Had a different kind of morning today. Woke up with no plans to ride today. I didn’t get my snacks ready to load, didn’t check maps or make sure the bike was in good order. The riding part of my sabbatical is over.

Yesterday I left Grand Lake CO and rode Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park.  I had said farewell to Piers and Stefaan the afternoon before as the route they followed went south towards Breckinridge.  My route headed north.  Trail Ridge Road is a 48 mile scenic byway that is the highest continuous paved road in North America at 12,183’ above sea level.  On the way I saw moose and elk.  Also the remnants of another large forest fire.  It was sad to see a place I once hiked so devastated by fire.  I was both nervous and excited for the climb. My legs felt strong but this was still almost 3,000’ higher than I had ever ridden.  I put on my “big hills” music mix and started up the 12 miles of switchbacks to the top.  It was by far the most beautiful ride I have ever taken. I was told by a cyclist at the bottom, who was also climbing the trail, not to worry about cars.  He said they are very respectful of cyclists on the road.   He was so right.  I got lots of thumbs up, and encouragement. Some people took cell phone video of me climbing and one family pulled off to say how impressed they were for attempting the climb on a fully loaded touring bike.  

Towards the top I had to put my cold weather gear on because the winds were strong and it was really cold above tree line.  I ended up blocking traffic for the last ½ mile.  The wind was pushing me all over the place as it swirled around the top. With no guardrails and a narrow road I was not comfortable going to the edge of the road like I normally do when riding.  The 7 or 8 cars behind would just need to wait for me to grind up at 6ish mph.

As I approached the highest point I got a bit emotional and my fist pumping was almost involuntary. I made it. And it wasn’t just the top of the mountain that I made. I knew this was really the start of the end of my trip. I still had 50 more miles until I reached the end in Lyons CO and would be reunited with Mel and family.

From the summit, I then started a little down section and jumped into my fast gears.  Within a few seconds I was at 30mph and was the same speed as the cars. I used several pull offs to take pictures and videos until I did the next little climb.  Once I cleared the second high point, it was over 15 miles of exhilarating downhill. Speeds ranged between 25 and 38 mph.  That was with lots and lots of braking.  Few cars passed me and I had to slow for some ahead of me.  But the roads were smooth and I never felt out of control.   I did make several photo pauses on the way as I descended – couldn’t pass up those bits of scenery by going too fast.

I rolled into the town of Estes Park and had a sandwich. The next 20 ish miles were also mostly down but on a very busy road – so different than the relative solitude of much of the trip. I arrived in the town of Lyons about 4pm and was greeted by Melanie and her brother Will. My riding part of the trip was over. Still hard to imagine. I had completed 31 days of riding and rode up and over that part of the Rocky Mountains.

Upon arrival, I know I looked pretty shaggy (no shaving on the trip), my bike shows a lot more wear, and my coffee thermos is in rough shape from all the sand, grit, and such. I had ridden almost 1800 miles through all or parts of 5 states, crossed many mountain ranges and rivers. I had been rained on, snowed/hailed on and faced some strong winds from every direction. I had a total of 11 tire punctures and been to three different bike shops to deal with various issues. I lost 11 pounds overall. I slept in garages, motels, tents, bike hostels and basements – a different place every night. Most importantly, I developed a great friendship with Piers and Stef. They were a great blessing to have riding companions to share the experiences with. I met so many great people along the journey and had chances to pray with many of them. I spent hours and hours meditating on scripture and saw how God gave me insight on the verses that I will apply going forward. I know that friends and family have been my prayer supporters along the way and for that I will always be grateful.

I can’t express enough in writing the gratitude I feel for Melanie and her support for this trip.  She took on all the added burdens at home and supported me in every step of the way.  I am very blessed to have her at my side.

I write this as I look west with the Rocky Mountains painted by the morning sun.  It’s like looking back into all those miles and hours. However, this trip was planned to be the beginning.  I hope and pray the lessons learned during my 31 days of riding will be transforming for my future and for others as well.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading along.  I hope my writing has been a blessing to you as well.

One final thing…. So many people, like every day, have said “I could never do that”. Don’t believe that for one minute. I will have another post in a couple days to address that…. Stay tuned.