Day 51. Estes Park, Colorado. It was an early start today and cold as well. 07:00 out the door and it was 4 degrees on the motorbikes. It was worth it though because we got to Bear Lake (3100m above sea level) before the crowds and set off on our epic walk. 30000+ steps, 9 miles and a good 700 meters of climbing and descending (mostly descending!). As the day progressed it got a lot warmer and in the end it was t shirt weather again and 20 degrees in the sunshin...

Day 50. Estes Park, Colorado. Day off today to catch up on some chores. Exciting things like: - going to the laundrette (our motel is the first place we've stayed at for ages without laundry facilities); - fixing the heated hand grips on Jane's bike (the connection to the battery had snapped off, possibly due to the rough tracks the bikes have been taken down); - checking our finances (to see if we can afford to carry on); and - buying a thermal top (the weathe...

Day 49. Estes Park, Colorado. Rocky Mountain National Park is a very busy place! We headed out this morning to a packed park - probably due to the perfect weather. The location that we were aiming for (Bear Lake) had actually been closed to traffic since 8am due to the volume of people. Not to be deterred though we headed to the nearest Ranger Station and found a really good walk to do (to Cub Lake) that was relatively low level (8000 ft) and in the trees. Havi...

Day 48. Estes Park, Colorado. Saw some elk today, and some wild turkeys! But, still on the look out for black bears. Despite all the warnings and bear-proof bins, they are proving decidedly difficult to spot. First chilly day on the bikes today. Seems like autumn (or fall) is on its way. Unfortunately this was also the day Jane's heated hand grips decided to stop working. Hopefully we can fix them before we head further north. The first part of the route fo...

Day 47. Glenwood Springs. We started off the day by topping up the oil in Jane's bike as it had dropped below the minimum level. Unfortunately the oil we used refused to mix with the synthetic stuff that was in the bike and you could see the resulting froth through the sight glass. Rather than risk a blown engine we managed to find a good motorbike shop that agreed to do a full oil and filter change on the spot. They also had some decent motorbike boots for Mark...