In Memory of Warmer Summers

Fairplay, CO to Frisco, CO

Miles: 36

Total so far: 2,817

Good morning at Fairplay!

We woke up to a 36 degree morning in Fairplay.  Rather than hang out by our picnic table making breakfast wearing everything we own to keep warm, we dressed in everything we own, packed up, and went across the street to a convenience store for breakfast.

Leaving Fairplay on their bike path

We hit the road early, knowing we had a short day ahead of us.  We coordinated with a cousin of ours who has a vacation home in Frisco to spend a day off in the company of relatives, get some maintenance done on the bikes, and the ever necessary laundry load or two.

Mount Bross as seen during our ascent of Hoosier Pass

At the highest point of the Trans Am. No, it's not all downhill from here.

We summited the highest point of the Trans-Am today, topping out at 11,542 feet, crossing Hoosier Pass.  The climb was really nothing too challenging, as the grades going north were not too steep, and we already ascended to within 1500 feet.  The descent was full of switchbacks and the grades on that side were considerably steeper.  After the pass, we went through the towns of Blue River and Breckenridge, before gaining a bike trail that took us all the way into Frisco.  Colorado has these fabulous bike trails in this area.  When we resume riding the day after tomorrow, the same trail will take us to Silverthorne, some 15 total miles of bike trail riding.

The descent...

Breckenridge ski area. The snowpack was very heavy this winter.

The bike path between Breckenridge and Frisco

(The following may be a little bike-technical for some)

Sallie has been having trouble dropping her chain when working in and out of the small chain ring (granny gear).  The trouble started very intermittently after some of the steep hills in Tennessee and Missouri.  I’ve pretty consistently accused her of operator error, as I’ve checked the stop settings, and was satisfied they were correct.  Today we went in to a very good bike shop here in Frisco, Wilderness Sports, and the shop tech spotted a bent small chain ring.  She has a Shimano 105 crankset, and it’s just not been able to handle the stress we’ve put it through.  Sallie overpowered her gear.

I have to ask Sallie to pass on this coffee in the future. It's too hard on chainrings!

Rather than straighten this chain ring, or order a new one, we’ve opted to replace the entire crankset with Shimano XT.  That should hold up to my sister’s power output!  The one hang-up is we’ve had to order one shipped from Salt Lake with 170mm cranks.  The parts should be in tomorrow, and that won’t cost us any delays.

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Tomorrow is a rest day for us at Frisco, Colorado.  Dedications will be resumed when we continue riding. Meanwhile enjoy one more picture from this beautiful country.

Looking up a valley between two 14'ers - Mt. Bross and Mt. Lincoln