What better else to do than to ride 200 miles in 2 days?! On Friday morning Ben, our dear, dear British friend Chris, and myself began our 2 day, 200 mile bike adventure to Walden. With just small backpacks full of mostly cookies and a few overnight essentials (for me that included an extra pair of cycling shorts, casual shorts and shirt, a light pair of shoes and a toothbrush; for Chris that included those items already mentioned plus dental floss, deodorant, and probably mouth wash too), we started our journey at 5000 ft, headed up and over Cameron Pass at 10,300 ft, and then literally got blown into Walden at 8000 ft. Cameron Pass is still blanketed under a lot of snow and the temperatures were just hovering in the 50’s so we had to sorrowfully put on most of our extra clothing to keep warm - much different than the 80+ degree temperatures I had just experienced on Mt Hood a week ago - but the views made it worth the extra chill. After navigating our way into Walden (this consisted of one turn since we left Ft Collins), we cruised right up to our hotel, the Antler’s Inn, and settled in to our cozy room for the night. Most people might not think that a town with a population of only 700 could brag about such a nice hotel, but it surely is one to recommend to friends. The next morning we were afraid to step outside to see what the wind was doing - with such a nice tail wind the day before, the thought of riding 30 miles back to Cameron Pass in a wicked head wind was quite daunting. Fortunately, the wind gods were on our side since the winds had become cross winds rather than straight on head winds. And then, not but 10 miles into the ride luck struck again when the cross winds turned to tail winds! The wind helped push us up and over Cameron Pass (this direction being easier since we had only 2000 ft in elevation gain) and down, down, down all the way back to Ft Collins. Saturday was a particularly nice day down at the lower elevations so we passed many kayakers running the rapids in the Poudre - something that one day I would like to try. For now though, I’ll stick to the road that will lead me to my next race in Montreal, Canada.

Tah tah
Meredith