Today we rode from Radium, Colorado, US to Silverthorne, Colorado, US. Sunny weather with afternoon thunderstorms. Road conditions included easy gravel roads and paved roads. Highlights of the day include climbing Ute Pass.
Riding statistics: on Saturday August 27, 2022, the 27th day on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route route, it took 12:44h (08:34h moving time), between 07:21 and 20:05, to cover 116 km (72 miles), including 1764 m (5788 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14 km/h (8 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 18 °C (66 °F) with a minimum of 3 °C (36 °F) and a maximum of 35 °C (100 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 8 days, 1 hours, 3 minutes and 10 seconds of cycling time to cover 2829 km (1758 miles), including 33150 m (108765 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.9 km/h (9.3 mph).
Leaving Radium
During the night there was a light rain, just a few drops. The night was pretty cold outside (not inside) but it meant the rainfly of the tent was very wet, both inside and out. The rest of the tent was dry. It was a cold morning and because a lot was wet, it felt cold. We were behind a mountain so no sun for us yet. We cleaned up, packed our gear, and started riding. Soon we got patches of sun and that felt great. Quite soon we had our first climb and it was a though one, legs were warm. Today was going to be a day with lots of climbing, maybe most on a day so far. We rode through beautiful canyons and pine + aspen forests. However, there were many people. It was a Saturday and there was an event for kayaks and other boats rafting down the river. Yes, the Colorado river, we biked along the Colorado river for a while.
Kremmling
Since we did not have a lot of food and water we decided to stop at the town of Kremmling. It was just off course but it had a grocery store. We ate a lot today (french bread with salami, chocolate muffin, yoghurt, banana, Frappachino). It was nice at a table in the sun. We also got the parts of our tents that required drying and that did not take long. After a while we decided to bike on. We still had a lot of distance to bike. During our afternoon ride the weather changed from totally sunny to thunderstorms and rain showers. If you think you avoided one, you ‘ll get the other. So we definitely needed our rain gear again today.
Ute Pass
A large climb that was part of the afternoon was climbing the Ute Pass. A long climb, with some steep sections, winding around a mining area. Unbelievable how the mining activity impacted the area. Large parts of a mountain have been scrapped off, and later we saw something that once was a lake but now used for some of the activities of the company. Not many animals in this area. It did contain a lot of signs that you were not welcome on their terrain. Fortunately the road was paved (and there was not that much traffic). Eventually we reached the top and had a spectacular view. After that we went downhill. It was great pavement, but somehow we are a bit more careful nowadays. After doing 70+km/h on a downhill with bike+gear, I realized it may not be so smart trying to get faster and faster on downhills.
Silverthorne
After the long downhill we turned onto a paved road, with fortunately a very wide shoulder. It was still 16km to the town of Silverthorne. Once we were there we booked two beds in a 4 person room in a hostel with also hotel facilities, and asked someone at the gas station where we could buy a good meal. The choose was for a Mexican Supermarket / Restaurant. I had a beef burrito and it was delicious. After that we went to our hostel (which looked very chique, completely in style as the rest of the town). Cleanup and go for a sleep.
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