Grand County Weekend The Goal Day 1 Pee break number 1/n Twelve intrepid teammates taking the weekend by the horns! Onto the gravel! Try some #Gnarmac for breakfast #ItMayChangeYourLife The peloton rolls Lefthand with Dr B driving the pace. So, this happened. #ItMayChangeYourLife Wuuut! Is this real life? Or is this just fantasy. Things are getting pretty rowdy. It’s wet, we’re tired, it’s really cold and there is no oxygen up here. Attitudes are still holding together though… barely. #ItMayChangeYourLife Officially declaring this ride #Epic. So good. Sooooo good! Just beginning to descend from the continental divide. More walking than expected on the way up but the views also exceeded expectations by a large margin. Great evening for bike riding. It was a great morning too. Almost down the Corona Pass, maybe 20min to go, some boys are getting hangry. Day 2 Beautiful morning for #RoadsLikeThese #ItMayChangeYourLife Sunday morning #DirtChurch Pretty happy right now. #ItMayChangeYourLife “So guys, the next one is back up to the same elevation we just came down from. We’re on pavement for a mile, then right at the wilderness sign onto gravel. It starts gradually and then, uh <pause> uh, less gradual.” The Grouse Mountain climb was harder than I remembered. Like, a lot harder. No one complained. #ItMayChangeYourLife #SwitchbackSunday The short connection along Willow Creek Road (CO-125) was beautiful as always but with a block headwind blowing the camera stayed away until turning east on gravel back towards Grand Lake. Luckily, Willow Creek turned east with us and we continued riding along it for several more miles. Officially declaring this ride #Epic Also (but not photographed) Keith stopped 400ft before the top of the last gravel pass to eat a sandwich before summiting. #Priorities The descent back to US-34 offered some magnificent views south and east across MiddlePark to the Indian Peaks. They helped to distract from my knuckles that were starting to swell up from the abuse of two days of rough roads. #ItMayChangeYourLife My gravel companions and I hit pavement at 90 miles, a bit behind schedule. The pavement-only crew was 2 hours ahead and the van couldn’t realistically support both groups the remaining 90 miles home. It was decision time. Hitch a ride to catch up or double-down on the challenge and self-support all the way home. I took a deep breath… pulled up my socks… and soloed the final 90 miles over Trail Ridge and back to town.
