Saturday, July 26th

Day 27.
(Teresa)
I have had an interesting if not frustrating week. Apparently I am one of the 20 % that is overcome with altitude sickness. They do believe that it is accentuated by my asthma. Regardless, it makes for a exhausting, hurtful week. Hurtful in both emotions and aches and pains.
I had the asthma attach on Monday, rode in an RV that took to the ditch on Tuesday, fell down the truck ramp the same day. Got scared out of the RV and back onto the bike for Wednesday. On Thursday I rode - and uneventful ride. On Friday we stayed at a YMCA camp and were able to book rooms at the lodge. We took up the offer and had a nice bed to sleep in. Best of all was the fact that we did not have to walk a mile to the nearest shower or bathroom. Especially in the middle of the night. Unfortunately Meghan fell down the same ramp and broke her arm.
Saturday brought more bad news as shortly after leaving camp, Tyler B was involved in a bike accident and fractured his collarbone. It is broke in two places and he has to go home for an operation. He rode in the medical RV with me. While waiting at the hospital we gave out C2C cards and recieved another $20 donation from one of the nurses there.
We arrived in Denver at 1:30 and the church members were already handing out grab bags, cookies and water to all the cyclists. They have a MC and music going. Hiarcuts are available in the gym and we have sign up sheets to go to town for shopping or laundry. Very nice welcome.
I plan to be back on the bike bright and early Monday morning. The days will be long next week but the elevations are much lower so everything should be good.
(Paul)
For those who think this is only my blog, it is both of ours. Sometimes Teresa and I will dictate our notes to each other and other times we do it separately.
Today was the 3rd anniversary of Elizabeth Woudsma's accident during her training for the 2005 C2Ctour. Many of the riders spent time on our ride today thinking about and praying about this.
I rode without Teresa again. Monday she will ride with me again. Woohoo!
We had planned to do 'EFI' (every fabulous inch) together and it was difficult to do Berthoud Pass without her.
I questioned my capability to do this myself as Teresa and I walked up a slight hill in the Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA camp to get my bike up to pavement to start the day's ride. We both were huffing and puffing a little. The elevation is 8,750' or so above sea level at this point.
I rode with Frank Folkema today; his last day. His regular riding partner Greg Dyk was on sweep and could not leave early.
It was a pleasant ride down into Winter Park, with the mountains all around us, some snow capped. The climb started gradually upon leaving Winter Park. There are chalets being constructed and this always interests me. The scenery was awesome. The climb was not as I anticipated, thankfully. I was stressed about today's ride for a long time prior to this day. The difficult part started after Art Smit's sag stop at the first switchback. Then we worked a little harder. The scenery was breathtaking as we slowing climbed to what seemed to be level with the tops of neighbouring mountains. The summit was only 6km or so from the beginning of the difficult climbing. Unfortunately, they removed the sign at the top indicating the elevation. Check this link to Berthoud Pass. Picture me standing next to this sign less the snow; well you get the idea. The ride down was awesome and fast. At the bottom we stopped for coffee and a danish in Empire, celebrating the fact the mountain climbing was done. Alas, there was more. One short climb up a steep grade called Floyd's Hill, which I was told was 1000', but that seems to high. We went through some lovely towns (Evergreen, Kittredge) that will bear further exploration when I have an motor turning the wheels.
There was an awesome canyon with many twists and turns and very fast. The ride ended in urban areas with some small bumps to climb. A local RCA church welcomed us to Denver with beverages and snacks and then we had 10km to get to Denver Christian High School who went all out to welcome us with cheerleaders, cold water, snacks, goody bags and more. It was a great way to end a great ride.