After some delicious KC BBQ, our road-weary travelers, now more than halfway across the United States, are back on the road and driving through the plains of Kansas. Catch up on the last installment of their adventure here.
A late morning start put the Rocky Mountains in view around late afternoon. At first, little more than a faint outline in the distance, the profiles of the jagged peaks came more sharply into focus as time passed and the sun sank in the sky. The corn fields of Kansas in our rear-view, we began the climb up to the Mile High City, arriving on the outskirts of downtown Denver just as the sun set. Dinner that evening at
Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs included some interesting selections (pheasant and rattlesnake, anyone?), though it was the blackened cauliflower that was the real highlight of the evening.
The next morning, we biked downtown for breakfast, before reloading all our gear in the TSX and setting out for
Mt. Evans, the highest paved road in North America. Despite the thinning air taking a massive chunk out of the TSX's performance, the winding road as we raced for the peak proved enjoyable nonetheless, each switchback and hairpin revealing ever more breathtaking scenery. The ascent revealed the excellent chassis control and communicative steering of the TSX, but also just how direly this well-developed chassis calls out for a light-weight, high performance motor, preferably of the forced-induction variety.
As we reached the parking lot just below the peak, we could look back down the mountain and see the tiny strip of asphalt that we just climbed. At over 14,000 feet, the air is thin and the impact is immediate as we take our first few steps. We grabbed a day pack with our camera and began the short hike to the highest point.
