Day 5 - Zip Lining and Mountain Biking

July 15, 2015


Zip lining is amazing. We went to Full Blast Adventure Center in Durango, CO and had two outstanding guides, James and Cole. James is a 12-year Navy veteran (and can be seen photo bombing Cody, below), a former professional mountain biker, a veteran outdoor guide and a 55-year old kid. I want to be like him when I grow up.

On the first run, Kim told everyone, "I might scream". After everyone had a good laugh, she did scream as she left the platform, a short, cute burst that she just had to get out of her system.  After that, she was all good.

After six great runs with our small group, two folks from Tucson (the husband was NOT happy his wife dragged him along on this thing), two folks from San Angelo and us, the guides offered to let us do two more lines for free.

After the first of the two "extra" runs, James offered to let us do a 65-foot, backwards, no-look free fall off the last tower, stopped only by a mechanical device. I, of course, jumped right in (or off), and it was awesome!

Big smiles after high times in the Durango treetops!

I took these videos of the final run from the parking lot after doing my free fall.

After a two-hour break, I went for a guided mountain bike tour with John Robinette of Durango Mountain Bike Tours. If you love to mountain bike, and you're ever in Durango, you should definitely book a trip with John. He is absolutely outstanding!

Here are some photos John took of me during some of his (many) waits for me to catch up (click to zoom in). I didn't crop them so you can get sense of the amazing scenery I got to experience.

The ride was over 17 miles, more than 1,800 feet of elevation climb (not change, just climb), and over 3 hours. I learned that I was in good enough shape to push myself to do this, but not good enough shape to do this. After the ride, Kim met John and me at Durango Brewing Company for a beer. I whispered to her at one point, very honestly, "It hurts to breathe."

While I was out mountain biking, Kim, Kalli and Cody did a little bit of shopping and then headed out for a hike up near Fort Lewis College. Everyone had a great day!