Team 12 ending the ride at Casey’s Pond Senior Living (Steamboat Springs)

We have Finally left the colorful state of Colorado! Since the last blog, the team has ridden up and down the Rocky Mountains, held many fundraising events, and had many adventures. On June 12, we rode from Craig to Steamboat Springs. This begins the continuous climbing we endure while going further in the mountain state. Our team would ride and finish at Casey’s Pond Senior living community in town. When we arrived we got to present and display our team’s goal for Bike4Alz. We also connected and talked to the residents and hear their stories. Learning from those who are caring for people who have Alzheimer today is exactly what motives us even more to climb the enormous mountains to come.

The next next day was one of the hardest rides of the trip so far. Our ride from Steamboat Springs to Gould included the steep Rabbit Ears Pass climb and a tiring 72 mile ride. for the first 20 miles, the team climbed nearly 3,500 ft up to a total 9,430 ft of elevation. Our 2nd highest peak of the trip. With the weather turning frigid cold, the team layered up for the descent that was after the climb. Luckily, rain held up and we got to finish the day and ultimately ended the day at the campsite at Gould. With warm comfortable cabins and warm fires, we enjoyed the rest of the day with our new companion Dana Hesse from the Bike4Alz board. He was a tremendous help and great company all throughout the state.

Team 12 exploring Rocky Mountain National Park

From Gould we rode to Fort Collins where we stated the day climbing Cameron pass to 10,000 ft of elevation, marking our highest point on the trip. the rest of the day was the most beautiful descent of the entire trip so far. We carved through the mountain pass riding along the river on the way down. We saw wildlife of all kinds, fishermen, kayakers, climbers and more during the ride. The whole day of descending rested our legs as well. We stayed at United Methodist Church and had an event at New Belgium Brewing, both were arranged with the help of Scott Hapner of United Way of Larimer County. We had a rest day in Fort Collins and we got to spend it at Rocky Mountain National Park where we explored and hiked to a summit of 12,000 ft overlooked the entire surrounding mountain ranges.

Team 12 and Primal get together (Denver)

On June 16th, we left for Denver. while riding we took side trails and explored the University of Colorado Boulder. We got to ride on our first set of bike paths called the US 36 Bikeway into Denver. This was the first ride where the heat had really picked up and it took a toll on our energy. During our rest day in Denver we got a much needed sleep in morning along with getting necessary bike repairs done at local shops. Wheat Ridge Cyclery helped us out immensely with our mechanical issues. We explored more of Denver while grabbing lunch before our meet up with one of our main partners Primal Wear. The team got to meet with Stephen Blackband who gave us the tour of their facility and how their operation works with creating cycling apparel like they did with our very own cycling kits. The team even got to restock on cool cycling gear after many retired jerseys due to rough conditions. For the evening, the team got to enjoy another Rockies game against the Dodgers and it was a blast. We’re all slowly turning into Rockies fans since we saw them at San Francisco, Denver and will soon see them at Kansas City coincidentally.

Whistle Pig Brewery dinner (Colorado Springs)

From Denver we rode to Colorado Springs where we were pounded by a 25 mph headwind. That evening we held an event at Whistle Pig Brewery where we held a spaghetti dinner and cornhole tournament for the locals. It was an amazing turnout and we got to connect to lots of past team supporters. From Colorado Springs we rode to Limon. This marks the part of the trip where the team will be pilling on miles leading to longer days of riding. To finish up Colorado, we rode the annual 120 miles to Sharon Springs. We woke up at sunrise to prepare for the long day, not knowing what would happen due to a Bridge closing leading us to detour almost another 130 miles. We Made our way north instead of straight east which helped us with the wind. With no more than a tailwind and slight crosswind the team flew through the hot day ending it all in the McDonalds parking lot. McDonalds is turning into the light at the end of the tunnel for many long hard days and it motivates us to finish even faster. The goof people at United Methodist Church in Sharon Springs, Kansas, lifted our spirits with a great dinner and saw us off with an even better breakfast.

We loved Colorado for it was a very eventful and fun state. As of Sharon Springs we are officially half way through the trip. With 4 states down the team is in the thick of it all. We have already made unforgettable memories and we’re excited to make more along this 2nd half. The closer we get to home the more we get motivated to get on the bike and these long days in Kansas will prepare us for anything we’ll need to face for the rest of the trip.