TRIP DIARY
We began arriving in Breckenridge, CO around noon on Friday, June 13th. At the time, it was raining slightly with icy crystals also falling with the rain and no one was sure if they wanted to ride or not. One of our families got a late start and was about 2 hours late, which ended up being fortuitous for us. By 3 pm, we were all assembled at Copper Mountain to begin our bike ride. The rain having stopped, and the temperatures warming up to a comfortable level, we proceeded down the mountain towards Breckenridge. The first part of the ride, approximately 10 miles, was predominantly downhill until leveling out on the western side of Frisco. About a mile from Frisco, we all stopped for drinks and something to eat from the SAG wagon. From there, the 5 mile ride into Breckenridge was mostly flat terrain, with several very small inclines. The entire ride was about 2 hours in length, including the rest stop.
After loading the bikes up, we left for dinner at Rasta Pasta in Breckenridge. At dinner, we all got the chance to talk with each other in more detail, and share stories about the ride we just finished. Several of the families were big enough to take up their own tables, but everyone got to talk with each other. Everyone enjoyed their dinner and after about 2 hours, we headed to Winter Park for the evening. We got to the condos at Winter Park around 9 pm and everyone retired to their rooms for the evening.
Breakfast was at 8 am the following morning. Due to the chill in the early morning air, everyone had the opportunity to sleep in for an extra hour. We started the ride at 10 am, on a beautiful, Colorado morning. The temperature was near 60 degrees and we started down the bike path toward Fraser. Along the path was some of the best scenery during the tour. With all of the precipitation, everything was green and with the snow-capped mountains, it was simply beautiful. When we got to Fraser, we circled around behind the town, riding on several packed dirt roads through green and yellow pastures. The cows seemed to be quite interested in what we were doing out there. We took a turn up one of the county roads and headed up into some wooded areas, where singletrack sits near the road so that each rider could make up their own mind on which path they wanted to take. With the rains that had taken place over the past week, we had to cut a mile off of the ride, since the road (and singletrack) were pretty soaked. From there, we turned back around and headed back to our starting point. The entire bike ride was approximately 16 miles.
When we finished riding, we had a picnic lunch for everyone. Even with food and water breaks along the way, it’s amazing how good food tastes after riding for a couple of hours. With over 25 people in attendance, it was a great way to finish up our bike ride. After several hours of eating and conversing with each other about the tour, we said our farewells and went our separate ways.
