Day 58 - July 31, 2013 - Silverthorne, CO to Kremmling, CO

Miles - 41

Total mileage - 1,645

Mel was feeling up to getting back on the bike today, so we geared up for what looked to be a mostly downhill ride into Kremmling today.  Silverthorne boasted a bike path to the outskirts of the city - always a welcome sight!

The first 12 miles or so of our ride was beautiful downhill surrounded by mountain views.  We didn't have to do much pedaling at all.  We saw a couple of eagles nests on some poles for power lines.  There was also a gorgeous rocky river flowing next to the road - ideal road for riding on!  

After the initial lovely downhill section, we ran into a few flat sections with some climbs.  One of these climbs almost took Mel out - as I said before, asthma and altitude are a dangerous combination!  She loaded her bike up on the car after this, and I pushed on alone.

True to Adventure Cycling style, their route took me around a reservoir the long, hilly way, instead of the short, flat way.  There was a town with a restaurant promised on the map, but it turned out to be closed when we got there...

I did get to cycle over another dam, and could see local kids cliff jumping into the reservoir.  It was another 15 miles or so to Kremmling, on a semi-busy highway with no shoulder and a speed limit of 65...luckily the traffic came in spurts and I could jump off to the side for a few minutes to let it pass.  There were also a few bigger climbs, but they aren't so bad on an unloaded bike.

After I rolled into Kremmling, we grabbed Chinese food for lunch, which we had been craving for some time and haven't had since Virginia!  It was before 2:00, and Rocky Mountain National Park was only about 30 miles away, so we decided to go check it out since my mom had never been there.

We got to see moose, elk, bighorn sheep, and marmots in the park, in addition to the beautiful scenery.

We ended up staying in Winter Park, a ski town that isn't exactly the height of tourism in the summer season, so everything closed at 8, except McDonald's...luckily I had brought half of my Chinese food from earlier with us!