Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 8, 2004

Somerset, CO
Leaving Glenwood Springs on this morning was rather difficult since it had been an awesome stay. Glenwood Springs is a touristy town just outside all of the major ski resorts in Colorado so there was much for us to see and do the night before. The previous night many of the riders got the chance to go to a local Jazz Festival or go atop a mountain on gondolas. Either way the previous night had left the riders satisfied.

We knew the ride going into Paonia would be rather difficult because of McClure Pass, we heard from a few of the locals that it was an 8 mile climb to an elevation in the mid 9000s. As we headed out most of the riders were leery about what was to come, mountains that seemed inescapable surrounded us. We had assumed that the climb would start somewhere after the first water break at mile 20, but it didn’t. We gradually followed a creek along a canyon, as I looked ahead it appeared as though the road simply ended. I had no idea where we were going so I looked up the cliffs to the side of us in an attempt to find some road curving somewhere up these mountains. Still nothing, then there was a sign proclaiming that the summit McClure Pass was only 3 miles ahead, a pleasant surprise. We rounded a huge curve and I finally saw where the road was heading, up the side of the mountain we had been riding next to. The road got steeper and steep and my legs began to tire. About two miles into the climb I felt like I hit a wall. I was slowly fading away and if it were not for Dan I probably wouldn’t have made it over the top. He caught up to me and we sang together all the way to the summit where lunch awaited us. The climb was over and we knew that the rest of the ride would be downhill from there, which it was.

Once again another amazing host, Pastor John Nadasi of the United Methodist Church, greeted us. There was a barbecue scheduled that night, which was a complete success. A large crowd arrived and we had an amazing dinner. After our presentation we heard from a number of the community members how deeply the community had been impacted by cancer. We learned of several heart felt stories and dedicated our ride the following day to the members of the community. That night we were taken into the homes of several community members so that we could all sleep in beds for the evening. We knew ahead of time that Paonia would be a very good stop and it more than lived up to its hype.

- Peter Dewey