Of all the things we were going to do try to do on this trip, D was most excited to go mountain biking. Before we could head out on our adventure though, we had to switch hotels because we decided to stay an extra night and our original lodge, Valdoro, had no availability. The room was great but the vibe felt a little off so I was glad to go over to Mountain Thunder Lodge because the name made me laugh and with the exception of the unnecessary murphy bed, was a fantastic place. Then we walked to Main Street and found Daylight Donuts. A quaint, fast food style, breakfast joint.
Once we were fueled up, we went next door to the first bike rental place we saw. Not that I am cheap but perhaps a little research would have saved us a bit of cash because I thought the bike rental was almost as steep as the cliffs we were about to ride. Our original plan was to take the gondola up and ride down but it was closed that day so the employee gave us some directive tips which confused us completely and we walked out clueless.
We eventually spoke to the lone bike rider waiting for a bus we thought we may have to take and he was super helpful. He too felt that we could handle where we were headed, a place called Boreas Pass, and said he was going there too and we could just follow him. He told us his life story as we rode the free shuttle up and when we reached our launch site.
D fell hard on the first switchback and we continued to struggle on them for the first part. We finally made it to an opening and our friend was chillin. He said he would take us through the next part but I felt like I was going to puke so I insisted he go ahead (even though I knew we would get lost without him.) He took our photo by some minor relics (that's D showing his bleeding hand and me pretending like I am strong) and we were on our own.
The next three plus hours were insane. I could not believe these people thought it was OK to send people who have never done this onto a trail alone. I feared me or my husband falling off a cliff or seriously injuring ourselves just about evert second of this. We came to a clearing and took it all in.
Cool action shot, right? Actually, this was the exact moment his bike was hitting a rock and he began to flip over his handle bars. Fun times. Shortly after this, while David was racing ahead, I felt the need to fall wrists first into the biggest hole I could find.
I miraculously crawled out with my now broken bike and resprained wrist and walked to the next clearing where David was just waiting on a road. Despite my current condition, I had so much adrenaline because I had just seen two Mule Deer. Silver lining to the fall was spotting wildlife!
Thankfully, the road was downhill and ran right to town. I couldn't peddle because the chain detached so I just glided the rest of the way, which was about two miles. We returned our bikes, looking like we just battled, and the employee was not even phased. He then showed us a scar all along his arm where a metal plate was put in from his last big fall. OH OK!
We walked to the crepe hut and decided we deserved our annual couples massage so we walked to a bunch of places that weren't able to accommodate. I gave up and went back to the hotel room because I was exhausted and David continued the search, finally getting us in to Blue Sage Spa.
A few hours later we were relaxed and enjoyed a nice dinner at Relish, where our waiter was probably the friendliest waiter in the country and the food was well above par.
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