So Long, Dave. See You Next Year!

The 2018 Rocky Mountain Rib Rally is officially over. At least it is for me.

Today I turn my attention to golf, tennis, hiking, bicycling – awesome, adventurous and active stuff Coloradans do all summer.

Dave laces up his boots, as he prepares to head home.

While I kick back, Dave begins the three-day journey to Southern California, where he’ll join his family to celebrate the Fourth of July. Today’s destination: Richfield, Utah.

Thank you, Gail, Nathan and Tess – for sharing Dave with us the past few weeks.

Safe travels, Dave.

At 7:36 a.m. Mountain Time, Dave leaves Carbondale and begins the journey home.

***

To wrap up this year’s ride, here’s a summary of the 2018 Rocky Mountain Rib Rally, by the numbers.

Most of these numbers are from blog posts over the past 14 days. If you want to consider this a reading comprehension quiz for material consumed over the past two weeks, be my guest.

And now the numbers.

• 240,000,000: number, in troy ounces, of silver produced in Leadville mines

Olathe sweet corn. Yum!

• 30,000,000: ears of Olathe corn bought annually by the Kroger grocery chain
• 22,000,000: annual capacity, in barrels of beer, of the Coors brewery in Golden
• 7,093,114: in dollars, average home sale price in Aspen in first quarter, 2018

This Aspen home sold for around $41 million.

• 104,185: square miles in Colorado
• 26,000: number of vehicles traveling daily through the Eisenhower Tunnel
• 18,000: height, in feet, of a rumored peak in Rockies; the rumor was debunked in 1869 by a group of Harvard mining students

The view of 12,953-foot Mount Sopris from the living room of our Carbondale home. That’s our cat, Lucy, enjoying the sunshine — and ignoring the view.

• 12,953: elevation, in feet, of Mount Sopris, a view to die for
• 12,183: highest elevation ridden (Trail Ridge Road)
• 9,017: elevation, in feet, of Dillon Yacht Club – believed to be the world’s highest yacht club
• 6,388: elevation, in feet, of the front door to our house in Carbondale

Fishing on the Fryingpan River.

• 6,000: miles of fishable rivers and streams in Colorado
• 3,317: in feet, lowest elevation in Colorado
• 2,472: total miles ridden miles during Rocky Mountain Rib Rally
• 1,899: cost, in dollars, of a Doctor of Ministry degree at Patriot Bible University in Del Norte
• 950: cost, in dollars, to attend a week-long Marble symposium in Marble
• 400: number of rail cars filled with McClure potatoes exported every year from the Roaring Fork Valley in the 1930s

Lunch at Slow Groovin in Marble. Best ribs on the trip.

• 144: (estimated) number of ribs consumed during 2018 Rocky Mountain Rib Rally
• 92.09: in dollars and cents, most expensive dinner for two during Rocky Mountain Rib Rally, at Low Country Kitchen in Steamboat Springs. Including tip.
• 80: members of the Aspen Yacht Club
• 60: pounds of trout, per acre, to be considered Gold Medal fishing waters

Fly fishing in the Rockies. What could be better?

• 58: generally agreed-upon number of fourteeners in Colorado
• 57: total hours in the saddle during Rocky Mountain Rib Rally
• 48: number of years Billy Kidd has been Director of Skiing at Steamboat Springs
• 35: maximum length, in feet, of vehicles allowed over Independence Pass

Independence Pass: difficult enough in a nimble vehicle, impossible in a semi-truck. Photo above shot in September.

• 23: atomic number of Vanadium
• 20: cost, in dollars, of a 2018-2019 season pass at Monarch Mountain – if you’re under 6 or over 69
• 18: top speed, in miles per hour, of the Durango-to-Silverton narrow gauge train
• 17: cost, in dollars, of Truffle Fries at Ajax Tavern in Aspen
• 15: hours of daylight on June 21, the first day of summer in Carbondale

Rib dinner at Smokin Dave’s in Estes Park — one of 13 consecutive rib meals on this trip.

• 13: number of consecutive rib dinners (and lunches) during 2018 Rocky Mountain Rib Rally
• 9.4: percent of grade over Slumgullion Pass, steepest in Colorado
• 8: number of crossings of the Continental Divide (Hoosier, Cochetopa, Independence, Tennessee, Loveland, Monarch, Berthoud and Fremont Passes)
• 4: Number of fishing days over the past two weeks
• 1: number of restaurants in Naturita
• 0: Tie: number of times we rode on unpaved roads. And, number of fish we caught.

Here’s a sight you’ll never see on one of my rides. We rode on unpaved roads zero times.

Had a great time fishing Colorado waters. Photo above is on Roaring Fork River. Zero is the number of fish caught on our trip.

***

Glad you’ve been along for the ride.

Until next year …

Vroom, vroom!