Stage Three: Fort Collins, Colorado

Depart: Courtyard by Marriott, Grand Junction, Colorado
Arrive: Residence in by Marriott, Fort Collins, Colorado
Miles Traveled: 299.5

It was supposed to be an easy, stress free day.

Distance-wise it was the shortest day of the entire trip ~ but that was just the distance we traveled horizontally, and therein lies the source of the stress I felt.

You see as much as I like my car, in the final analysis it is a four-cylinder compact. As such it was never intended do things like climb the Continental Divide. At a tad under 11,500 feet in elevation my little Corolla was going too fast to follow behind the big rigs that were crawling but too slowly to pull out and pass.

Then there was the 8% grade coming down the other side.

All-in-all it was a white-knuckle day at the wheel.

I will say that once we arrived in Fort Collins we were very pleasantly surprised at how nice the community is. Three friends attended college at Colorado State University, and have always had good things to say. However, another friend ~ a super-duper good friend ~ absolutely hated it, so we weren't certain what to expect.

There was lots of shopping, plenty of golf courses, and two of the largest non-chain cycling stores I've ever seen (along with the widest, most accommodating bike lines a person on a bicycle could ever hope for).

We made quit trips to the grocery store and REI (Christine needed another pair of shoes ~ two simply was not enough), and were quite enamored with the area.

Super-duper friend's cred is may be doubt.

Next we travel to Rapid City, South Dakota ~ look for an update soon!