Day 21: Steamboat Springs, CO to Breckenridge, CO

We left Steamboat early the following morning, with the hopes that I will return to the local mountain town soon. Our team was joined today by Bruce Rogers, the founder of JOH who spends a few days each summer riding with each team. The route today was 105 miles and consisted of a monster climb early on. As soon as my paceline started to ascend, my chain on my bike snapped in half. I thought I would be done for the day but a quick run to the bike shop put me back on the road 30 minutes later. We had great views as we ascended to the summit of over 9500 feet across the Continental Divide. Basically, all the water east of the divide flows to the Pacific and the water to the west flows to the Atlantic. We had lunch at a hidden lake between mountain ranges and saw a few boaters. The new fun game to play on the road is called Mount Rushmore, where each person chooses the best four things in a certain category, whether its summer songs, drinks, etc. I had to drop back to the sweeps because of my broken chain so we were the last ones to head into lodging. About 100 miles into the ride, we were directed onto this beautiful bike path that heads into Breckenridge. The Rogers family hosted an outstanding catered dinner of pasta, salmon, chicken parmesan, and desserts at the Sauce on the Maggie, a restaurant at the base of the mountain by the chairlifts. Afterward, our team explored the downtown Breckenridge area and talked with curious locals about our journey thus far.

Have you seen a better looking group of guys?

If you forget an item in lodging, you have to dance to get it back. I'm convinced Henry purposely loses items just to dance.

Action shot heading into a crew stop

Me and my gurl Tammy. You have to ride 1000 miles before you name your bike and Tammy Trek stuck out to me.

Guys being dudes

Continental Divide

Artsy

Peep this mountain in the background!

Base of Breckenridge Mountain