biking and building, mostly biking: Rocky Mountain High!

It's been an incredible few days.... We aren't simply riding our bicycles through the Rockies, which would be challenge enough, but we are riding centuries through the Rockies. We rode 118 miles to Colorado Springs on our eighth day of riding in a row (and our second century in three days0. Not only was this our longest mileage, but it was extra challenging because of the terrain - there was a 15-mile stint in the middle of the day on a gravel road, aka a breeding ground for horseflies. And our final 20 miles were on Academy Blvd, where no cyclist should ever ride for fear of busy streets with impatient drivers and construction. Luckily, we had a day off to recover - except that Eric’s sister Liz, her friends Gina, Jill and Jonathan and my friends Greg and Mike Vogel, Dave Lund and Krista came to visit - so we didn't exactly take it easy.

But we left Colorado Springs stronger than we arrived and ready to conquer some serious mountains!! Our first day through the Rockies was a beast, as you can probably imagine. We were gaining the initial elevation to get into the front range, which was no easy task. Also, no one was quite sure what to expect out of these large hills nor the drivers that chose to seee them via car/bike/motorhome. And, certainly, no one expected to bike three passes the first day! It was quite epic, and I'm not sure words can do it justice so pictures follow: