No mud, great views and a bed

Day 38. September 23rd. 39.6 miles. 1510 miles total! We were up with the cows wandering past our campsite, mooing, and headed to the beautiful sunlit field across the road. We had a steep mountain to climb and the first 4 miles were uphill. We will take hills over mud, any day! The last 1.6 miles we were pushing up a steep gravel and rough Rocky slope. It took us a little under two hours to reach the summit. Going down was chilly even though the sun was shining, because after yesterday’s storm, the temperatures have dropped a bit. Going down was slow because the backside was also very steep and very rocky. We stopped a few times to adjust clothing and eat snacks. In about 15 miles we passed one truck coming up the road, one motorbike coming up the road and one man on horseback with three dogs. Early afternoon we reached the pavement and stopped in the town of Clark for lunch. One building, a deli. Yeah! As we were pumping up our tires to finish the last 20 miles on pavement I bent over the core of my valve stem. I crossed my fingers and prayed that my tire would stay inflated for 20 miles into steamboat springs. It did. Phew. Tara pulled us through the headwind for 20 miles. Grateful for her strength! We had a couple of gravel bumps to go over but it was fairly uneventful. Steamboat Springs is a Town full of athletes and cyclists. Tara commented that we would hardly be noticed in this town with our loaded bikes, but right away a middle-aged man on a bicycle asked if we would talk with him, and his wife and friends about our trip. We feel like what we’re doing is very normal for us, even though it is a BIG adventure and we are continually surprised that people are a bit fascinated. During lunch we tried to find a place (scrolling on our phones….) to stay and were fortunate, on a Friday night, to book a bedroom in an Airbnb with a lovely couple. She (Donna) and her daughter both work for United. Her daughter was responsible for United Airline services in Portland, Maine for a couple years and just moved back to Colorado. After arriving and dropping all my gear, I stopped at a local bike shop to see if they could repair my valve stem and check my brakes. literally three minutes later I was back on the road! Thank you! We had fantastic beds and there’s a great large black Newfoundland named Ollie here. We showered and went out for some Thai dinner. Let’s just say we were in bed very early!