BTC 2011 Day 5

Today has been a most welcome rest day. My body has felt tired and a little banged up. We were so excited at the end of the day yesterday that I neglected to report on a minor drama from early in the ride. Coming into an aid station after riding about 25-30 miles, Ken and I were riding with a large pack or "peloton" to be more efficient in the headwind. As the pack slowed, the rider in front of Ken swerved out, hit his wheel and sent him to the pavement. He went down right in front of me and I hit his bike and crashed too. We're both lucky and OK... Ken had some impressive road rash on his arm and leg and I have a bruised shoulder and a popped rib. Needless to say, we both felt it more today and appreciated the rest day. We also both really appreciated having Rochelle to patch us up.

After a lovely and leisurely breakfast at a local cafe with Ken and Audrey this morning, Leslie, Rochelle and I went for a magnificent 3-hour hike in the Maroon Bells Wilderness. All three of us couldn't stop saying "WOW!" for the entire time. The meadows and forests were lush green, the wildflowers were abundant, Conundrum Creek was rushing alongside our trail, and the majestic snow-covered mountain peaks surrounded the entire valley.





Along the way, Leslie gave Rochelle a graduate course in Rocky Mountain wildflowers, enthusiastically sharing her encyclopedic knowledge of the subject.





We braved crossing the rushing creek on a log...





And Rochelle even got a chance to play in the snow by the trail.





After hiking for a few miles uphill, we found a beautiful spot on the edge of a meadow to sit on a big rock and have our lunch, while looking across the valley at one of several waterfalls we had found, below the incredible mountain peaks.





We got back in the afternoon early enough to have a relaxing time by the pool with Jerry and Jeri, and complete a perfect "rest day".

Our relaxation ends tomorrow when we take off early morning for a long ride over Vail Pass (10,617 ft) ending in the town of Frisco. We'll spend the night in nearby Breckenridge and then we have another long ride Saturday over Loveland Pass (12,000 ft) crossing back over the Continental Divide again, ending up back in Central City where we started. After all of the riding we've done so far, we're looking forward to these final two days.

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Location:Aspen, Colorado