Epic Bike Ride Day 25 June 21
Thoughts from Mark: Holy smokes, the climb out of Radium was BRUTAL! The dirt road was mostly rock, and the grades were 10-12%, with a couple of sections showing 16%! I had a hard time mentally processing what was happening, and I was on the “struggle bus,” most of the day. At some point in the afternoon, we encountered the leader of the GDMBR race (riding southbound). I didn’t really think a whole lot about it, as it looked like he didn’t have a lot of stuff packed on his bike, and he just gave a little wave and kept on going. As he passed, I noticed there was actually more things on his bike than I thought, and it hit me that this was the leader of the race. He was absolutely crushing it, and I found out later he was ahead of record pace (14 days and a few hours to complete the entire 2,775 miles)!
After seeing the leader, I continued to ride, and eventually we came to a section of the ride where Kelly and I would have to split up (it was near a lake, and bikes/walkers could walk across the dam, while cars had to drive all the way around). At this intersection, a truck was stopped, and a man was waiting outside of it. I asked if he was Ok, and he said the second place rider in the race was about to pass this spot. Kelly then drove on, while I waited with the man (Eric, a local). We talked for a bit, and he said he has always wanted to try the GDMBR, but has a small child, and “one in the oven,” so it might be a few more years. He was really excited that I was riding it, and promised to follow our journey. The second place rider then passed by, and Eric told him he was just 2-3 hours behind the leader. The rider said “No problem, it’s a long race,” and went zooming by.
After I crossed the dam, I noticed Kelly wasn’t there. I tried calling her on our walkie-talkie, but there was no answer. I tried many, many more times over the next half hour, but there was still no response. A thunderstorm was beginning to form, and I started to get nervous she had either gotten lost, or had a vehicle issue. Finally, I heard a small squawk on the walkie-talkie, and JUST as the wind began howling (probably 30-40 mph gusts), she showed up. We agreed that it wasn’t safe to ride anymore, so we called it quits for the day, and drove into Steamboat Springs for dinner. I had a delicious hamburger with cream cheese, bacon, and raspberry jam on it (don’t judge me, it was good), and even treated myself to a chocolate shake. After dinner, we drove back to the general area where we had stopped riding, and set up camp.
Thoughts from Kelly: Today was rough. I can’t remember much before that last hour when I got lost trying to find my way around the lake. Road signs have been lacking along this route and Mark and I always say, at least we will be lost together. Well this time, I was lost by myself. After a bit of yelling, cursing and wishing for help, I suddenly had phone service and was able to pin the spot Mark was waiting. Phew!!!! I finally found him and my emotions were fried and I started to decompress but Mark needed to get his bike loaded on the truck and himself in the truck for safety from the storm rolling in. We then decided to drive into Steamboat Springs for dinner and to watch game 6 of the Stanley Cup, I was then able to decompress my emotions and tell Mark all about my adventure while he shared his. We tried to find a place to stay in Steamboat Springs but there were zero hotel rooms and zero camping spots due to a baseball tourney and a music festival happening that weekend. We drove to some BLM land that was on the side of a busy highway and prepared for a noisy night.
Miles for the day: 40.90 Feet climbed today: 4,554
Total miles ridden: 1,115.95 Total feet climbed: 76,948