from the miles of wet and muddy riding.
We were treated to a great barbecue dinner and drinks at the local saloon, before hitting the hay, some of us later than others.
-Dan
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