Day 20: Gondolas (Dolores, CO to Mountain Village, CO - 61 miles)

With our sights set on Telluride, we hopped on our bikes and began the gradual descent up to Lizard Head Pass. The climb was actually a lot of fun- we gained about 3,200 ft over 50 miles, so the incline was barely noticeable most of the time, and as we pedaled closer to the top, our views of the Rockies kept getting sweeter.

We made it up to Lizard Head Pass in great time and stopped to take in the view. From here, we'd have a little ways to go into Mountain Village, which connects to Telluride via gondola. We began our windy descent through the mountains while marveling at the huge cliffs that surrounded us.

Shortly after, we made our way into Mountain Village, where we had arranged to stay with Dr. Don Kramer and his family at his beautiful vacation home. They told us we should stay for at least a couple days, since Telluride has an incredible 4th of July celebration. We're still working on the route details, but we'll hopefully be able to see some of the 4th here. Our next stop was the gondola, for the ride into Telluride. The views were phenomenal.

Once in town, we met up with the MIT team and walked around for the afternoon. It was a very cool experience- the town has a bunch of neat boutique stores and cafes, and the views of the mountains didn't cease to impress us. 

During the afternoon, Dr. Kramer asked if the other team needed a place to stay. Seeing as the town camping was booked, he graciously offered to let them stay in the family's condo, near their home in Mountain Village. We're all very grateful for Dr. Kramer and his family's hospitality. They made Pat and I feel right at home. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with the other riders and then took the gondola back to Telluride, where Dr. Kramer's daughter brought us to a local bar. It was a really great day, no doubt the best of our trip so far, and we're looking forward to our first official rest day today. Pat and I are going on an ATV tour of Telluride later. Mountain biking sounded tempting, but we're looking to be lazy on our day off. Plus, knowing me, I'd fall and break something. We're also going to look into riding our bikes in the 4th of July parade tomorrow, before heading on to our next destination. Too bad we didn't bring our tricycles.