DISTANCE TRAVELED: 41.08 Miles
AVERAGE SPEED: 7.59 MPH

          We woke up, or maybe I should say I woke up at 7:30. Because of the rushing creek that was three feet from my tent, I did not hear anyone else get up at 6:30. I scrambled to get dressed and pack my sleeping bag and air mat before getting out of my tent. Once again, we had oatmeal for breakfast and then we performed the daily chore of drying tents and packing them up. I packed the normal goods along with a bag of garbage that had to be taken to a dumpster at the end of the day. Everything was strapped down and we began to ride out of the camp. We began the 9-mile ascent (Picture32) to Crossing #2 of the Divide and rode slowly since our legs were still very tired from the day before. On the way up, we passed two abandoned mines, (Picture33) some which were constructed in the rock. There were also numerous mineshafts that I could not see to the bottom of. One was about 20 feet in diameter! Fortunately, these were fenced off so even though they were next to the road, we did not have to worry about falling into one. Finally, we reached the top of the first crossing of the day and then waited for others to catch up. (Picture34) The wind was bitterly cold so we soon got going again and rode for a mile and a half further up the road so we could finally enjoy a great stretch of single track. We got to the top where the Continental Divide Scenic Hiking Trail was supposed to be but of course, it was not there! (Picture35) We still had 25 miles to go and since it was already 1:00 so we decided not to risk going on the wrong trail. We went back down 1.5 miles to where we had split off earlier and began a fun downhill with switchbacks. At the bottom, we stopped to wait for others to catch up once again and ate some lunch. (Picture36) As we ate, Scott looked down at his tire and realized that he had a slow leak. He changed the tire and we were off again. We climbed for a while, had a great fast descent and then climbed another 2 miles to the Continental Divide Crossing #3. (Picture37) At this point, we came into grazing lands were we passed numerous cows. As we rode by, many ran after us until we reached the cattle guard where they were forced to stay behind! They looked like they were having great fun running with us and watching our weird machines pass through their land. Although most seemed harmless, the occasional bull with large horns made us a little nervous especially when they were away from the others and close to the road. We finally reached the top and put on warm clothes for the descent. The road had a large amount of washboard, but this did not stop me from reaching 37.3 miles an hour on the straight sections! The curvy road was great and we even got to one steep but short section where I reached 39.6 miles per hour. My new off-road record! For the next 15 miles, we were on roads that actually had pavement. Brian and I comfortably cruised at 27 mph until I got a flat from a staple. I fixed the flat in about 5 minutes and then I was off again. Brian had continued on, so I only traveled at around 22 mph. We met back up at a gas station where we got slurpees and candy. The last stretch took us to the campground where we all set up our tents and then took showers before renting two cars to use for the next day. We were fortunate enough to go out to dinner so we drove (a unusual luxury) to the resteraunt. For dinner, I had a blue cheese hamburger with fries. After I ordered, half of the group bought $15 steaks! A few other people who had ordered earlier felt a little cheated so we all decided that we would buy the most expensive item on the menu next time to make up for our loss! The dinner was good and filled me up (I still will be getting something more next time however) and we then went to see Austin Powers in ”The Spy Who Shagged Me.” It was not the best movie I have ever seen, but it was a nice change from talking all night around a campfire. Finally, we went to bed around 12:30.