Steamboat Springs to Lynx Pass Campground

Today's mileage was initially 40 miles, thus I took my time to leave the town of Steamboat. I took a gander at the local farmer's market and took a scenic route to the start of my day. I passed over Yampa River, stopping to see everyone enjoying the beautiful weather as they floated down the river on inner tubes. I turned onto Howelsen Parkway, joining many other road bikers and was soon on gravel roads which would lead to Stagecoach Reservoir. Again, taking my time to take pictures, I was certain that the last 20 miles and 1500ft of climbing would be fairly easy. As I left the dam at the reservoir, my derailleur started to chew up the chain and I knew that I had a problem. I took the trailer off and tried some trail side maintenance, this was all to no avail and my only option was to leave the trailer and head back into town. I was still able to peddle, although I was unable to stop peddling, racing down the hills with my legs outstretched as the peddles rotated furiously. As I reached Route 131 I stopped to check the derailleur and saw that I had a fracture that circumvented the inner axle of my wheel. Luckily, passers by saw my anguish and were extremely kind in offering me (and my broken steed) a ride back to Steamboat. The bike shop knew me well as I had stopped in at least three times in the past two days and were quick to resolve the problem. With a new wheel and time ticking away, I had to race back 20 miles to my trailer. I reached the dam and my trailer at 6pm and still had 20 miles and the climb to go. I wasted no time getting back on trail and headed off on a 3 hour climb up to Lynx Pass (8937ft). I arrived at the campsite around 9.15 to find that it had been closed due to the beetle damage in the area, just another curve ball on an already difficult day. Thankfully, I had met two other riders when I had turned back to town and they had heard me pull in. They offered my their leftovers and we camped in the Lynx Pass campground anyways. It was actually a really nice campground, offering an outhouse and water pump. A long day was rewarded with some great sleep and campfire conversation.

Miles: 60