Eric B.'s rough ride into Kremmling

Hi, Eric Bruntjen calling in from Kremmling, Colorado. Been running in some rain today; came over Lynx Pass and really got hammered by a thunderstorm. That was on top of a tough morning getting out of Steamboat. The guys at Steamboat Bike & Ski really gave me the NASCAR treatment: new drive train, new brake pads, gave me a good tune-up, but it took most of the morning.

Ended up undoing a lot of that good work on the way down Links Pass. I lost my rear brake pads. Mud and the rain just slows everything down. Combined with my late start, I ended up pulling into Kremmling around 8:30 with only about 88 miles for the day. I probably could have kept going, but somewhere on the other side of Lynx Pass, I'd broken a snap on my rear rack and lost my tent and my sleeping bag and my dry clothes. I was in a pretty rough spot at that point, but Reid, the clerk at the hotel here, immediately offered me his car. So I jumped back back in his car and drove back to where I'd come from, up Links Pass ... wasn't really optimistic, but did end up finding my gear bag on the side of the road. And it was completely soaked, so I had to keep the hotel room, but at least I'm dry and my gear is drying and I have my gear, which is really good news.

So it's been tough. The rain and the mud just wrecks everything. It slows me down, makes me cold and saps my energy, but I'm hanging in there, and I'm hoping for a bigger, better day tomorrow.