Breckenridge

As I climb higher into the Rocky Mountains I find that the air is getting drier and thinner. The mild grades that I used to do easily now take the breath out of me. Right now, I'm in Breckenridge, the famous ski town west of Denver, and it sits at about 9,600 feet above sea level! (Sorry, Neely, just can't do a detour to Denver right now...) Despite this, I still somehow managed to churn out 58 miles yesterday and got to ride along a special bicycle path that runs about 16 miles from Silverthorn, CO to Breckenridge (see photo along the Dillon dam). I find that if I just take plenty of rest breaks and get enough to eat (and a cold ice cream doesn't hurt either) I can slowly get through quite a few miles. Also, for some reason I keep running into people out here who have some sort of connection to the tri-state Philadelphia area. Yesterday I met three! One is Cara, a woman who runs a tiny bait & tackle shop in the tiny town of Heeny, CO on the edge of a small lake. She grew up in Ocean City, NJ! Next I met Drew who was also riding along the bike path to Breckenridge and who grew up in central NJ (see picture). Riding the last few miles up into town was a lot easier thanks to hanging and chatting with Drew. Finally, I met Ben who is an Outward Bound instructor and lives in the Philly suburbs! Just crazy. Anyway, this is a fun town, even in the summer. It has some really interesting restaurants (last night's dinner was a Jamaican curry served over penne pasta) and a fun ski-bum sort of vibe. Also got to hear some live music in one of the pubs last night and met some of the locals. I'm taking a rest day today but tomorrow I head up and over Hoosier pass for the last big mountain climb for a long time. After this I head into eastern Colorado and across flat, flat Kansas.

Total mileage so far: 1,550


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