RIDE THE ROCKIES DAILY NEWS

I am talking to Paul right now and he is giving me today’s update. Overall the ride was beautiful, perfect weather. 65 miles. They went over Monarch Pass. Half way up Monarch Pass A truck caught on fire and they stopped the ride for an hour and ½. 1500 riders were standing there waiting for the fire to get clear. In a fit of boredom, they started doing “the wave.” Luckily even though the whole truck burned up, the propane tanks on it didn’t explode. Monarch Pass is 11,344 feet high and they biked the continental divide. The boys were safe the whole time. It was very hot and Paul got sunburned. Tonight they are in Salida and they say it is a great town. The town is surrounded by mountains and the architecture in the town is very cute. The whole town is catering to them. Paull and Steve hired some high school wrestlers to carry their bags for them. Talk about lazy!!!!! Paul says he was just helping to support the community. Paul has befriended the guy that is making the Ride the Rockies video so I am sure they will be highly featured in this year's video. He has been giving P and S a lot of rides to and from places.

June 23 (Wednesday)Today the ride went from Montrose to Gunnison and it wasn’t quite so easy as yesterday. They had some uphill with the downhill and the route went next to a beautiful reservoir. Steve and Paul had massages today and as of 6PM they were planning dinner and a little relaxation at the park. The weather was perfect and they said they had nothing to complain about.

June 22 (Tuesday) Today was a better day for the boys. The weather was good and it was a pretty easy ride, comparing it to yesterday. They both finished in good time and were in and eating lunch by 12:00. I will add more details after I talk with them tonight.

June 21 (Monday) Paul and Steve got off to an early morning start for their 76 mile, mostly uphill ride. I wont mention that most of it was extremely steep. I still havent gotten most of the gorey details, but it was not a pretty day. It rained and hailed on them and I think they got in at about 4PM after a 6 AM start. They were very very tired and then their hotel room was lost. They found a friend to stay with so that at least they werent on the street! Probably the less details about this day the better.

June 20 (Sunday) I drove Paul and Steve to the top of the mountain in Durango this morning at 6am to sign up for the ride. It was a beautiful morning and they got off to a good start by 7:15. Marianne and I and the kids went out to the highway and cheered all the bikers and especially Paul and Steve, on their way. We met up with Steve about 10:30 at the Mesa Verde rest stop and he was doing great. No sign of Paul, but he was a little ahead. Paul finished about 10:30 and Steve by 11:00. Comments about the ride: "We got interviewed and our picture taken at the start. The first 11 miles were uphill, but all was picturesque. The training was worthwhile. We both feel really good and are looking forward to tomorrows 77 mile ride, 62 miles of which are up." Glad its them and not me!!! More tomorrow, or more likely Tues as we will lose this computer.

RIDE THE ROCKIES June 19. We are off today to take Paul and Steve to Durango. We will get there late tonight and they will take off tomorrow very early. After that Marianne Coates and I will take the kids to Mesa Verde and take a stage coach ride, and finally meet up with the boys in Cortez. We will all spend the night together there and see them off again on Monday. On Monday we will take the kids to some hot springs and see an Indian religious spot called Chimney Rock. After that to Pagosa Springs to a Wild Life Refuge to see them animals come out for feeding. Spend the night there, as the Bikers continue on to Durango to spend Monday night. Marianne and I will be back on Tues AM and I will update this web page then.

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