Rode the Rockies

Well, we're back from our trip. And what a trip it was! Turns out my biggest challenge wasn't avoiding the $80 special handling fee for checking a bike (I just went ahead and paid it--but only because my cargo case exceeded the size limit. I was able to fit my frame and handle bars in my garment bag:-) but rather, getting my bike at all! Yes, there were only two little things missing when we arrived in Colorado Springs: my bike and my bike "gear". It turns out they never made it onto the plane out of Denver but in fact went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But, thankfully by the end of the day, both arrived safely (this turned out to be a blessing b/c the airline waived the fee for my bike on the return trip ;-).
After a short visit with some friends from Alaska Saturday night, we attended the Sunday service at our college church, Village Seven Presbyterian, where we were blessed to briefly reconnect with many dear friends.
After a quick lunch, we were off to Grand Junction. The 5.5 hour trip was a gorgeous, sun-filled drive, passing, most memorably, over Independence Pass before the very narrow road into Aspen (where we paid $2.80/gal for gas and $14 for two bags of beef jerkey at the local “convenience” store).
After assembling my bike, laying out my riding gear, and filling my water bottles, I was ready for the 90+ mile day ahead of us (my sister, Brynn, and me). Here's an outline of events:

0553: Woke up 7 min before my alarm--I was excited!
Met Brynn at car in parking lot, fixed her flat tire.
Met Tanja and Lance for Breakfast in hotel restaraunt.
~0820: Mouted our bikes and hit the rode (literally for me--I turned my head to talk to Brynn behind me, while stopping at a light at the same time. This threw my balance off and made me lean to the side with my foot still clipped in to the pedal. The result: I fell over with my bike in the middle of the rode just in time for a SUV full of riders to pass by (of course they couldn't resist honking and shouting at the obvious "newby" who hadn't gotten used to his clip-in pedals yet). After this embarrassing moment, we quickly exited town and made our way into the foothills. Discovery: the foothills surrounding Grand Junction are the wine country of Colorado! This made for some beautiful site seeing and good conversation for Brynn and me as we pedaled at a leisurely pace.
Fast forward to the base of the summit: Here we met up with my stepfather and his brother for a final “fuel stop” of Gatorade, oranges, and water before the final push up to the 10,839 ft summit of Grand Mesa. Brynn put in a tough day the previous day, and so, unfortunately for me, decided that she couldn’t go on any further. So, I made the long grind up solo—though richly enjoying passing people along the way. Eventually I made it to the top where I entered a festive atmosphere: a DJ from Old Chicago’s playing tunes, dozens of vendors selling everything from meat-on-a-stick to snow cones, and friends taking pictures of each other by the 10,839ft Grand Mesa elevation sign. I didn’t stick around long—I was excited for the 45 mph decent down the back side of the pass! At the end of the day, I had put in about 100 miles includeing one very steep moutain pass--not bad coming from the seal level of Texas!
Day 3: very sore and tired. The route for this day wasn’t the most scenic on the course anyway, so it made for a good rest day (Brynn agreed).
Day 4: Brynn and I saddled up and headed out at ~0800 to another bright, sun-drenched day with a cool morning breeze.

Here's Brynn just a few miles from the summit of Monarch Pass!

We had to stop again at this beautiful spot along the pass...

We finally made it! 11,312ft Whew! Uh, I mean...No problem! It was easy! Funny inside info: There is long waiting line for a picture in front of this sign on the opposide side of where we're sitting. The sign says the same thing on both sides--people were probably just too tired to think to go around where we were for a quick picture :-)