We've arrived in the Colorado mountains

Well, I'm here! It's great to be back in Colorado. I stayed overnight in Denver, then drove with Susan up to Frisco, a well-known ski area in Colorado. Susan has a ski cottage there, which made it a perfect home base for us to do some cycling at altitudes starting at 9,000 feet.

Stan at Vail summit-->

<-- Our route from Frisco to Vail Pass. The summit is 10,662 feet

The air is definitely thinner up here. I found myself huffing and puffing a bit when we cycled to Vail Pass summit on the first day we arrived. However, I found when I did the same route the next day, going was much easier. It's remarkable how adaptive the human body is.

Susan-->

There's lots of snow on the mountains. It's rapidly melting under the summer heat, however. resulting in near flood conditions in and around several of the mountain towns. The scenery up here is spectacular. I'm glad we made it into the mountains a bit early, before the ride begins on Sunday.

I'm having a wonderful time. Susan and her friend Dan are great company. Tomorrow we leave for Crested Butte, the starting point for this year's Ride the Rockies. There, we'll be joined by Peter and his wife Erica on Friday, and Oleh on Saturday. We're getting excited about our upcoming ride!