Fueled up with that amazing dinner from last night, I packed up my gear, said goodbye to Michelle and Terri who was another traveler sat the RV Park whom I had met and began pedaling toward Ute Pass. As far as I can tell, Ute Pass might be the last pass of this adventure. I am getting real close to the Great Plains and I don’t see any more named Passes on my route. It is kind of sad to me to think this is the last one. I may be surprised yet since I still plan to ride to Rocky Mountain National Park but I have decided not to ride Berthoud Pass since it a little too far out of my way, but there may be other passes that I am yet unaware of. We will see.
Anyway, I am getting to far ahead of myself here. The ride up to the Ute Pass Summit was an 8 mile gradual climb from the town of Florissant. It was another pretty easy climb which is surprising to me since all of these last 3 passes have all been over 9,000 feet.
Now it is primarily a long downhill into Woodland Park and then continuing down into Manitou Springs. There a great treat awaits.
I am going to visit Paul Erickson who happens to be my best friend from my college days at Montana State University.
I haven’t got to see Paul since his wedding to LynnAnn too many years ago. It was a great reunion. We relived a lot of crazy memories and talked about our futures too. It is one of the real highlights of my trip!