Today we biked 64 miles between Estes Park and Granby. We took Trail Ridge Road which travels through Rocky Mountain National Park and reaches an elevation of 12,183 feet! This was a ride we've all been anxious for since the beginning knowing it would probably be one of the hardest and most incredible rides of the trip.
The difficulty of the ride (about 5,000 feet of elevation gain in the first 28 miles) combined with the most magnificent views I've ever seen made for a day of emotional ups and downs. One moment I would be huffing and puffing up a steep section of road, the next moment I would be stopped on the side of the road, mouth agape, looking at yet another magnificent view of the Rockies, feeling so small in their massive presence. If I can take away anything from this ride, it's that the Rockies continue to take my breath away, in more ways than one.
It's pretty difficult to give a play-by-play of today due to the nature of the ride, so I'm just going to give a recap of the good and the bad:
The good: I successfully made it to the top of Trail Ridge Road! It took nearly 6 hours including numerous breaks, but I did it! There were so many incredible moments on that 28-mile ride to the top: entering Rocky Mountain National Park, seeing the mountains we'd be climbing from the bottom, stopping at pull-outs to take in the views, seeing a huge herd of elk, having a snowball fight, watching as we slowly raised ourselves up to the heights that looked so daunting be from the bottom, and the feeling of accomplishment as we pushed through the last bit of incline to the peak.
After an extended lunch stop at the top (there was a gift shop of course) we were rewarded with an incredible 10 mile descent, along which we passed by the continental divide! We are officially in the west now I suppose. The last 20 miles of the ride were mostly rolling hills and offered us plenty of lovely scenery as we passed by Grand Lake and Granby Lake. Today I saw some of the most beautiful natural wonders I've ever seen and it was just amplified knowing I got myself there with my two legs.
The bad: My body did not handle the altitude well. Around 11,000 feet I started feeling pretty nauseous which made the last push to the top pretty hard. I also lost my appetite because of it so I was struggling to eat enough food throughout the day. I thought the nausea would subside once I got back to a lower elevation, but it seemed to get worse and by the end even mild hills were a struggle. I'm pretty exhausted, but I'm hoping with a good sleep and another night getting used to higher elevations I'll be refreshed in the morning and ready for another ride through this gorgeous state!