Blood, Sweat and Beers

After a day meandering through Steamboat including a stop at Orange Peel Bike Shop where Jasper got a new rear tire, Joshua replaced his broken (and repaired with duct tape) rack and freehub that had been making sounds like a dying goose for the last 1.5 weeks we returned home. Our second dinner in Steamboat easily overshadowed the first. Grass-fed beef hamburgers along with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables complimented by some of Colorado's own Dales Pale Ale followed by chocolate croissants for dinner were just the thing we needed to start bright and early the next morning.

But for some reason, Joshua decided to get sick the next morning. We had a slow start, but still managed to ride over 50 miles despite Joshua losing both his breakfast and lunch. Needless to say Joshua has not had the greatest appetite over the last couple of days as he has struggled to recover while still managing to make it over 150 miles from Steamboat Springs to Breckenridge in under 3 days.

Crossing the headwaters of the Colorado River just before riding to Kremmling on the way towards Breckenridge reminded us of how far we have come. As we rode into Kremmling for a short resupply we spotted the familiar face of a river guide we met alongside the Colorado River earlier that day. He offered us a refreshing sip of his orange juice as we recovered from the heat and Joshua recovered from his crash earlier that day. And just like that, we were on our way down the road as he hitch-hiked to his next adventure.

the 30 miles into Breckenridge the next morning were mostly uneventful as we passed through the countless outlet malls that were littered about Silverthorne. The motivation of a baseball coach, "looking good boys" as we climbed away from Silverthorne was all we needed to get outta there. As we neared Breckenridge, we began to think that the day would be just as easy as we thought it would be, but alas it was not. Just 2 miles outside of town, the rain began. Then came the Hail along with the thunder and lightning. By the time we made it to the post office for our resupply (thanks Moms!), we were completely downtrodden. If it were not for some friendly passersby who happened to be fellow cyclists (and to whom we are immensely grateful!) who offered us their condo, hot tub, dinner, and best of all beer from Breckenridge Brewery (Lucky IPA and a vanilla porter) we surely would still be shivering and miserable. It's like Christmas come early!