https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CbMK64zPv/ After spending the weekend in Vail and Boulder, catching up with friends and enjoying some much needed time with my girlfriend, it felt good to relax and reset. Well, sort of relax. I still managed to rack up 122 miles and over 11,000 feet of climbing riding with friends. What can I say, I like riding bikes 🤷. On Monday I returned to Vail where I left off on the tour and started pedaling again. Only this time I wasn’t solo. My great friends Nick and Mahir joined me for the climb up Vail Pass. Having company for that long uphill made the miles fly by. We chatted and laughed our way to the top and then coasted down the other side into Frisco. From there we rolled along the Summit County bike paths to Silverthorne and grabbed some well earned burritos for lunch. With a belly full of tacos, we said our goodbyes, the guys headed back to Vail and I continued north along Highway 9. That’s right, I’ve officially changed direction. I’m now heading north instead of east! Next stop is Badlands National Park in South Dakota, and from there I’ll keep heading further north and east. I turned off Hwy 9 onto Ute Pass Road and climbed steadily through open meadows and forest. The day was heating up, so I took shade breaks where I could find them. I ended up drinking all of my water on the climb. The traffic was light and the views were excellent. From the top I looked back and said goodbye to the Gore Range. The descent was on a hard packed gravel road and absolutely beautiful. I ended the day by camping at Williams Fork Reservoir. Thankfully one of my camp neighbors was wiling to share their extra water with me so I could cook dinner. I spent the evening relaxing along the shore, happy to be back on the tour. The next morning was a short ride into Granby. My girlfriend met me there to bring some replacement camera gear and spend an afternoon together before I got too far out of reach. She kindly dropped me and my gear at Willow Creek campground just outside of town.