Rocky Mountain High

We technically rode through the Sawatch mountain range today, but if you see a mountain in Colorado the first thing you think of is the Rockies. All day I had John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" playing in my head. That helped to pass the time as I sat on the side of the road waiting for riders to pass by in need of water or snacks. I did achieve one of my small goals for this trip, which was to take a picture of myself with a wild animal. I settled for a cow because it was the closest I could get. Squirrels and prairie dogs are just too dam fast and the wild horses and bears would just not cooperate.

I heard an amazing story today. One of our riders is riding to raise money for his brother who has cerebral palsy. Chris, the one riding for his brother, came upon a cyclist participating in the Bicycle Tour of Colorado who has CP. The guy was inspiring. He had a hard time holding his bike on the road, but he was on the last day of the tour, and cycles regularly. Chris was telling me about this guy and later, as we drove up the road, we passed Mike, the rider with CP. I tooted the horn of the van, cheered him on, and gave him a big thumbs up. It reminded me that people have phenomenal capacity.

Today was rather slow, but beautiful. We rode through the Gunnison Valley and trailed along the Gunnison River. I feel like an idiot every time I realize the most obvious things, but I can see why the Rocky Mountains are named "Rocky", because they have lots of sheer cliff with exposed rock. They are rocky, just like the Red River is red, well, kinda brownish. I haven't been to Half Dome but from pictures I can gather why it is called that. Tomorrow we climb over the Monarch Pass which tops out at over 11,000 feet. We are in mountain territory now. I really hope I can get a picture of me with a moose or a big horn sheep. Even if I don't, I still have my cow.