Whereas Day 3 wasn’t so fun, Day 4 was the day we had been waiting for.  One with huge climbs and epic descents, ending in Breckenridge.

And it delivered.  By the end of the day we had traveled 30 miles, climbed 5600 ft in elevation and descended 6300 ft, crossing over Georgia Pass and the Continental Divide.  All of the dusty effort of the prior three days was starting to pay off.

The Climb

Kyle had been fearing the climb up to Georgia Pass for days, but relaxed when he realized I’d be off the bike as much as he was.  So, we kept it at a leisurely pace, stopping frequently to take pictures and eat.

When we got to the top we met up and chatted with a few other mountain bikers who took photos for us.

And then we bombed down the pass.  It was a pretty technical descent with lots of rock hopping.  

After refilling our water, we then had to start the second climb of the day.  We were so excited to get to the top and start another big descent, which was much smoother.  Kyle was flying through the trees and I struggled to keep up.  

Arrival in Breckenridge

Finally we came down into Breckenridge in a series of steep hairpin turns.

We popped off the trail onto the main highway into Breck and met up with Cris who had reserved a hotel in Frisco and brought us burgers, fries and drinks. She’s so good to us!  We checked into the hotel, showered up (I’ve never seen so much dirt in the tub), and headed out for a huge steak dinner.  

We’ve been literally sitting on our butts for the last two days in our hotel room, getting up mostly only for food, bathroom breaks, and to clean our bikes.

We’ve also checked the fire reports, and thanks to expert fire crews, the Peak 2 fire which intersects with CT Segment 7 is 50% contained, but we’ll have to skip it.

Tomorrow, on Tuesday the 11th we will resume the trail with Segment 8 at Copper Mountain, climbing up to Tennessee Pass, past where the 10th Mountain Division trained to invade Italy for WWII.  I’m a major WWII history buff and can’t wait to see this.

After a few days we’ll meet up with Cris in Buena Vista, and I’ll post blog updates.