Second half day - Friday, May 6 - Why is he doing this?

I was up at 6:00 AM and prepared for the day.  I went to the Natural Grocers to get a few supplies.  Jordan slept until 8:30 AM and worked while I made him a quick breakfast.  He needed to work today but we wanted get over Loveland Pass (also listed as a Dangerous Road) as the forecast for Saturday was not good.  So we would try to get what he could today.  The plan was for him to work all he could between rides and then drive back to Golden, where he would work much of the night.

10:45 AM, ready to start the day.

We arrived Dumont, Colorado, where he finished the night before.    It was looking like a good day, although again, the mountain weather is very unpredictable.  

The first few miles were less than scenic and we had our first issue.  His Garmin Varia Rearview Radar fell off his bicycle.  He was upset with me as I had taken it off and to clean the bike and thought I did not mount it correctly.  It was fortunate nothing broke and we were able to mount it again.  It appeared his leg actually hit it and knocked it off, as I mounted it lower not he post.  So I guess we both were the cause?

He continued to continued to ride at a casual pace, which is good as this is a long journey.  I had driven ahead to see if there were any photo opportunities.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the most colorful bluebirds I have ever seen.  I quickly grabbed my camera and took the shot.  I was able to get a few before it flew off.  See below, right out of the camera.

We continued to ride on the road until we reached the quaint town of Georgetown, Colorado.  This is where he would take the Georgetown to Silver Plume trail.  There is a large trailhead in Georgetown as that is where the Georgetown Loop Scenic Railroad is located.  It was only five miles but a nice break from the narrow road traffic.

It was getting close the the time when Jordan needed to take a conference call and near the start of another trail.  We took a break just off I-70 Exit 221, although the trail was half packed with snow.  We waited just over and hour as Jordan completed his conference call.  

We agreed he would take the trail although I would wait in case the trail was not passable.  It was less them 5 minutes later I had a text the trail was not passable as shown in the photo below.

Our only option was to load up the bike and drive around this 5 miles of snow packed trail.  We drove to I-70 Exit 216, this the base of theLoveland Pass Road.  This is the climb he wanted to get through today as the weather was favorable.  This would be about 5 miles of climb to the 11.990 foot peak.  The easy part is riding the 2,500 foot drop over the next seven miles.

Slight incline brake from earlier Loveland Pass Road incline

Snow depth increased all the way to the top.

Arrived without issue

Snowboarded Will photo bombed us

At the top, Jordan wisely dressed a little warmer as the wind chill going down with little peddling would be cold.  There was about seven miles of downhill.  He averaged over 30 MPH for most of it and the average speed for one mile was 34.3 MPH. (See below)

  
At the bottom of Loveland Pass was a nice trail that traversed around the Dillon Reservoir.  As phone service was lousy, we had high hopes we would meet up at the appropriate location.  I failed and when we finally connected, he was heading down Colorado Highway 9 to Breckenridge, Colorado on the Blue River Bikeway.  It was there we realized this was not the best route as it was headed due south.  

We stopped at City Market and grabbed lunch.  We decided it was best if I drove us back to Frisco, Colorado where we would get back on track for the desired direction, west as opposed to south.  The was a trail that went from Frisco to Copper Mountain Resort.  The weather had turned from Sunny to cloudy and dreary by the time he left Frisco High School parking lot.  As this was a trail, it was difficult at best to keep track of his progress.  This caused greater anxiety as phone service was very poor!  

He was able to ride about 7.5 miles on the partially covered path.  Then close to Copper COumtain, that changed!  He had to carry his bike through snow and it was raining.  A cold rain that had heavy winds, of course right into his face!  When I did get phone service he was angry that I was calling while he carried his bike through 8-12 inches of snow.  The weather was turning fast and the rain turned into sleet.  Still no sign of Jordan.  

It was just before the weather turned to a unthinkable level of driving snow that I met him and he was carrying his bike.  We loaded the bike onto the rack and heading back to Golden.  A much less productive day than desired, but the forecast for tomorrow on Loveland Pass Road is a snowstorm.  So there was some success.

I finally found him!

We arrived back in Golden just before 7:00 PM.  We were both frustrated and hungry.  We went to King Supers and picked up dinner. and some items for the trip.  Jordan had to get some work completed before we proceeded to leave until the ride was completed tomorrow.  We were both ready to call it a night at 11:00 PM.

Segment 1 - Start at 10:44 AM

Segment 2 - Start at 1:05 PM

Segment 3 - Start at 4:36 PM

OVERALL SUMMARY (Day/Overall)

• Miles - 52.16  /  83.79
• Elevation  - 6,261 feet / 11,567 feet
• Riding Time (H:M:S) - 4:09:39 / 6:28:34

As we end this day, I have already have so many people ask why he is doing this ride.  We experienced the same when the two of us road from Denver to Minneapolis. The simple answer is always "why not just do it for me or for fun".  To him, this is fun.  Gives a sense of accomplishment and allows you to see parts of America with a renewed perspective.  

This time, he decided to partner with the Shriners Hospital for Children on this ride.  The Shriners were outstanding for him after his accident and they help so many children, free of charge.  If you desire giving to a great cause that made a tremendous impact on Jordan's life you can do so here: http://support.shrinershospitals.org/goto/jpease.