On my way to Breckenridge today, but not to ski this time. That is after crossing over Ute pass first. It was still a bit dark this morning when I got on the bike, so turned on my front and rear lights. I had heard trucks going past the campground fairly early while still in my sleeping bag. Hmm, what is that all about? The grade up Ute pass wasn’t too bad, but still a higher number of worker trucks zooming past me on that dirt road. They were all pretty courteous. Finally near the top I could see a big construction plant and on the other side what looked to be a new reservoir without water in it yet. I am sure the growth in Summit county with the ski areas and other tourist activities needs more water. Think of all those hot tubs!
I eventually got myself over the pass, and had a nice smooth downhill towards highway 9 that would take me to Silverthorne. I guess there were no more reasonable off-road options. It had a nice wide shoulder but still a lot of traffic. I don’t necessarily like the bumpy and rocky dirt roads, but then again you are most of the time by yourself and have better views. I could tell I was getting closer to civilization when a sign for a bike path appeared. I jumped onto that and weaved through well manicured residential developments to the center of town. Silverthorne central is really a soulless place that has the intersection of the busy I-70 highway from Denver with other busy roads and an Outlet mall. Nothing spells adventure and the great outdoors like an Outlet Mall. Luckily they did have the foresight to still have bicycle paths through the middle of it all. The path made a serpentine path up to the top of the Lake Dillon dam and towards the town of Frisco. It wasn’t too steep, but you had to put your bike in a low gear to get up on top. An elderly gentleman (probably my age) all decked out in Lycra zoomed past me with a smug “Good Morning” greeting. He had a new looking bike (no luggage), but I could tell it was an e-bike. It seems the trend with these new bikes is to hide the fact that it is an e-bike. I have nothing against them, except when people pretend they are not e-bikes while on “workout” rides. Kind of like a toupee on two wheels 🤣.
The bike path was filling up with lots of folks bicycling on the path. I will say the majority were e-bikes. Ok, these were mostly folks not pretending, and probably wanted to explore the area. That is fine with me. Better than driving in a large vehicle. I did look out of place with my loaded down bike. The route led through Frisco which at one point in time was a sleepy little town. No more.
I finally rolled into Breckenridge. Last time I was there was with my friend Andy, his son Joel, and a couple of their friends for a ski trip a few years ago. It has a nice Main Street, with lots of shops and eateries. Breckenridge seems to try to balance being a cool/hippie/sporty place, and one that can appeal the retired visiting couple from Florida. Not an easy proposition. I had reserved a room in a small hostel nearby which was very nice. The advantage of these places is that they are cheaper than a regular hotel, and to me can have more charm and character. So what if you don’t have a private bathroom. How much time do you really need to spend on there?😆
An Irish bar. I suppose Ciaran has been there.
No comments:
Post a Comment