I enjoyed such beautiful ride today. Said my 'goodbye' earlier than usual to my host, Jess Gantos. Jess was leaving to drive to Denver that morning. I needed an early start in order to make my destination by nightfall.
I stopped by a 'Sprouts' natural food store shortly after starting out and bought some breakfast, lunch & snacks for the day.
The ride was downhill for much of the first thirty miles. :)
The were later in the day a mostly long & gentle grades. As I reached the Carson National Forest it was late afternoon and views were spectacular... miles of open desert with snow capped mountains in the distance. I was averaging 12.7 mph and would have made to my hosts home had I not kept stopping to shoot more photos. As the time got closer to sunset the valley and mountains in the background grew increasingly more breathtaking. I finally took my final photo after the sun went down and the mountains were bathed in lavender & rose colors. No the temperature was dropping quickly, which was a good motivator for me to stay focused on pedaling the remaining 10 miles. While my finger tips and toes were a bit cold, even the last 10 miles was magical. the twilight linger a full hour after the sunset.
I finally arrived under the light of my headlight around 8:30pm. My host, Carrie Thompson, was there waiting with a warm welcome. :)