Silverthorne, Colorado, to Fairplay, Colorado -- 38 miles

We woke at 5:30 am, and got started at 6:53 am. We enjoyed riding for 15 miles on the smooth paved bike path that wound around Dillon Reservoir, past Frisco, and ended in Breckenridge. Lenny spoke to Bernie McMenamy, who was mowing his lawn, and asked if we could fill up our water bottles with his hose. He told us that in the 30 years he has lived in Breckenridge, the population has gone from 200 to 2,000. He said that 40% are second homes. He mentioned that he used to be the Mayor of the town at one time.

We stopped in a bike shop to have the mechanic look at our tires because Lenny noticed small cracks in the rubber. The mechanic said it indicates a weakening of the tires; he said at minimum they would last about 100 miles and that we should change them as soon as possible because if they go, the tube may herniate through. On the way up the pass, we saw dark clouds forming in the sky, but decided to keep biking. Suddenly, it started pouring rain when we were about 8 miles from Hoosier Pass. 

We stopped at a private residence, and ducked under the roof overhang to put on our rain gear. There were a lot of cars on the road, and we kept pulling over to get out of the way. It stopped raining as the climb became steeper, and about 4 miles from the top, the sun came out. We met Ted Borstad, whose son Chris is also biking across the U.S. He is ahead of us, and we probably won’t catch up since he is averaging 75 miles per day. We reached Hoosier Pass, elevation 11,542 feet, the highest pass of the trip, and took photos.

 We ate lunch here, then got back on our bikes to go downhill. The wind was very strong, and we had to go slower to avoid being blown all over the road. We got back on a paved bike path for 6 miles between Alma and Fairplay. In town, we camped at the South Park Lodge and had a tasty dinner at the Brown Burro Cafe. The Mexican food out west beats anything we’ve had in the east!