Day 19: Aspen, Colorado

I felt very privileged today. We just had the most amazing day of riding on a background of jaw dropping scenery.
A day of three passes, the Mosquito, Weston and Independence passes.
Each had its own distinctive flavour. The Mosquito has to be the standout. Tackled first thing in the morning it was an intensely technical climb to 13 500 feet(4114metres). That is several hundred metres higher than Mount Cook. Despite a chilly 8 degrees Celsius at the top the sweat was dripping from under my helmet from the efforts of first the climb and then the descent. The views from the top were truly spectacular. I hope the shaking hands do them justice.
Having agreed that Mosquito was at the limits of what we would want to tackle on these bikes ( at least in a foreign country where salvage of body or bike may not be that straightforward) , we tackled Weston. This was easy riding with a fun flowing technical descent that brought us back to Leadville. Beautiful scenery and just right after the mornings exertions.
Finally we rode the sealed Independence pass to Aspen. This was the most scenic of the lot which is saying something and was just a beautiful ride. For every picture I took today I could have taken a thousand more. Often thinking of the need to take blog photos I decided to be selfish and for the most part enjoyed the ride and the views for myself.
The pictures today I think are self explanatory. There is a pic of me taken by Dave on the early part of the Mosquito pass. I was taking a breather, pondering life and thinking something along the lines of "and now?".
Aspen has turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It is clearly a mind bogglingly wealthy town but the money means it is very well kept and presented. No shortage of Prada and jewellery stores here!
Due to some excellent charm work from Dave we are in a great little hotel that is a significant step up from our usual accommodation. The town photos are obviously of Aspen. The building frontage and indoors are of our hotel.
One further thing I have to comment in is just what a pleasure the American people are to deal with. Kind and helpful to the nth degree. We met a gentleman on a quad bike at the top of Mosquito pass who thanked me for taking the time to come and visit and appreciate his country. What a lovely thought when so many of us are busy trying to hide our treasures.