Day One: Up and Let's Go!

'Merican Moustaches

Start: Brennan and Haley's apartment in Denver, Colorado
Lunch: The Little Bear Saloon in Evergreen, Colorado
Dinner: The Alpine Restaurant & Bar in Georgetown, Colorado
End: Empire, Colorado (though staying at the Georgetown Mountain Inn)
Today's biking distance: 58 miles
Total biking distance: 58 miles
Today's elevation: 3,334 feet

Total biking elevation: 3,334 feet

The night before the ride, we went with the casual approach, attending a farewell party for one of Brennan and Haley's friend at The Thin Man, followed by a lovely home-cooked dinner by Haley. We casually discussed the route for the following day, but felt that our previous three years of experience merited a more casual approach to the planning. And for Brennan and Jason, that was largely true.

For myself, the inability to get my GPS working, and failure at finding lemon and lime Gatorade mix resulted in a shaky start to the trip. Still, the boys persevered, and in fact thrived as they arrived at our first planned stop for the day before I had even left Brennan's apartment. That first stop was Red Rocks Amphitheatre. While we didn't stick around for the showing of Mean Girls scheduled for tonight ("you go Glenn Coco"), Brennan and Jason did get to ride their bikes on the stage.

Red Rocks is open to the public...those people are not there to cheer on Brennan and Jason.

Riding on the Red Rocks Stage. Take that, Dave Matthews!

the view from the stage

I next met to boys in Evergreen, Colorado for lunch. The Little Bear Saloon quickly became perhaps our favorite food stop in Moustache Ride history, as we entered an historic building with graffiti carvings in the all-wood decor, license plate and street sign-covered walls, and a music stage covered in bras. We've got some video of my walk through the place, which I'll work on posting soon. In the meantime, here are some pics.

Nothing says Colorado like a 6-ft. wood carving of Coors Banquet's logo!

Rarely do bands have the confidence to wear bike shorts.

Brennan sneaks a feel of the ever-illusive three-breasted bra.

After lunch, I did my usual drive ahead of the guys to find a suitable motel. Unfortunately, they were finishing their day in Empire, Colorado, which only has one bed and breakfast (meaning, completely out of our class, maturity, and price range). Still, I told the guys to meet me at Lewis Sweet Shop in Empire, CO, primarily because I wanted a milkshake. It turned out to be a great choice, as the owners Peggy and Bernie were eager to give us dinner recommendations and share biking stories with Brennan and Jason.

No clue what a "frog rodeo" is

Peggy and Bernie's joint....they would think my wording there was funny, trust me.

Adorable, much?!

We ended the night at the Georgetown Mountain Inn, which was conveniently located next to one of Peggy and Bernie's recommendations, the Alpine Restaurant & Bar. Good food and good brews refueled the guys, so they'll be ready to go tomorrow.

The Alpine has a train running about the bar room, in honor of it's former life as a train depot.

Our cabin for the night.

Tomorrow will send Brennan and Jason to Grand Lake, which will be roughly 70 miles or so. They'll handling the mountainous terrain extremely well, considering their previous travels over the relatively flat landscapes of Kentucky, Indiana, Texas, and Louisiana.

PS: Shout out to KGOAT Radio for their great tunes. My iPod isn't cooperating, so the support vehicle hasn't been the music haven that I hoped for. But KGOAT, which is advertized on the highway as a travel information station, was spinning Arcade Fire, Daft Punk, The Shins, and Animal Collective. Now that's what I call quality travel information!