QUICK STATS

It was nice to wake up in a warm, soft bed again. And at the same time it wasn't, because that meant we hadn't actually made it anywhere yesterday.

Hoping this morning would go better than the previous day, we got up and packed up everything again, and got ready to go. April reminded me that some of her gears were skipping again. Since we were inside, we didn't really have a way to hang the bike like I usually do, so April had to hold the back of wheel off the ground while I adjusted the derailleur.

While she was holding the bike up, she started to feel bad and then broke out in a total sweat, complete with chills! We paused for a bit and she felt a little better, so we decided to go outside and see how she felt after riding a bit. Not really a great way to start for the biggest pass on the trip!

Before leaving Keystone (again), we headed back to the bike shop to say goodbye to Ryan and get some wind and waterproof shoe covers we'd seen. They only had April's size, but they were about half the price of any shoe covers we'd come across on our trip...and let's face it, soggy, cold shoes are about the worst thing ever, especially if they are soggy and cold from the day before! Ryan wasn't there, but we did get the shoe covers.

We had heard there was a bike path that would take us around the short side of the lake toward Breckenridge so that we wouldn't have to ride on the narrow road. I thought I had found it, but soon the "bike path" ended and five miles later, we found ourselves back at the intersection where we'd started the path. So, I decided we were just going to stick to the road! I guess maybe the only up side was that April was starting to feel better.

On much of the trip, we've run into businesses and places closing down because the season is ending. In Breckenridge, we had the opposite problem with the same result. Most things were closed because the ski season hadn't started yet! But we did find a Subway and split a $5 footlong before starting the uphill climb.

Pretty much as soon as we left Breckenridge the climbing started. And in addition to the climbing, we had a head wind! Boo! For the first nine miles, it was a pretty gradual climb, but we still stopped every mile because of the high altitude. As we got within three miles of Hoosier Pass the switchbacks started and we began stopping every half mile. For the last mile, we ended up stopping four times! It was so steep and the air was so thin, we could definitely tell we were tiring way faster than on other passes. As we climbed higher and higher we could feel the temperature dropping as well!

We finally made the pass! Woo-hoo!! I thought it was kind of funny that the two signs next to each other had different heights for the pass, but the newer one, the one in the pictures, said we were now at 11,539 feet (the older one, the placard on the rock, said 11,542)!

As we went down the other side we realized we had hit a major milestone on our trip: we were leaving the Rockies and headed for the plains. We still have a couple days of mountains left, but this is the beginning of the end of our time in them. Kind of sad and kind of exciting at the same time.

The first town we came to on the other side was Alma, the highest incorporated city in North America at 10,578 feet. We stopped there at a coffee shop and had something warm to drink. We met some people from Michigan (near Detroit) and talked to them for a bit. Then it was on to Fairplay!

At Fairplay, we got some groceries and ate a meal. While we were eating, a trucker that was refilling the propane cylinder exchange started talking to us. He said he had seen us going over the pass and wondered why anyone would do that! He also told us that Hartsel, the town we were planning to go to, pretty much had nothing.

This news, in addition to the fact that it was looking stormy and would be getting dark fairly soon, prompted us to decide to stay in Fairplay. We heard there was free camping in Reservoir Park so we headed for it. On the way we stopped at a church, but they said we couldn't stay there.

When we arrived at the park, there were big signs that said "camping by permit only", but none of them said anything about how to get a permit, nor was there any information on any of the other sign boards about getting a permit! Because it looked like rain, April wanted to try some more churches, but we decided if nothing came through, we would just camp there and explain why we didn't have a permit if anyone checked.

One church April got a hold of interviewed her quite a bit about us and our trip, then said they would call back in a little while. When the lady called back, she said the church no longer housed bikers, but that she had contacted the Salvation Army and they would help us get lodging at one of the local hotels! Then she gave us another number to call.

Not sure quite what to expect, April called the new number. The lady who answered, Gayleen, said that there was a room for us at the Western Inn and just to tell the desk that she would be by to pay later! Wow! That totally blew us away! A free night in a hotel!

In talking to Gayleen when she came to pay, that is just one way this particular Salvation Army chapter has decided to use the money they raise (they have to raise their own funds): helping travellers coming through Fairplay with their travel needs! We had no idea the Salvation Army did such things, especially for people like us. But Gayleen assured us they did and that they were happy to be able to help!

Our room at the Inn was huge, complete with a king size bed, wi-fi, and a continental breakfast in the morning! Sweet! If God keeps doing things like this we're going to be spoiled!!

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