By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-04-05 12:05:09 | Updated at 2025-04-06 02:01:11
14 hours ago
A woman who almost died on one of America's most grueling mountain biking trails has revealed how a guardian angel saved her life.
In August 2024, Jen Roby, 36, decided to tackle the Colorado Trail - which covers 540 miles and runs from Denver to Durango - alone on her mountain bike.
But after 11 days on the largely unpaved high altitude track, the adventurer found herself depleted of energy and freezing cold as a terrifying weather front rolled in.
With just a bivvy bag - a waterproof sleeve that turns a sleeping bag into a shelter - to take cover in for the night, the Colorado-based biker and artist found a spot amid the mountains to camp.
While she was cold to begin with, more rain and the fact that her gear was all wet meant hypothermia started to set in.
Recounting the harrowing ordeal, she told Daily Mail: 'I once read that hypothermia takes only a few hours to set in. In the state that I was in, I knew I wasn't going to last long.
'I was shivering more and more, and my breath was very shallow.
'I felt tears streaming down my face, freezing on my cheek as I questioned if this was how I was going to die... One single cold night, just a day before I was due to finish my cycling challenge.'
Jen Roby, 36, decided to tackle the Colorado Trail - which covers 540 miles and runs from Denver to Durango - and she set out alone on her mountain bike
She continued: 'Panic continued to swim across my body as I failed to get my fragile body under control.'
Ms Roby reveals she passed out several times, in what she describes as near-death experiences each time.
But when she felt 'everything go black' for a third time, she claims she felt a presence around her she now believes was her guardian angel.
Ms Roby said she didn't see a figure but she felt like someone was there with her in the darkness.
The outdoorswoman recalled: 'At one point, I was cramped on my side to create space for air inside the bivvy bag.
'It really felt as if I was in a coffin being waterboarded. I felt each pelting drop through the thin walls of the bag, and I could not retain any heat.
'The time moved so slowly as I contemplated how I was going to survive.
'But suddenly, I felt a warm palm on the small of my back as I felt heat surge through me. My breathing stopped, and I found myself in a fuzzy, peaceful haze.'
When she relaxed into a 'delirious state', Ms Roby says she heard a 'soft yet clear' voice tell her that 'everything was going to be ok' and from there, she can't quite explain what happened.
Still moved by the experience more than six months on, she told this website: 'Something or someone was there with me. I can't quite explain it.
'My bivvy bag was so small but I felt as though someone was inside it with me.'
After 11 days on the largely unpaved high altitude track, the adventurer found herself depleted of energy and frozen cold as a terrifying weather front rolled in
While she was cold to begin with, more rain and the fact that her gear was all wet meant hypothermia started to set in
Ms Roby added: 'I thought at the time I was either hallucinating or possibly having the worst dream of my life.
'I just remember feeling so scared as I felt myself slipping away from reality and my breathing was completely out of control.'
As she felt herself drift out of consciousness, Ms Roby said she experienced flashbacks of other near death experiences in her life, including a car accident she had been involved in and a biking accident, which had given her a bad concussion the previous year.
In that moment, she felt as if 'death' was a male figure and he had arrived to take her away.
In a diary entry she wrote following the event and shared with Daily Mail, the adventurer mused: 'He has visited me so many times and over so many nights.
'Yet this time I fear he is finally coming to take me. Everything has led to this point, and I feel the pain of nostalgia recalling that I've seen this coming years ago.
'I am convinced that death must be in the tent with me. I am not sure why he would be so kind as to reassure me, but I am pretty certain that if some light appears, I am totally walking toward its warmth.
'Death is beginning to feel like a strange embrace, and in this moment, I would surrender to the whispers of anything that offered solace.'
While Ms Roby said she felt like she was succumbing to death, she felt a 'relentless struggle rage' within her, and then she heard a male voice say several words; Michael and 'your friend'.
At that point, she said 'blackness embraced me a final time' and everything cut out.
However, miraculously hours later, she was 'greeted by the song a of a single bird' as the morning light hit her bivvy bag.
She thinks that during her near death experience, she was able to connect with a friend who she later found out had died shortly afterwards
While her near death experience left its mark, it hasn't put Ms Roby off adventuring and she currently plotting her next big trip, with Antarctica on the radar
Detailing how she felt when she realized she was still alive, Ms Roby says: 'My body was incredibly stiff, and my neck was throbbing in pain. But I was still there. I really couldn't believe it.
'All I remember is ripping my way out of my bivvy and sitting upright for a long time. I was paralyzed by the senses that flooded me. I somehow survived the darkest night of my life.'
Although she is not religious, Ms Roby believes the name Michael signified 'St Michael', a prominent figure in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, revered as a powerful spiritual warrior and protector battling against evil and the devil.
Meanwhile, she later discovered that a good friend, had died during her near-death experience.
She thinks that during her experience, she was able to connect with that friend one final time before he passed.
Thanks to gaining a sense of strength, Ms Roby got back on her bike and managed to complete her epic journey, with 540 miles under her belt.
While her near death experience left its mark, it hasn't put Ms Roby off adventuring and she currently plotting her next big trip, with Antarctica on the radar.
It would mark her last continent.
The content creator, who uses the handle @nomadnoplans, concludes: 'I find myself still grappling with the questions of when and why people leave us.
'It feels so unjust that some of us are granted second or even seventh chances, while someone I cherish like a brother faced a sudden freak accident.
'I can't shake the deep connection to Brandon, both here and beyond, especially since I heard his name, along with that of Michael, echoing in my thoughts that morning.
'Life can be so cruel and fleeting. Though it is not my story to tell, Brandon will forever hold a place in my heart, and I will always remember that heart-wrenching August night.'
