Empire, Colorado

Woke up this morning feeling awesome. Last night I probably got the best sleep I have all summer, going to bed just before 10 and sleeping all through the night and waking up at 6. The day before wore me out, so it was nice to get some good sleep in. Today we rode from Breckinridge to Empire, which was only 45 miles, but definitely was not easy. I rode with Saurabh Mehta from Miami of Ohio and Kevin Dubbins from the University of Iowa. Kevin is a very interesting guy. He is doing this trip with a broken pelvis, which really slows him down sometimes. I have never seen him complain about being in pain, but when he is you can really tell he is hurting. We had 8 ride alongs today, which are people who pay to spend the day on the bikes with us. We left lodging at around 8 a.m. and quickly had to climb. The first climb was actually helpful because it warmed up our legs for what we had to come. About 10 miles in the real fun began. Today we climbed Loveland Pass, the highest highway in North America. The summit of the mountain was at 11,990 feet, and the climb was around 3500 feet long. It was such a great feeling getting up the mountain, and we were greeted at the top by the Build America team cheering us on. We waiting for everyone to get to the top, took some pictures and then got ready for the decent. Unfortunately all the waiting around caused Kevin to stiffen up and he was in so much pain he couldn’t lift his leg over his bike. Saurabh and I continued down the mountain for an awesome decent and rode the last 25 miles to lodging and finished first for the day!

We are staying at Rocky Mountain Village, which is a summer camp that works with people with disabilities. This week they are housing a group of people ages 14 and up and are doing all kinds of different activities. Last night after dinner every cabin did a skit, and our group did a dance. Build America is also staying here this week and they did a skit, but it definitely was not as good as ours. After the skits everyone went back to the cabins and went to bed to rest up for a full day of activities the following day.

Tomorrow we enjoy a day off in Empire, and lots of fun at Rocky Mountain Village!