The team was quite split up today. Many people either had friends or family in town that they were staying with. Today also happened to be Aadit’s birthday! Those who did not have any friends or family in town all decided to go for a hike in the flatirons. The 2025 team had recommended the hike that they did last year and it was super fun. The hike was a 3.1 mile loop including an out and back. This could’ve been a quick hike, however we decided to take our time and enjoy all the views. As always we also messed around a fair amount and made our own fun adventures.
As per usual on a rest day we were gladly able to sleep in as much as we liked. However, today we had a big group activity planned. Everyone who did not have any friends or family in Boulder banded together to tackle a 3.1 mile hike on the flatirons. We all excitedly piled into the support van and took a trip towards the flatirons. The mountains in the distance grew larger as we approached. Luckily with the support van as our vehicle of choice we were able to apply sunscreen, grab snacks, and fill up our water bottles for the hike. While probably being too cautious with snacks and water, we decided to err on the side of being overprepared. The hike started off relatively easy with a nice path that had a slight ascent. This whole hike was a great time for the team to hang out, bond, and talk to each other while having fun at the same time. On this first stretch of the hike some of our teammates participating in their own pushup challenge decided to get some of their pushups done on the first stretch of this trail, not without questions from strangers. The pushup challenge that some of our riders do is to complete a pushup for every mile of biking. A lot of them had to catch up from the days before since we had some longer days.
Further into the hike we reached the out and back. This is when the hike actually got interested and transitioned from a paved path into a dirt path with rocks lining it. It was at this point that the group realized we were in for a very fun hike. As we got further into the hike we all looked up and saw a steep “wall” of rocks and boulders. The group had the same idea all at once: we should climb it. And so we all got on our hands and knees and scrambled up about 500 feet of rocks. As we all reached the “top” we looked up and realized that we had a lot more to go. This is when the climb got quite a bit more technical as we had to climb up actual rocks. By now we could see the goal and see the actual flatirons. The Flatirons that are on our hike are big triangular rock formations that stick out from the tops of the mountains. This is when we knew that our new goal was to reach the top. After messing around climbing random boulders half of the team decided to go back to the stayover to do laundry and other miscellaneous things while the other half of us decided to forge onward in hopes of reaching the top. The only problem with that was the four of us who kept going forgot to grab our water bottles from the bag that we had given to one of the people who decided to turn back. With 4 of us left in the hike, 1 water bottle between us, the hot sun, and at least 2 miles left we knew that it would be a challenge.
The climb to the top proved a little tough in the heat but we persevered. We were able to make it as far as physically possible. In order to make it to the very top we would have needed actual climbing gear, so we decided that we would count it as the summit. The view from the top proved to be well worth our time and effort. With nothing planned for the rest of the day Parker, Nishk, Max, and Vedang sat at the top of the flatirons and just took in the wonderful view for an hour. It was very calming to be able to sit in nature without any worries. In a world full of constant distractions it was an amazing experience to be able to just enjoy the presence of our teammates without any other worries. Contrary to much of our previous life, none of us were on our phones at all except to take a picture to document the sights.
After we had climbed down from the mountain we met up with the others who had turned back earlier at a laundry mat. The four of us went out to lunch to get pizza, one of the team's favorite meals so far. Although not quite as good as the famous New York pizza we remembered, any warm meal is definitely sure to satisfy our appetites. Once all of our planned activities were done for the day the team went back to the stayover to call family, look through packages we had received, and take a nap. Later into the evening Aadit, whose birthday it was today, came back to the stayover and it was a very welcome surprise. We all wished him a happy birthday and most of the team accompanied him to get gelato. The team sat outside and talked for an hour or two as we were blessed with the most beautiful weather outside. From all of our activities today the team at this point had gotten rather tired and wanted to make sure to get to bed early so that we had energy for the days to come.
