GDMBR Day 11

Day 11
56 miles June 22

Met 4 south bound racers today,  two Americans, a kiwi, and another guy with an accent didn't ask where he was from. I guess I've hit the south bound bubble. The New Zealand guy raved about the beauty of the country and the awesome wildlife and crazy storms he had seen. He was super stoked to be out here. The vegetation today was very bare. The road was washboard or sand. The wind was crosswind or head wind most of the time and it was strong, at least 30 knots. Tough day. Very pooped. 40 miles pretty much all uphill to Breckenridge tomorrow.

GDMBR Zero day 1

 Met a bunch of cdters most of them working other triple crowns. I met an italian guy racing the Tour Divide. A trail angel invited us out rafting woth two Cdters called  Easy and Famous.
Stayed at the Simple lodge and hostel and it was a great little set up. Awesome zero day!

GDMBR Day 10

Day 10
43 miles
Sargents to Salida

Maps.me wouldn't map what did today because part of it was considered a trail and maps.me didn't think could ride a bike there. Well I did and it was great. 

 Frost on everything thing morning.

Nice tail wind pushing me up the hill today. Great Aspen Forests and lots of road side raspberry flowers, in a couple months this will be the place to be. Lots of wild roses too, they smelled great.

Back to peeing in the Atlantic!

Awesome views of the sangre de christo mountains.

 I stopped for a cheese it break and found a geocache, there was a penguin and a first-aid kit inside.

 Got into Salida around 3 and biked across town to the hostel. Going to take a rest day tomorrow,  I'm excited to keep going, but it's probably smart to take a rest. 

GDMBR Day 9

Day 9 June 19
69 miles
Carnero pass to Sargents

This maps only tells you the difference in elevation between the start and end points, not all the ups and downs in between. 

Long day, I think I say that everyday but atleast that means the days are getting longer! Found a lady bug in my helmet, not excited for the day it's a wasp that gets stuck in there. Terrible head wind for about ten miles, cheated and used my mom's car as a wind break. Started looking for a campsite around 50 mile mark and there was nothing so I keep going. Hit asphalt so definitely not camping there. A deer with a big rack wasn't afraid of me as a past just a roads width apart, he watched me round the corner and stared me down me petel by, his whole head tracked my position, it was a little unsettling. Finality a small "town" with camping available.  No Internet though. Beautiful country today :)

GDMBR Day 8

Day 8
41 miles June 18
Del norte over carnero pass

Long day. 18 miles up with no respite. Saw a deer sitting in the road. No beetle today so that's nice.

 This is the Rio grand!

 An actual sign for the thing I'm doing!

 Gear noodle soup to fuel my gears.

GDMBR Day 7

Day 7
48 miles June 17
Big day! New record! Feel good, but that probably because the last 22 miles were down hill. Lots of flowers and chipmunks out today. And rain, even though it wasn't supposed to rain. Got very very muddy. Stayed at a hostel specificly for Great Divide rider and hikers it is a really cool space.

Highest point of the gdmbr, 11910'