June 26.
We left Craig, CO early in the morning, and it was a beautiful day. First we headed toward Steam Boat Springs along the Yampa River. At Steamboat, the climb up to Rabbit Ears Pass began. Several of us took the van up to the next rest stop in order to skip the giant climb, and I was among them. I was planning to do that. The summit was over 9000 ft. and we crossed the Continental Divide today. I wonder, however, if I am taking myself out of the game too early. The day that I really lost it because I thought it was my fault that the support team was stretched too thin may still be affecting me below my conscious awareness. Because whenever the sweeps catch me, I feel like I should hurry up and jump in the van—even though people tell me that I don’t need to do that.
We had lots of beautiful green scenery as we progressed up the mountain. I got to see the “rabbit ears” that Rabbit Ears Pass is named for.
The most exciting event today was that the van broke down just outside of town. They had stopped to take pictures of the riders as they came in, and then the van wouldn’t start again. We ran shuttles to unload all our gear and food. Luckily, we had an extra vehicle to help, as Wes and Cheryl had friends visiting who had a big SUV. They could carry a lot of gear.
Once the stuff from the van was brought in, the dinner team was able to get something delicious put together. Henry and Grace were stuck out on the road for quite a while. They tried to get help from AAA, but that was not working well. Finally, a local person who was good with cars was called. He believes in divine intervention and wouldn’t take payment. He diagnosed the problem as a bad starter. A couple of our media interns were dispatched to Silverthorne to buy a starter and the mechanic came early in the morning to install it. Everything worked out well—except someone took my sleeping pad and I had to use one that wouldn’t blow up—either that or wait ’til every pad was claimed and take one of the leftovers. I was too tired to wait. Turns out that someone took mine thinking that every one in use had already been claimed. Oh, well.
Hi Ruth I have been the last rider with the Fuller Center for 3 years. I join them every year for a week or two.Always ride your bike to the 1st rest-jump in the van(try to catch the extra vehicle here) to the 2nd rest jump out and ride. You will stay in the middle of the pack using this. I actually was the first into a church once! It’s your ride-I’ll see you from Natchez to Jackson. We are all caregivers and worry about others. The sweeps are the same! My other trick! Buy the sweeps an ice cream but tell them they have to wait 30 minutes to leave!!! Works like a charm!