G & B: Ride the Boat

History lesson: The Yampa Valley was the summer hunting grounds of the Ute Indians for hundreds of years. The first white men passed through the area in the early 1800s. The name Steamboat Springs is said to have originated in the late 1820s when three French Trappers, traveling along the Yampa River, heard a "chug chug" sound. Upon further investigation, they discovered the sound came from a natural mineral spring, to be named Steamboat Springs. And there you go.

Fire update: There is now a fire in Boulder. Boo.

Greg & Brooke update: Sunday night Greg and I didn't know what to do and were in a momentary rut. I didn't want to camp anymore. Greg didn't want to stay at our hotel. I didn't want to drive to Aspen just to backtrack and drive out because Colorado Springs was no not part of the plan and we just sat there uninspired.

"Should we just go home?"
"Maybe."
"I miss Sergio."
"I miss the house."
"But we have concert tickets for Saturday... and I really want to go to that and we have plans with Jay and Sarah."
"True. I don't want to miss that either."
"Hmmmmmm...."
"Hmmmmmm..."

Then we got Mexican food and sat there for awhile when Greg says, "I want to mountain bike."
Then I say, "me too."
"Let's just stay here and mountain bike."
"Perfect!"

And it was settled. We would stay here and figure out a way to bike. The next day we get up early and go to the Steamboat visitor's center where I get yoga brochures, fly fishing brochures, lodging options, and a "Bike Steamboat" magazine. While I'm calling about lodging Greg is looking over the bike magazine with his magnifier and finds an ad for an adaptive recreational activities organization. He calls them and guess what? Helping him is what they do so they would be happy to get him (and me by association) out on the trails. Seriously? It was that easy here? Awesome!

I then find us a studio condo that is affordable, we check in early, and take it easy until afternoon. Then Greg gets a call from Bob who is his mountain bike guide. He and Greg agree to meet down the road from our place at the ski and bike shop to get us rental bikes and get out there and ride.

We meet Bob at 9 am today and get situated. Bob is a retired ex-military man who now works on the ski patrol, is EMS, and volunteers for many things. He was really a great person, was in amazing shape, and we are lucky to have met him. I felt really good about mountain biking with him leading the way.

Both of us got dual suspension mountain bikes and helmets. They ask me at the counter if I want a full face helmet. I look at the girl and say, "Do I need a full face helmet?" Inside, I'm thinking, "Holy ****! If we need face cover I am out of this mess but Greg will still do it and I know he will- ahhhh!" She assured me that I would be fine with a regular helmet and that some people like to be dare devils on the downhills and prefer the full helmet.

Anyways, Bob, Greg, and I start getting used to the bikes. We go up a few hills and down a few small easy trails at the base of the mountain. No problem, right? Wrong! We are at over 7,000 feet at this point and going down hills are a breeze but going up.... let's just say that a hill I would normally do very easily at home had me dizzy and queasy and needing to get off the bike, sit down, and put my head between my knees. Greg was breathing heavy but was ok. Bob was super nice about me needing a break but my ego was slightly wounded. It didn't help that he prefers to ride up the hill (which is over 2,000 feet in elevation in addition to the 7,000 feet where we are by the way) rather than going down. I rode up one tiny hill and nearly had a heart attack. I need oxygen!! I asked him how long it took to become acclimatized to such an altitude. He said about 6 months.

After my near passing out spell, we decide that this will be our plan: We will all take the gondola up to the top of the mountain with our bikes. I will hang out on top while the guys ride down. At this point, George, another volunteer, had joined the group to ride as well. Then they will take the gondola back up to come get me and we'll go down together on the gondola. Sounds good to me but I'm a little worried about Greg. Honestly though, if you are going to ride down the side of the mountain with very poor vision, Bob and George are the best people to do it with. They took one of the many trails that started from the top. I went to the trail head with them and looked down and said "Hell to the no, I will not go." I'd rather live so I hung out for 45 min or so at the top until the guys came back up. While I was waiting this family of 5 with two little kids and a teenager take off down that same trail. Are you kidding me? I watch for them to appear from around the bend. I notice they are still alive and start thinking that if they can do it then there should really be no reason why I can't, right?

The guys return. "How was it?!?!?" I ask. Greg said that it was amazing and that I would be able to do it, he thought I should try and that it was all downhill. He said it wasn't easy but if I ride the brakes and keep control I will be ok and that he doesn't want me to regret not doing it. My worst fear is missing out so I took a deep breath and we all took off down the mountain for a 45 minute downhill ride.

I haven't had that much fun on a bike since before Greg got sick. It was really, really fun. I loved it. Greg loved it. The trail was not extremely technical, but it was steep; very steep and there were switchbacks. Our bikes had really good disc brakes so I felt much more confident on this bike than mine at home. I did very little pedaling. All my work was balancing myself off the end of the bike and steering. At this point, Bob had left for another appointment so George was the leader and called out obstacles and directions for Greg as we went down. Following his bright red shirt helped him out too. The only time I felt unsteady was when we hit loose dirt and I could feel myself losing control of the bike so I either slowed down or walked the bike through those sections. Otherwise it was a thrill ride all the way down.

We turned in our bikes and got lunch at a little bar and grill. The waitress asked if I wanted a beer and I said "YES!!!!!" It was stressful but exhilarating. "What did you think? How was it?" I asked Greg. "It was amazing and felt great! I think I need to move to Steamboat each summer and I need an Eriksen 29-er now."

Greg has a ride scheduled with Bob tomorrow morning again. The bike mechanic at the shop said that if you ride down the mountain you "ride the boat." We can check that off our bucket list. We rode the boat. A big thank you to Bob and George for their time and help. Sometimes you meet such nice, generous people when you least expect it.