:O

Being greeted with this view from 9,300 ft after climbing for 5 hours is really something else. It's a tremendous feeling especially with endorphins from the climb coursing through your system. The picture doesn't do it justice either. It needs a panoramic view.

And that was pretty much my day: said goodbye to Mom and Dad then up up up up dowwwwwnnnn. Finally it was pretty much flat as I rode along the Arkansas River.

The down is actually the scary part because you're going so fast with limited visibility (winding mountain roads). You can't just ride your brakes either because you'll burn right through them. So I just tried to keep it around 30 mph alternating brakes as needed. It seemed to work out.

The way up was really really hard. People said it would be gradual, but I had miles and miles of very steep terrain. I'm pretty sure they put something in the asphalt on the steep parts to make it more sticky too. I stopped for a break and when I lifted my shoe the bottom was covered in tar. I had to sit in a bunch of rocks to dig some of it out to make my clips operable. It's still covered in the junk.

Other than that, my new camelbak is awesome. Hydration is now trivial and I've got a bunch more storage capacity. Grabbing a water bottle on a steep incline at 4 mph is really hard. Taking a sip from a camelbak is really easy.

I was going to try the new tent out but the bunk house at the campground I'm at was just too temping. Tomorrow I'll definitely be giving it a whirl though.

I'm in Coaldale, CO. I rode 84 miles but tomorrow won't be so long since I plan on staying up and not going down.

I saw a bunch of horned goat like animals lounging in the sun. I almost missed them but some pickup truck stopped an took pictures.