Silverthorne Colorado | Biking, Shopping

"A great thing that has come out from the pandemic is our ability to channel our soul into secludedness but also in finding alternate ways of travel such as biking."

When my hubby's love for biking coincided with a location popular for outdoors, we knew we had chosen our first pitstop wisely. Between the Frisco-Vail 10 mile Recpath and the Lake Dillon Path, both of which were suggested by the local visitor center, we opted for Lake Dillon - the one that got most voted on from the online forum "See The USA Via Road Trips" that also helped us tremendously before and throughout our Journey in Colorado. Find the map of Summit County Bikepath here

We also were enamored by the quaint and picturesque Summit County Bikepath at Lake Dillon. Silverthorne stands at 9000 feet.  The bike ride provided us enough zeal to continue forward with the rest of the day while our body was still adjusting to the altitude. Even though my hubby's plan was slightly ambitious to do the Loveland Pass on day 1, we did end up hearing out our bodies tired and gasping for breath and chose an easier and slow-paced ride. 

Hey! Do not forget to join my hubby on his passion for biking (@outoninsta) where he has not only completed 100 continuous days of the ride but also has done nearby mountains and hills near New York and has also biked in honor of the doctors during the Pandemic. Meanwhile, I enjoy riding but very occasionally. 

I would say Silverthorne turned out to be an excellent base for our initial two days. The outlet malls had a lot of outdoorsy branded shops such as Pearl Izumi and Columbia but also a plethora of other brands. The outlet malls were within 5 min of our hotel and we bought trekking pants for $29 from Columbia. Please note, that in this outlet mall the closing times of each shop is different. On our first day, we mostly had fumbled through the collection at shops and now it was the time to plan our day 2. 

Interestingly, I found that since Colorado was part of the Gold Rush, the gift center at the Outlet Mall contained bottles of Gold.

On day 2, my hubby woke up with a headache and a slight sickness. That was the day he had planned biking on the Loveland Pass and had informed the bike rentals at Keystone. However, since both of us were displaying symptoms of slight altitude sickness which was very apparent we decided that we first eat at the local eatery at Sunshine Cafe which by the way, had wait times but the really creative decor and great food! Thereafter we will plan the rest of the day.

It has become such fear in all of us, that even a slight blockage of nose or headache due to temperature and altitude change, made us think if we had caught Covid which really wasn't the case. We could have rested more.

                  Soup of the Day(Zucchini Cheddar) and local Trout at Sunrise Cafe was fresh and nice!

Thereafter, we went to the Lake Dillon Biking rental and rented our bikes. I found that the lady at the Biking Rental wasn't well informed, nor did appear interested, all it felt to me was her job to handle our bikes and let go of us! Makes sense because that isn't a dedicated bike shop but a grocery shop that also rents bikes.

We typically went towards the right side of Lake Dillon which was supposedly less steep but for me who is almost a nonbiker, required a lot of effort and also enough water to keep me hydrated. We both enjoyed the bike ride. A gentleman informed us if we go all the way and we are too tired to come back, the buses have latches to attach bikes and they can get us back. We did not go as far as the buses. But we did enjoy our leisurely ride around Lake Dillon and Summit County Bike Path.

Our day ended by having delicious Empanadas at Argentos (highly recommended) and French Onion soup.

 

                           The local alcohol was interesting. Horseradish Vodka anyone?