Day 4 - Steamboat Springs loop

With three hard days of climbing, over two thirds of the riders on the tour decided to take a day off from cycling. Susan and Dan did part of the ride in the afternoon.  I'm really glad Peter and I did the loop. We found magnificent vistas which looked over wide, green valleys, and enjoyed some excellent interval training along the way. The route was pretty challenging, however, with lots of sharp, steep hills (up to 15% grades, if my Garmin GPS is correct) and fast descents.  We covered the entire 50 km (80 km) course in just in time for lunch.

Peter

Stan

My afternoon was spent staying out of the heat, enjoying good food (the community lunch was excellent), and doing a few chores.  That night, Susan, Dan and I went to the Oar restaurant, where we met Bobby, who originally came from Alabama where Susan was raised, and, remarkably whose father knew Susan's father, who were both physicians in the rural towns they grew up in .It was a very enjoyable evening.  Much more enjoyable, it appears, than watching the Stanley Cup final.  It's going to be hard for Vancouver to get over this loss!

When I got back to the campsite after dinner I was in for a shock.  We knew a storm was brewing when we left the restaurant, however, just as I got out of the car, a fierce windstorm picked up a huge tent, with heavy aluminum poles and carried it like a sail across the parking lot ... towards me!

The tent, as it stood in the morning during our breakfast

It barely missed the car Susan's friend Bobby was driving.  I had to run to avoid the tent as it hurtled towards the camper's tents.  Fortunately, it was blocked by some trees on the edge of the parking, but eventually came crashing against a parked car nearby.

The tent, after it flew across the parking lot. Whew - close call!

Worried that it might be picked up again, we struggled to cut the tent away from the heavy aluminum poles that made it a sail-like structure.  Eventually, we got the tent under control, but this did not help the campers whose own tents were battered and buffeted in the storm.  Thankfully, mine withstood it.  Oleh's was not so lucky.  A support pole broke, rendering the tent useless. We moved Oleh's gear inside the school nearby, where he spent the night.

 The wind has died down now. I must go now and try to get some sleep. The route to Granby will take us over two brutal mountain passes, and is supposed to be one of the hardest rides of the tour.