Snow mountain ranch YMCA to Denver Christian school - 140km, not 129.

The best day of the tour for me as far as the beauty of nature is concerned! Up at 5:30, I went through the morning routine asap and left at 7:30am. The visit to the 5000 acre YMCA facility was great - and my air matress did survive the rough camping ground! We had pancakes and bacon for breakfast - very popular with the cyclists. The area towards Winter Park, a ski town, is very scenic with colossal mountains on the other side of town. There are numerous ski resorts all around, also famous ones like Aspen.
In the town there was a carnival atmosphere, as it is Saturday and art and craft fairs were taking place. There are exceptional bronze works of art in town, a double life size moose bull by R B Tate, and two depicting the pioneers on their horses (by Remington). One depicts a pioneer cowboy breaking a young bucking colt, and the other one really touched my heart, as it shows a pioneer going down a very steep mountainside on his horse, with the animals' nose almost touching his hooves and ears hanging because of the stress and exhaustion. It reminded me of the extreme sacrifices of man and horse for many years, to make it possible for us to enjoy this easy and safe life style today, and smooth highways to drive on.
Right after Winter Park we started climbing slowly at an easy grade. I happened to come across Jim Holwerda and we chatted about life issues while climbing the initial approach to the real pass. It was so interesting to hear about his ministry among substance abusers and mental health, that the miles flew by. We noted that many cyclists are starting to share about emotional issues or struggles they face personally, as the trust grows in the group. Last night when we said goodbye to those who are leaving us, there were many emotions shared, as Pastor Len gave each one a turn to greet the group and then someone else could say some good things about that person. It is amazing how closely knit the friendships in this big family of ours grew in only 4 weeks....maybe because we struggle, sweat, laugh and eat together so much.
At the first switchback Cory waited with water and the portajohn. Dear Cory is very meticilous about his job, He stood next to the road to welcome us all with a cheer and always a smile.
The climb started with a sharp kick up at maybe 7%, for a mile, then switched back again. Ascending vehicles roared by, especially the heavy ones. Soon our very own gear truck came around the switchback, honking happily at us, and I got a nice picture of our "home away from home"! The road went on switching back like this for many miles, and I stopped at scenic areas to admire the pristine mountain views! Near the top at 11,300 feet was a place with a breathtaking view of the whole mountain range. Kodak moments followed. I rode with Jim Holwerda and later with Markus Lise as well for a while. Took nice pictures of them, as I do for many others as not many cyclists can do photos in motion while riding. (Balance/coordination/craziness issue). The grade of the pass was not as difficult as Wednesdays'. The traffic was very intense and their emissions and the lack of oxygen above 9,000 feet were the biggest challenges, as it weakened many of us. I could only climb at a slow steady pace, to avoid blowing up and panting too hard. The mountains really fascinate me....I can't stop admiring them. The views are stunning, to say the least! Still lots of snow on the summits. It saddened me to see the devastation that the beetles are doing to the trees. Whole mountainsides look reddish-brown because of millions of dead trees. apparently it is because of global warming that these beetles don't die off in winter any more, so they attack the trees in vastly overwhelming hordes, totally out of control. The dead trees don't sponge up water, which runs down in greater quantities causing erosion and floods below. What have we humans done to this fabulous and generous earth that God has given us to live on?
At the top of the long, long pass some C2C friends were waiting with water melon and jelly beans. Awesome! The views were absolutely breathtaking!!! The downhill on the other side went really fast, but I had to feather the brakes continuously as the sharp switchbacks, cross winds and heavy traffic made it dangerous. Did reach 74km/h at some spots. We descended into a beautiful canyon leading down to Denver. We shared it with a fabulous river with rapids and trout, and the highway. This pass was just a delight for me to ride! The sheer beauty that God created all around gripped me deep in the heart, and the wind dried some tears of exuberance and thankfulness from my cheeks as my bike flew down unaided. What a delightful, willing, smooth and fast little thing it is...such a joy and blessing to ride! A few times on the down I stopped to photograph the towering majestic mountainsides above and the rushing rapids below.Along this narrow canyon there were many small towns that were very touristy, alive with people. By this time I rode with Dale Dowry, a fast strong guy. It was fun seeing the many picturesque small towns squeezed into the canyon. The river gets used for commercial white water rafting. After a Pepsi in a village, halfway, we continued. Some local church members had freezies for us where the road twists around sharp bends in a narrow "gulch" I think it was called. Dale and I had great fun whipping around those bends at 50 to 60km/h, and many times we went faster than the cars or motorbikes could, so by the time we saw the C2C welcome posters and freezies we could not stop in time and just waived and shouted our thanks.
Some of the way we rode on a bike path. Our fun had to be tempered with two more long uphill grinds in the heat of the day, but we survived. Many groups of motor bikes, vintage cars, 50cc mopeds and lots of cyclists passed us from the front. Everyone is having a great summer!

We arrived at the school at 4:30ish and were overwhelmed by the warm welcome. Upbeat music was playing and a MC welcomed us to a table of cold drinks and cookies. We've never been welcomed like this before! The Christian school is so kind to let us use their nice facilities, and internet in the lab. We could sign up for a free haircut, which I did, and also a sight seeing tour tomorrow. About 2 dozen of us are billited out to hospitable homes. Tonight we had an ice cream social....mmmm!
Our sweep team had to clean out the gear truck - everything to be removed and the shelves and floor washed (hosed) off and dried. Big job, as we were only 4 as some went with the young jocks on a different route for the day in which they climbed the highest paved road in North America, and did 225km, up to 14 210 feet of elevation. They were freezing when they went above the tree line. One girl , Eritia, went with the group of 8 guys. Brave girl!
One great young guy, Tyler Buitenwerf, fell off his bike today and broke his shoulder in 2 places. He is OK but to his utter disappointment won't be able to continue the tour. This accident happened in a paceline when the front runners braked suddenly without warning and wheels touched. We thank the Lord that Tyler's injuries were not worse.
Just heard that the sprinklers on the field went off and some tents got it! See....NEVER trust a sprinkler head....looks dead, but they are silently conspiring underground to catch us unawares!