Road Biking

I think we have found some biking that I like! Road biking! This morning we went into Frisco and rented some high quality road bikes! I got the same bike that I’d tested out the other day and Dad got the men’s version of the same bike.

Summit County (Frisco, Dillon, Sliverthorne, Keystone, Breckenridge) has an amazing bike path system and you can ride all over. The bike paths are all paved and off the road. We are in the mountains so there are hills everywhere but some of the bike paths have more hills than others, none are really flat, but there are flat sections.

As soon as I got on my rental bike I knew it was a better-for-me bike than that mountain bike yesterday! It was so smooth and easy to shift and the brakes weren’t nearly as aggressive!

After our first stop at the public restrooms in downtown Frisco we headed out on the bike path that goes around the Dillion Reservoir. We had great views of the lake and the mountains the whole way around! The bike path wound around and curved and went up down so it was interesting and a good place to learn how to use the gears and get comfortable going down hills and around curves.

We went across Dillon Dam and up to the road to that leads to our campground. We debated going up and over Swan Mountain, but it’s a 1,000 ft climb and while both of us were impressed with the gear system and ease with which we were able to climb the little hills we’d been goi ng up we weren’t too sure about tackling Swan Mountain. So we rode up to Keystone.

The bike path up to Keystone was lovely, it went right along the river on one side and had condos on the other. It was uphill but it was a gentle uphill and neither of us had any trouble with it.

We ended up back where we’d been yesterday in the River Run Village at Keystone. It was about noon and in 2 hours we’d traveled about 14 miles! WOW! Not only that, but I was still excited about riding the bike! I was glad that we still have 14 miles to go to get back to Frisco! And, this was going to be close to 30 miles! I’d never have imagined that I could ride 30 miles in one day!

The storm clouds were building and we debated about eating lunch or continuing on, since there was a table in the courtyard at Keystone we decided to eat quickly and then get on down the mountain. By the time we finished eating the sky was looking very threatening. Luckily the way down was mostly downhill and we zoomed right down and soon we were back around Dillon Reservoir and looking back up the valley where the storm was looking ugly! We watched the clouds build the whole way around the lake and the wind really picked up. It never rained on us, but the clouds were looking really nasty!

As we arrived back in Frisco we started hearing thunder and seeing some lighting from another storm that was moving in from the Cooper Mountain area. We stopped for a ice cream at a little coffee shop and watched the storms build!

We decided that since we’d “only” ridden 28 miles we needed to ride two more miles to make it an even 30 so we rode up Main Street in Frisco, this was good practice for riding in traffic! We rode up to where the trail from Vail Pass came down, we’d talked about riding up Tenmile Canyon some but with dark clouds and lighting streaking across the sky we decided not to. We thought we’d made it to 30 miles and turned back but just before the rental place Dad looked at the GPS again and realized we’d be short so we rode down a side street in Frisco and made it to 30 miles!

30 miles and I was still sad to give the bike back! I think there will be a bike purchase in my future! A bike would be a great addition to my RV – I can ride in the campgrounds, I can park Roxy someplace and have transportation, I can also ride at home and check out the Rails to Trails bike trails! I need to research and figure out which one will be best!

We managed to avoid getting wet during our bike ride but almost as soon as we turned the bikes in the rain started and hasn’t let up yet!

Tomorrow we are heading to Black Canyon of the Gunnison!