Denver

Blair, Jessica, Amanda, and Chris
Denver Solidarity Ride

Denver Solidarity Ride

Summit, Monarch Pass

So, this is a little out of order, and a little bit of back tracking. On our way through Colorado, we reached the summit of Monarch Pass, which is the highest point we will bike to on the trip. I felt awesome when we reached the top at about 11,300 feet, but quickly got altitude sickness after resting at elevation and eating a bologna sandwich...I'm thinking the sandwich had something to do with the illness. Thankfully, with a team full of doctors, everyone knew to sit me down and give me water until I was stable enough to bike down without veering off the mountain pass. It was an awesome feeling to still be able to finish even after wanting to curl up into the fetal position for a good 45 minutes. Can you tell I want to vomit in the picture? No?...good.

From there we eventually ended up in Denver for our first solidarity ride. Basically, we set up a booth at a giant tent sale, and people paid to ride with us to the stadium. 20 miles on our day off! It was an enjoyable ride, thought my knees could have used the day off. That evening, in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, we headed to a Mexican restaurant for margaritas (virgin margaritas for me) and some guacamole. The interesting combination of Cinco de Mayo decorations and people dressed for derby day made it one of the most interesting and fun nights of the ride...aside from prom, of course. On the ride back from the restaurant Denver decided it would be fun to hail on us, but thankfully the weather cleared up to just the brutal head wind we faced the next day during out century.