Today's Miles = 59.3
Average Speed = 13.8 mph
Maximum Speed = 34.5 mph
Total Miles = 2592.1

After spending the morning doing laundry and tuning my bike, I rode out of town on a bike path that connects a string of Colorado mountain towns. From Breckenridge, through Frisco, Dillon, and Silverthorne, it was like I was riding through a motion picture stereotype of life in the Rocky Mountains.

Along the way on the path John, a cyclist who was having mechanical problems, waved me down. We walked our biked and talked for a bit and it turned out he had ridden cross-country back in 1986. John asked me a question that I've been hearing more and more.

"What's your favorite part of the ride so far?" It sounds like a simple question, but one I struggle to find an answer to every time. The greatest thing about what I'm doing is the experience in totality, and trying to think of a favorite part seems like asking someone who has just walked through the woods what their favorite tree was. I certainly value the time to think and reflect, and seeing the country at a bicycle's pace has been tremendous, but I really don't see how I can point at any individual experiences and say that they were the best so far.

As I rode towards Kremmling I was somewhat between a proverbial rock and a hard place. Stopping in Kremmling would mean quitting after a relatively short and easy ride, but riding any further meant committing to an additional 60 miles with no food, water, camping or lodging along the way. I had pretty much settled on the idea of just riding until sunset forced me to guerilla camp, but as I passed through Kremmling I spotted a family of cyclists and stopped to meet them and chat.

Gil, Peggy, Eric, and Aunders are a family of four who started riding in Plymouth Rock and have merged with the TransAm trail. The thing that gets them most noticed is that they ride a single bicycle with four seats, so that the entire family can be together while they are on the road.

After talking for awhile I joined the four of them for dinner in a local restaurant, and when we were done it was close enough to sunset that I didn't see the point in riding any further for the evening. They had pitched their tent at the Red Mountain RV Park in town, and I decided to do the same. The nice folks there gave me access to power and a phone line for the night, so I was able to update my web page before hitting the sack.