Day 44 Week 7, Monday 2 June 2025

Riding from Walden Colorado to Saratoga Wyoming. Another state in the bag, only 4 more left: Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Oregon! But they are big…. 2300 miles done, about 1500 left- making progress. Seems like only last week we were leaving DC heading out on the C&O canal trail.

We continue to descend a bit in a valley between two mountain ranges. A total of 67 miles today with 2000 feet of elevation gain. There was one really big ascent mid-way through the ride which reminded us of the ascent to Cameron Pass the day before, but not too bad otherwise. We had tailwinds for a good part of the ride but some headwinds particularly in the latter part of the day. Weather was good- in the 70s with sunny skies turning mostly cloudy towards the end. Most of us stopped at the Colorado/Wyoming border about 22 miles in. Then at the 49 mile mark at Riverside. There was a nice cafe there. Timmie and I arrived at 11 AM and it opened only at 11:30, so we sat there and ate our lunch. When the main group showed up, they mostly just had coffee before continuing on. Wide open prairie land between two snow covered mountain ranges, looks like mostly used for grazing cattle although we saw few herds during our ride. Stunning landscape- check out the video.

We were treated to an invigorating experience at the Hobo Hot Springs in Saratoga, after our ride today. It is a public hot springs open to the public 24 hours/day every day! There are different pools with different temperature levels from 100 to 117 degrees. We chose the lower temperature pool which was still pretty hot! It was located next to the river, the North Platte, so after a dip in the hot pool you could go dunk yourself in the very cold river water, then do it again! There was also a pool next to the river which moderated the cold river water with some influx of hot spring water so it was a bit warmer. The place had shower rooms so you could shower off afterwards, something which is necessary because of the sulfur in the water. It was very relaxing! All my muscles seemed to melt away- the soreness in my quads which I typically have after a ride was no more! Very nice- I’d like to be able to do this after every ride!

We stayed at the St Barnabas Episcopal Church this evening. They had a very nice guest house for travelers, with upstairs bedrooms, a nice shower and kitchen with a large living room area where we could eat dinner.

Here are the RidewithGPS stats: