Colorado

June 6, → Doloris CO, 63.7 miles, Avg=9.3mph

Today was a harder day than expected. I awoke to a clear cool morning, went with Will to have breakfast and got on the road about 7:30am. Colorado Hwy 481 to Cortez has a very wide broad shoulder for most of the way to the turn off for Dolores with moderate traffic. The net elevation gain to Dolores is quite small but the route cuts across innumerable small washes and gulches that present a long series of moderately steep rolling hills. At the turn off to Dolores the road climbs gently for most of the way, no shoulder but not much traffic. I passed near a small reservoir and thought about a nice swim but I was going slower than expected so didn't take the time.

I met Will again in Dolores while I was waiting for a friend to pick me up. Will got to Dolores about an hour before me, even having time for a swim at the reservoir. While we were waiting and talking a couple in a truck with a bike drove up to tell us about some camping just a little way out of town on the road to McPhee reservoir. After some more chatting about cycle touring and who lives where and does what they volunteered to take Will to the camp ground in their truck. I expect that's the last I'll see of good friend Will.

Dolores is a nice little town that seems to have a good tourism business going on. There are several restaurants, some antique stores, and shops. It looks like the summer brings people for rafting, mountain biking, and hiking, probably water sports at the reservoir as well. It's very friendly and has some nice parks in which a tired cyclist can have a rest and snack.

My friend John will pick me up here and take me back to his home in Durango for a few days of socializing and resting. I haven't seen John in many years.

June 7, Durango and Mesa Verde CO

I had wanted to see Mesa Verde on this trip because I haven't been there in more than 30 years. I'm so glad my friend John was willing to take me to see it by car, on the ride I couldn't help but notice a long hot steep climb up to the top of the mesa.

June 8, Durango CO

A nice day visiting with my friends John, Shere and their daughter Mallory.

June 9, → Materhorn Campground, just past Lizard Head pass.

I accepted John's offer for a ride up to the pass. It's a gentle climb up to the pass except the last couple miles but it was nice to see this in a car instead of a bike. It looks cold tonight, tomorrow back to cycling.

June 10, → Montrose CO, 76.7 miles, Avg=12.8mph

Cold in the morning but not the frigid temperatures I've often had in the high mountains. I finally got going about 7:30am. A few miles of up and down, mostly down, leads to a steep little climb. From there I started down, getting to the Telluride turnoff in short order. The junction with the turnoff for Telluride has a big gas station with a minimart and even some hot food. Alas the breakfast biscuit I got was every bit as bad as some of the frozen biscuits I've eaten in the past. The french toast strips I got to go along with the breakfast biscuit had been sitting under the heat lamps too long. But, I ate everything anyway, got another boiled egg from my pannier and started on down toward Ridgeway.

 

 

I'm surprised at how fast the scenery has changed from the slickrock monuments of Utah to the pine and aspen coolness of Colorado. As soon as I crossed the Colorado border I could see the mountains in the distance but hadn't expected such a dramatic change in the environment. I suppose "colorful Colorado" is colorful, but I'm already missing the rich warm colors of Utah.

Placerville is really just a wide spot on the road, with a little market, but cute and an nice big bench on a shady front porch. I was sitting putting on my sunscreen when who should ride up, Will. I left him in Dolores four days ago so he had not gotten very far. He had spent the next day in Dolores at the river festival, then one day to Telluride where he spent another rest day. It seems that lots of people were hanging out, camping here and there, after the Jazz festival of last weekend and waiting for the Blues festival. We caught up before I took off, leaving my Adventure Cycling map on the bench. So, now I'm riding a little blinded.

From Placerville Hwy 62 climbs gently for 16 miles up to Dallas pass. About half way up I found a nice spot for a rest, did some reading and had a nice nap. Will passed me sometime. Finishing the climb I had a quick 13 miles down to Ridgeway. It was getting a little hot by now, as I descended but the wind was blowing strongly to the north so I decided to push on to Montrose. I started passing lots of cars waiting in the hot sun, I soon found the reason: road construction. I waited about 15 minutes when the flagger let me go on ahead of the traffic. I was really worried about the long line of impatiend drivers behind me so I did my best to put as many miles as possible behind me. With the motivation and a slight downhill and a good wind I made good time and almost got to the end of the construction zone (5 miles) before the traffic caught me. Actually, the canyon generates some odd wind patterns so I have to say that I had the wind at my back about 90% of the time, sometimes right in my face.

