Kremmling Baldy

We woke early and were on the road just on 6 AM. We followed the bike path further down the valley and across a huge dam...yes, there was both a road and a separate bike path across the top of the dam. They really know how to look after cyclists up here!

The dam was just above Silverthorne -- if it was ever damaged, the whole city would be destroyed by the lake above the dam.

As we rode through Silverthorne, I saw a couple of funny signs:
"We have elk, moose, deer and beef jerky", and "Dogs love elk horns. We have all sizes."
Only in America...

After Silverthorne, we rode along the highway, which wasn't nearly as bad as I expected: there was a wide shoulder to ride on, and only light traffic.  It was cold at first: 9 degrees in Frisco, but only 7 in the valley below Silverthorne. My fingers were freezing!

I saw a strange bird as we rode along the highway...it was big, black and purple with a long tail.

We reached a highway sign which told us our speed: we were traveling at 15 miles an hour, and the sign told us to slow down!

Further on, we passed through an area of forest which a sign described as a wildlife zone. The only wildlife I saw was a hummingbird hovering beside a tree.

We turned off the highway at the 28 km point, and immediately began to climb. By this time the sun had reached the bottom of the valley and the temperature had climbed to 18 degrees.

It was a 9 kilometer grind on the tarseal up to Ute pass, at 2,793 metres (9,165 feet) above sea level. The climb was steep, there was no shoulder on the road, and large trucks drove past every few minutes. The view, however, was amazing.

We passed a dead deer that seemed to have been killed by a car. About halfway up, we saw a handmade sign saying "look out for bikes". I wonder if it had been put up to help the Tour Divide riders.

After the pass, we raced down a steep descent to a huge mining operation. There was a helicopter flying above us with a sign saying "pipe inspection" on the bottom, and a bit further along we saw a huge truck used for moving the mine tailings.

The road became unsealed after the pass, but was smooth and slightly downhill. There was a light headwind, so I made good use of the aero bars for several miles.

We climbed over a gentle ridge, and I saw a red-tailed hawk soaring in the thermals overhead.

A few miles further on, we met the first riders of the day: Jon Cowan and Mark Meyers from Australia, and Jurgen Meijer from Holland.

About 20 minutes later, we met Rod Gemmell from the UK. He was riding with another man from Ireland. Rod offered to give us his bear spray. He said the race had been an absolute nightmare.

We rode down a rolling ridgeline towards a lake. We then headed across a flat causeway and began to circle around the edge of the lake. The land was dry, with low scrub all around.

The road undulated over low hills as it circled the lake. At one point, Gay pointed out a bird's nest on top of a power pole. In the nest was an American bald eagle!

I got off my bike to get a closer look, and the eagle began to make warning noises. 

 I was worried it would try and swoop at me, but a barbed-wire fence stopped me from getting too close. I also got lots of mosquito bites for my effort -- but I managed to take a few photos of the eagle and its nest, so I was happy.

We continued riding, finally leaving the lake behind, and reached the highway just on 12 noon. We had made amazing progress, and rode the last couple of miles into Kremling on the highway.

We rode to Jilly's Ice Cream Parlor for lunch. I had a cookie dough flavoured malted milkshake and a chicken burger with fries, followed by a can of (far too sweet) iced tea.

We met two Tour Divide racers at the ice cream parlor: Michael Docherty from Colorado and Jim Boland from Idaho. Michael told us about his experiences up north: 13 days of rain, sleet, and mud; how his rear tyre had been destroyed by a rock hidden in the snow and he had to ride slowly to town on a buckled wheel. He also talked about being trapped for four hours in a toilet block when he opened the door and found a grizzly bear outside!

We headed off to the campground, where Gay had left his car in storage. We're camping beside his car for the night before making our last push to Steamboat Springs. We covered 95 kilometers (60 miles) today, and climbed 700 metres (2,300 feet).

Tomorrow we've got about 125 kilometers (77 miles) to get to Steamboat Springs, with some huge climbs up from the Colorado river. Gay managed to offload about half his weight by putting everything he doesn't need into his car. I'm not so lucky; I managed to ditch about a kilogram of dinner food, a bar of soap and some wet wipes, but that's all I can get rid of. 

Somehow I suspect tomorrow may be a bit of a challenge!