Boreas Pass, Marshall Pass and the 41G

Harry dropped us off at Silverthorne Power Sports - thanks Mike for housing our bikes for us - and we were on our way.

Today might have been MY favorite day. The riding was easy and the scenery was spectacular. 

I so wanted to linger around Breckenridge and show Doug some of the trails I rode at last year's Breck Epic Mountain Bike Race. As we climbed up Boreas Pass I could survey the surroundings and remember all the trails around Breckenridge.  Maybe someday.

We rode thru the towns of Como and Hartsel on wide and smooth dirt farm roads on the east side of the CD. We ascended thru the mountains of San Isabel National Forest and then down the other side into Salida for lunch.

From Salida we headed for Marshall Pass and our 16th crossing  of the CD. The purple clouds were everywhere. I thought for a sure we were going to get wet. But I'll be darned if we didn't thread the needle and come out the other side having totally avoided the rain.  The road was wet where it had rained before we got there, but we missed it. Our good fortune had Doug and me shaking our head and yelping when we stopped in the sun at Doyleville.

Maybe we should attribute it to the bells Harry gave to us?

These bells, when received as a gift from a friend and tied to the bottom of your bike are meant to ward off evil road spirits.  Thanks Harry.

My favorite part of today's ride was the 25 miles on 41G. We turned right and south off the 114 and a entered a beautiful picturesque canyon on on gentle cruisy dirt road. It was empty except for the two of us. It was SO nice.

At the end of the canyon we came to the town of La Garita at 7pm and pulled in to the main store.  To our good fortune, the store serves dinner once a month and tonight was that night! We had a delicious home-cooked meal of roast beef,  gravy, mashed potatoes and green beans. We also had a nice chat with the locals. Fun!

It was getting late so we camped 2 miles down the road  at Penitente Canyon campground.  The full moon came out and reminded me of the full moon on the first night of our journey on June 22nd.

We've been going 4 weeks and one day now.  Won't be much longer. We are getting close to the finish.