Biking on the Blue River and up Ute Pass

Wed. July 4th-Mom and I spent the 4th up in Silverthorne. We had a great bike ride in the morning, riding along the Blue River and then up Ute Pass and back, 46.5 miles total, with 3 significant climbs. On the way out along the river we saw a pair of nesting bald eagles and 3 baby eaglets! We watched them from the side of the road for 10 minutes. It was amazing and a very symbolic celebration of their delisting and of Independence Day! We had a great view of the peaks in the Eagle's Nest Wilderness from the Ute Pass road. The steady climb provided great training for our upcoming Courage Classic. My legs were still pretty tired from the Tri on Sat. as evidenced my my HR being higher than Mom's for most of the climbs. We went down the back side of the pass and discovered the Henderson Mine, a large instillation with a very long conveyor belt running along the valley and several tailings settling ponds. The ride back was very nice along the beautiful Blue River. The climb up the hill to the condo was excruciatingly hot and steep! My HR was 170 as I finished hard up to the condo. We felt very satisfied with our effort and enjoyed the rest of our 4th, shopping in Silverthorne, eating at Carlos Miquels in Frisco and watching the fireworks over the hill from the condo balcony!
-Hez