Montrose is a larger community but doesn't seem to have any cheap motels so I paid $75 for a room. Montrose has a theater so I got to enjoy a movie, a very welcome diversion.

 

 

 

June 11, → Cimarron CO, 23.2 miles, Avg=6.8mph

It's 26 miles from Ridgeway to Montrose, the road has lots of traffic and a wide shoulder. The traffic pushed me right of the white line because of the big shoulder where I picked up a staple. By morning the small leak revealed itself with a flat tire. I took out the tube, found the puncture and started to put some rubber glue on the tube when I found that my tube of rubber glue was completely empty, even though it had never been used. The tube still had the metal sealing, never opened. I didn't think to use my backup tube so walked to town from the motel where I found a tube of rubber glue at the Ace hardware. I went back, patched the tube, pumped up the tire and while trying to remove the pump head I ripped out the stem. OK, so it's going to be one of THOSE days. I put on my backup tube, pumped up the tire, and rode to the bicycle shop to get a backup tube. I like thorn resistent tubes even though I pay a weight penalty. I finally got off about 11am.

I never like fixing a flat, who does but the flat was disappointing because it was the first flat in maybe 4000 miles of cycling on Roadboy. I traveled across the entire northern Mediterranean from Spain to Turkey, and around Michoacan without a flat. I guess that staple hurt my feelings along with my tire.

As I cycled along I felt like either the grade was steeper than it looked or I was weaker from the rest in Durango than I could feel. After about 10 miles I decided I had better check my bike. I finally laid my bike down so I could spin the tires and found the rear tire was rubbing on the brake pad. I had assumed I would hear some noise but never did. I had to remove my panniers, adjust the brakes, then put everything back on and start again. This time I heard a distinctive rubbing noise, removed the panniers to find the fender rubbing the tire. Fixed that and finally seemed to be cycling pretty well. But, the day wasn't over yet, I still had time to throw my chain.

I got to Cimarron about 3pm, had a rest, a snack from the store, and met Tom from Denver. He's on a short tour in Colorado, pulling a BOB trailer. After hearing from him about the steep climb out of Cimarron to the east and the very desolate camping around Sapinero I decided to camp here at Cimarron with him. Later, Tom's sister Lil and her husband Peter showed up and let me have dinner with them. So, I got a nicely cooked pork chop and a salad to complement my chile. Even better, some new friends to cheer the evening cold.

Highway 50 here has light traffic and the usual freeway wide shoulder. The wide shoulders end up pressuring me to ride right of the white line so I suppose I can expect more flats.

June 12, → Gunnison CO, 52.8 miles, Avg=9.8mph

It was pretty cold last night, Tom's thermometer said 31 degrees. So, with laying in my warm sleeping bag and then chatting with Tom I didn't get off till 8am. From Cimarron campground the road starts climbing right away, but not steeply. It has a wide shoulder until a couple of miles from the top where the road surface deteriotes noticiably and the shoulder disappears. The climbing gets steep about 4 miles from the first top. At the first top I found the usual sign for a steep descent o so I bundled up and started down. After a couple miles I entered a narrow twisting canyon and started to climb again. With no shoulder it could have been scary but fortunately there wasn't much traffic.

I finally climbed to the top of the little canyon and started the actual descent to Blue Mesa reservoir. At the bottom of the hill my average speed was still only 10 kph but by this time the wind had really picked up. With the wind pushing me down the road my average speed increased to 15.7 kph by the time I got to Gunnison.

The last 25 miles into Gunnison passes along side the Blue Mesa reservoir, there are no trees or much to see just a gentle downhill and lots of traffic. There are lots of picnic spots, campgrounds, and other recreations facilities but the camping looks pretty bleak with gravel sites, no shade, and a dusty wind.

Gunnison is a nice little town with maybe more bicycle shops per capita than any other town in America. I found three just riding around. If one needs work then Gunnison will have what you need for cycling. I decided on the KOA campground for the night, $20/night with WiFi, they have nice grassy spots for tents with a pavilion and electrical outlets. It's also relatively close to town so even a tired old cycle tourist could ride into town for dinner and a little sightseeing. For dinner I choose the "5 Bs" Bar-BQ where I'm got an overdose of meat and underdose of service from the tourist weary clerks.

