Colorado line to Steamboat It was nice to wake up in Colorado! I have been looking forward to the Colorado portion of this trip for a long time, and here I am. I got on the road right at 8:00–maybe a record for me—as I wanted to get to Steamboat early enough to do some shopping and maybe check out the town a little. It was a beautiful calm morning, and I was happy the route turned off the highway onto a nice gravel road only a mile into the ride. The road gradually climbed from dry river and creek bed, to farmland, then to aspen/conifer mix. The road surface became a bit more rocky with some washboard, but still not bad at all, and almost no traffic to contend with. I was in awe of the views, and the miles went by easily as I slowly climbed toward the high point of the trip so far—9800 feet. I loved the high sage meadows with small drainages covered in aspen changing color, with some green spruce mixed in. Any flowing water also had a beaver dam in as well, it seemed. Slowly the road surface degraded to large rocks and slopes too steep to ride. I likely pushed my bike for close to 1/2 mile up and over the top of a mountain. Once over the top, I enjoyed the somewhat rocky descent for what seemed like miles—until I wasn’t enjoying the rocky descent anymore! I finally ran into 3 bike packers refilling their water at a small creek. We chatted for a while—they were from Connecticut, Texas and the UK. They said their friend John from New Zealand was down the trail a ways, so I forged ahead to see if I could catch up with him. I ended up catching John, and we chatted and rode together for a few miles until we got to a small cafe/convenience store in Clark, CO. I could use a snack, of course so we popped in and I got a coke and a bag of chips. So good. There was an obvious thunderstorm brewing, but I was antsy to get to steamboat as I needed to get a new helmet. Mine got crushed when my bike blew over on top of it in Boulder, WY—I’d been wearing bits of styrofoam on my head since. Anyway, the other guys wanted to hang out at the store, I chose to shove off toward steamboat; thunderstorm or not. Well…I got really soaked. Really soaked. Yes, I have rain gear. No, I didn’t put it on. I thought the thunderstorm would be quick and I would dry off. I did mostly dry off, and found a good bike shop that made me a deal on a helmet. So there. Happy ending! I then went and ate a burrito as big as my head! Now to the KOA for the night. I made my way to the KOA—it’s a couple miles out of town, but familiar with showers and laundry, etc. I set up camp, and then it turned out they had a free shuttle bus into town, so I jumped on that and went to the grocery store for a few supplies and more to eat. Turns out it’s been hard for me to get enough calories during this trip. So the gloves are off! I bought ice cream and chocolate and ate it all. I went to bed full and content. It really was a good day; I enjoyed the ride, the scenery, the people and even the thunderstorm. And the Tillamook chocolate peanut butter ice cream.