Today we rode from Brush Mountain Lodge, Colorado, US to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, US. Sunny / overcast weather. Road conditions included mainly gravel roads, and jeep tracks. Highlights of the day include Brush Mountain Lodge.
Riding statistics: on Thursday August 25, 2022, the 25th day on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route route, it took 06:46h (05:11h moving time), between 09:39 and 16:25, to cover 79 km (49 miles), including 1004 m (3294 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 15 km/h (9 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 24 °C (78 °F) with a minimum of 17 °C (64 °F) and a maximum of 33 °C (96 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 7 days, 8 hours, 55 minutes and 54 seconds of cycling time to cover 2612 km (1623 miles), including 29847 m (97928 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 15 km/h (9.3 mph).
Leaving Brush Mountain Lodge
For today we decided to join the breakfast as a group and we all decided to start at 8:30. Kirsten would make sure we could start eating at that time. A slept again wonderful, and came out of my tent at 7:30 so that I could pack the gear and prepare the bike. That way we could leave right after breakfast. Kirsten was really wonderful. We all got a big plate with some many burgers, an egg, and four pancakes. That was quite the breakfast. After saying our goodbyes we left, almost together with all the others. Later that day we heard the three Brits (dad + twins) did not leave and decided to stay one more day.
Climbing another pass
The Brush Mountain Lodge was located on a large climb. So we had to finish the climb immediately. After that it was nice riding with ups and downs. 10km later a very steep and difficult climb began. The major climb of today. Length:6km, elevation:450m. That in itself is no issue anymore, however the road conditions where that difficult that there were sections where we had to hike-a-bike (and really climb and push). Nevertheless it was an adventure. After the top we hoped for a smooth downhill, but unfortunately the road conditions where not any better. So no walking, but a careful downhill. You really had to choose your lines on the road between the rocks to make sure it went as smoothly as possible. And as you might guess, that was not always successful. Our bikes and gear got really shaken up today. It was also a long downhill so it was a bit tiring for the legs. But hey, no complaints over here. The (distance) views were again incredible. Eventually we got on a paved road and were in Clark. Not more than a big intersection with a General Store. But enough for us (ice-cream, and iced coffee for me).
Steamboat Springs
After leaving Clark we only had to ride 30km over a paved road with usually a broad shoulder and not too much traffic. Most people take care when passing cyclists. In Steam boat Springs we went to the KOA campground and requested a hiker/biker campsite. Fortunately, there were still available. We pitched our tents and called our preferred bike shop if they could make time available tomorrow for checking our bikes. Then we would already bring them today. At 5pm we were at the Orange Peel bike shop and they helped us immediately. My bike did not need much, even the chain was still OK. Only my gearing needed to be fine tuned, and that was easier in the shop than on a campground. It was done in 5 minutes (just tighten the shifter cable a bit and fine tune) and shifting is OK again. Thanks to these guys we are not forced to spent a whole day in Steamboat Springs. After that we went to he Best Boat’ and got a hamburger. It tasted well. After some showering and laundry it was time to go to bed.
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