 

 

June 13, → Sargents CO, 32.3 miles, Avg=11.4mph

It was bitterly cold last night, maybe the coldest night so far. The metal poles 'inside' my tent collected frost during the night. My summer weight bag just isn't coping too well. I lay there a while, thinking about my cold bike and snack bars for breakfast and the road rising toward Monarch pass, the highest pass in my trip and my only crossing of the continental divide. The sun finally hit my tent about 7am but I continued my reverie until 8:15am, breakfast and packing took some time so I didn't get out of camp until just after 9am. The road climbs gently toward Monarch pass in the distance, passing old and new ranchs. A gentle breeze picked up pushing me along, a breeze that increased as the day progressed.

Highway 50 has only light traffic here, and no trees. Mile after mile with the only trees those that grow around farm houses set off the road, often guarded by big ranch dogs. After about 20 miles I finally found a tree close to the road so I stopped about 11am for a good rest and snack. I was enjoying the rest when Will rides up. I was surprised to see him but he took rest day at the hot springs south of Ridgeway, then a short day to Ridegway State Park, then into Gunnison the same night I got there. We had a nice lunch in the shade, chatted about the route ahead. It's odd to seek shade given the cold morning start but with the altitude the sun's rays seem quite harsh. So, we both donned sweaters to sit in the shade.

The highway out of Gunnison has the now common wide shoulder and rumble strip just next to the white line. I like this place for the rumble strip because it leaves room for the cyclist and keeps traffic from drifting over onto the shoulder. But, I it leaves me with no excuse for riding left of the white line so I'll have to expect more flats.

I decided at my speed it would put me into Salida later than I like, maybe 6pm, so when I got to Sargents I decided to spend the night. Sargents has a small store, bar, restaurant, tipi, tent sites, RV sites, cabins and sleeping cabins that are equiped with bunk beds for up to four (bed linen not included), staffed by very friendly people. Will was still there enjoying a snack when I pulled up but hes in a hurry to get on to Salida. I don't expect I'll see Will again but who knows, I've thought that before. Sometimes I feel like I'm one of the characters in the famous childrens story meant to teach patience and determination. Do I have to identify myself? OK, I'm the turtle.

I opted for a sleeping cabin. I found a WiFi network but I'm not sure if it belongs to the restaurant/lodging enterprise. The restaurant serves burger of various types. They have a dinner salad that rather looks like a sample some traveling salesman might have. Evidently salads are not big around here, this is beef country afterall. Some of the counties around here have put on their welcome signs the following notice: "A right to farm county". I'm not entirely sure what that means but I think it means townies shouldn't complain about slow farm vehicles or unpleasant smells. I hope it might encourage the ranch trucks and big SUV's to slow down for a cyclist too.

Hunting also seems very popular here, the wall in the dining room is covered with pictures of smiling men and a few women showing the elk they shot during the season. The elk aren't smiling but I don't think they ever smile so I guess I don't know what they think of the experience.

Chatting with the staff at the restaurant I found out that the climb to Monarch pass starts just east of the lodge. From the front one can see the mountains nearby, covered in trees.

June 14, → Five Points State CP CO, 117.83 Km, Avg 18.8 kph

It was cold when I got up but I got off about 7:30am anyway, starting the 10 mile climb from Sargents to the top of Monarch pass. I cycled about a mile where I could see the road start to rise up steeply toward the mountains. Highway 50 starts steep, and stays that way to the top except for a few places where it's really very steep. It was a pretty climb with pale green aspen standing out against the dark green pine trees; and not hot, cool enough that I left on my leg warmers to keep the sun off my legs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got to the top about 10:30am. and took the obligatory picture at the continental divide. The road has two lanes going up on either side of the pass, no shoulder. Relatively little traffic, all the drivers nice so far.

The top has a concession stand with $2 juice bottles and other overpriced snacks and gifts. Well, maybe not 'overpriced' since I did enjoy my bottle of cranberry drink.

 

 

 

The road down has a single lane down, no shoulder so I had to keep an eye on my rear view mirror. A sign on the road warned truckers of 10 miles of 6% grade, so I was riding my brakes all the way. After the initial steep 10 miles the road follows the more gently running Arkansas river, but with a good wind at my back I made very good time to Poncha Springs and then Salida.

