TA 2 - September 20

Today was a gorgeous day. Lots of variety too - in terrain, traffic, and levels of civilization.

We turned onto CO-9 right out of Kremmling and soon crossed the Colorado River once again.  The light out here is amazing, especially in the mornings.

Nice views towards the mountains, and a wide shoulder for about 13 miles.

At that point we took an 11 mile detour on beautiful Heeney Road which went around the Green Mountain Reservoir.  Just about no traffic and stunning scenery the whole way.

All good things must come to an end, though. Back on CO-9 at 24 miles. The traffic had picked up considerably. Definitely the heaviest traffic of the trip so far and the noise was pretty annoying. For the first 4 miles there wasn’t much of a shoulder but the drivers were pretty tolerant. Still great scenery but not much of a chance to enjoy it until we got a good shoulder back.  And by then a significant headwind had returned so there was no free ride.

The increased traffic should have been a hint. After almost 2 weeks of bison and sagebrush we were suddenly in the midst of an outlet mall in Silverton CO!  These gloves called to me in the Pearl Izumi store. Nice warm gloves for those cool mornings.

It was then a final few miles on a bike path through Silverton and into Dillon. Dillon is situated on the shores of the lovely Dillon Reservoir, and it looks like a great place to spend our “free” day. We’re at over 9000’ here, and some of the women are starting to feel the effects of altitude. On Sunday we cycle over Hoosier Pass so this will be a nice day to rest up.  Judging by the number of  downhill ski resorts in close proximity it seems there is lots of money around here.

Stats for the day:
Kremmling CO to Dillon CO
69 km. 43 miles.
3198 feet up. 1277 feet down.
Temp:  7C to 26C. Beautiful weather and light all day. Some headwinds for the last 15 miles.

We’re about halfway through the trip now. Here are the cumulative stats:
911 km. 566 miles.
26,466 feet up. 20,902 feet down.
11,064 calories burned.
0 pounds lost.