Leaving Colorado

We are currently in Indianna, with about 6 hours of driving left. This is the last view we had of Colorado. I had a great time and completely enoyed my time out here.
All of the backlogged photos are up now. You can find the link to my Flickr Stream in the archive (click June over on the right) or click on the slide show at the top right of the page.

Rafting

Today, we did a half day trip through the Brown Canyon section of the Arkansas River (yes, still in Colorado.) We rafted with a nice young couple from Colorado, and our guide Bridget. The trip took about 2 hours and was a nice chance to see the landscape from a diferent vantage point. The river was flowing at over 3000 cubic feet per second which made the class II through IV rapids very exciting.
Afterwards, we had lunch at the Eddy Line Resteraunt, which was recomended by our guide. Great wood fired pizza, ribs and burgers. Then we loaded up for the 23 hour trip home.

Exploring Colorado

After leaving Vail last night, we headed to Leadville for the night. Leadville is, I believe the highest city in the Continental U.S. It was lovely to have a warm, dry place to sleep, along with a hot shower the next day. After breafast, we headed back to Buenna Vista, which if you remember, is where we spent last night on our tour. Buenna Vista has some of the best whitewater rating in Colorado.
In the morning, we drove up to Cottonwood Pass, so Mom and Dad could see what they had missed while in the U-Haul. This time, it was very clear at the top of the Continental Divide. We walked around a little, got some pictures and headed back down.
It turns out that it is much easier to climb one of these mountains in a car, but not as much fun descending.

Photos

I know that I am really behind in posting pics. Stay posted tomorrow, when I get a chance to upload the last few days worth, as there are some great ones.

After the ride

After finishing our epic adventure, we got showered (they actually have a shower truck along on the ride) and loaded up the car. We headed to Vail to hang out for a few hours. We rode the gondola up to the top of the ski runs and walked around, marveling at the views of two different mountain ranges. We wandered around and did a little shopping. Then we headed over to Vail Village for dinner. Some locals recommended Lancelots, and we had a great meal on the patio overlooking Gore Creek.
At the moment, we are headed to Leadville for an overnight stay. Tomorrow we have an afteroon rafting trip planned in Buenna Vista.

Zipp Wheels

You may have noticed that yesterday, I did not list an average speed. This is because my speed computer was not working. If you ride bikes a lot, you will recognize Zipp as the leader in after market and aerodynamic wheels.
Zipp sent a demo team along on the ride. Yesterday, I was able to demo a set of 303 clinchers. (38 mm deep carbon rims with sapim bladed spokes.) For those of you who have no idea what I am taking about, these are $2000 wheels. The only problem, was that the Zipp guys didn't swap the magnet that registers my speed. (I also forgot to get a photo with my bike all blinged up.)
So, how does a $2000 set of wheels compare to a $200 one? They rolled very nicely, but felt harsher over bumps than mine. I didn't notice much of a difference climbing although they are actualy a little heavier. Where I did notice a difference was trying to outrun the storm and riding in headwinds and crosswinds. They felt marginally faster, but without my computer it was hard to be sure.
Verdict: It was kind of cool to be able to try the Zipps, but I don't think it would really be worth the huge expense.

Day 7

104 miles 6000+ feet of climbing 16.5 avg

Highest paved road over the Continental Divide (Independence Pass 12,135 feet):
Been there, climbed it, got the t-shirt (not really).

It is really cold at 12000 feet. I climbed with full arm warmers the whole way, but took off the leg warmers. We climbed through snow fields and tundra, and saw recently skied lines. At the top, I hooked up with Mom, who hitched a ride from aid 1 and Dad who was a few minutes back. It was an incredibly cold descent, even with being as bundeled up as possible. We still had 60 miles to go, but with a 20 mile descent (you have to try this sometime - it is like the longest and best roller coaster ever) into Aspen and then 40 miles with a total of 2500 feet lost it went by quickly.
About 3 miles out we stopped to help a guy with a blown tire. When we finished, they had music and balloons and cheering people at the finish.

We made it!