Day 38: Brokebike Mountain

July 13, 2022 in Kremmling, Colorado

Dad and I returned to the host bright and early in the morning, ready (sort of, I really wanted to go back to sleep) to ride, just in time for breakfast and route meeting.

After filling our water bottles and working on our bikes, we set off with my friend Zoe, and made it just about a mile before everything went haywire. The first problem was that my back brakes stopped working.

Obviously, this is a pretty big problem, but Corbett solved it pretty much immediately once he rolled up.

Then, Dad realized there was something very wrong with his seat mechanics. Long story short, it needed to be fixed at a bike shop, so Dad and I headed back to the car to make our way to Breckenridge to get it fixed and meet back up with the team.

Honestly, that was not a huge loss, because we'd be missing 15 miles of huge hills on a gravel road, which is not only super difficult but pretty dangerous as well. Even more honestly, we were both quite pleased.

The Hosier pass (our route to Breckenridge) was pretty awesome, and it was even better with our coffees in hand.

Our good luck dwindled as we reached Breck however, as we spent close to three hours trying to get the bike fixed with parts that almost fit, but not quite enough.

Finally, we found a Trek store which took the bike in to fix it and lent a loaner bike to Dad which would get the job done for the next few days.

During all this chaos, I did get the chance to get a pretty good feel for Breckenridge, which is a really neat, although extremely wealthy and tourist-y, town.

On our way to catch up with the team at lunch, we stopped at a local smoothie place where I had a killer acai bowl (which of course later spilled all over the car).

Once we caught up, we attempted to rectify our newest dilemma, where to park the car for two days while Dad biked with me. With the help of the Frisco non-emergency police line, we found a spot, and I set off with a few teammates to meet Dad along the bike trail we were on near where he had parked.

The trail itself was awesome–– winding, hilly, and with incredible views. We did immediately get lost, though.

With the help of trusty Google locations, we got back on track and found Dad. From there, we set off just the two of us, and started an epic rain ride on the road.

I experienced my first bike trail switchbacks, and road alongside enormous lakes and mountains. As we got further from Frisco, the roads opened up and we started a beautiful descent into a valley. The scenery was truly unforgettable.

As it got later in the afternoon, the traffic increased tenfold, and we got off the road just after four when it got too dangerous.

We spent the evening watching the new season of a show we really like, "Only Murders in the Building," and going to sleep early after a very full day. Even though the day didn't go exactly as planned, it definitely was a good taste of Bike and Build!