 

 

 

Poncha Springs has a combination Thai Restaurant and Burger Shop, both run by a Thai family. It seemed oddly placed out here in remote Colorado but welcome. I opted for a hamburger and milk shake as it was already very hot at this lower altitude.

 

 

At Salida I visited the campground at which I had stayed on my Great Divide trip but didn't see any other cycle tourists, it was probably too early. With the wind still blowing hard in my direction I started off for Canon City. As I dropped it got hotter and hotter. The dark red sandstone walls of this narrow canyon absorb and hold the heat turning the road into a sort of oven. The cold Arkansas river doesn't do enough to cool the air.

I saw lots of rafting in this area. I saw lots of pickup trucks and cars with kayaks and rafts driving up and down, lots in the river too. The road has no shoulder and the traffic is heavier with all the activity combined with truck traffic. One person honked at me and a couple others came too close but generally the rafters and kayakers were kind.

I got to the Texas Creek restaurant about 4pm and they described the hill between me and Canon City as 8 mile hill, as in 8 miles long. The heat and distance I'd come today convinced me to eat an early dinner then find a camp. Texas Creek restaurant has some good food, friendly staff, and some cold drinks and other snacks for the road. A very nice place for a tired cyclist to take a rest and break from the road traffic.

Five points is about 10 miles east of Texas Creek, a hot and dusty campground with very little shade. I spent a couple hours shifting to find the shade and reading my book while fighting off the determined ants. It's nice after the sun goes down behind the canyon walls. At $14 it seems a little high priced for what you get but I haven't seen many wild camping spots along this narrow canyon.

Aside from getting bad information, 8-mile hill is evidently only about 2 miles long, the staff at the restaurant in Texas Creek were very nice and told me about the camping sites on down the road and let me linger over my root beer and taco salad.

June 15, → Pueblo CO, 73.1 miles

Up early and on the road before 6am, it was nice and cool. It's hard to believe that just two nights ago I had maybe my coldest night so far, now I'm sleeping in a T-shirt and shorts. I climbed the hill up to Royal Gorge which was steep but not long, about 2 miles. The town of Royal Gorge specializes in rafting, RV campgrounds, and a helocopter rides.

From the top I had a steep descent down for several miles to Canon City. Canon City seems like a nice town, bigger than I expected, well maintained buildings from the last turn of the century. I got there about 8am and stopped at McDonalds for breakfast. I cycled up, got off my bike and walked in the door only to find the counter packed with a line nearly to the door, filled with kids and their fat parents, all excited about the rafting trip coming up. Oh well, I needed a break anyway.

Fueled up, I started for Pueblo, about 35 miles away. It was already hot by 9am in the sun, highway 50 has rolling hills to Pueblo. After Canon City highway 50 turns into an interstate freeway with intersections, wide shoulder, and lots of traffic. That should have told me I had made an error. Later when I spoke to my wife she told me had had gone off route, I should have jogged south on highway 69 to 96.

Pueblo is much bigger than I expected, over 100,000 people. Coming in on highway 50 from the west leads one through a set of strip malls with the standard array of chain restaurants and stores. I decided on a Motel 8 to get a WiFi. The desk clerk told me another cycle tourist checked in today, maybe we'll meet later.

June 16, Pueblo CO, rest day

Pueblo is the eastern terminus of the Western Express bicycle route, it meets the TransAmerica route here connecting Astorial OR to Yorktown VA. I want to ride the TransAm someday so have been thinking of finishing the trip here. Pueblo is a good place to end or start a trip because it's easy to get transportation in and out of town and the bike shops in town are familiar with packing and shiping bicycles. I found one downtown that would pack and ship my bike back to Seattle for only $50. I told the owner he was making it too easy. I was also reluctant to start off across Kansas in the summer heat and humidity, and my family were all begging me to stop because of the harder than normal tornado season they were having in the area. I especially dislike humidity, it's tends to kick up my allergies.

On the other hand, I had wanted to cycle to Kansas City where my mother and sister live, so I wanted to continue. In the end I decided to keep going out onto the lonesome prairre with it's uninterupted skyline.

June 17, → Haswell CO, 95.2 miles, Avg=12.6mph

I got off about 5:30am today to beat the heat yet again. Dispite some morning traffic I found my way to Hwy 96 and started east. It was cool and nice in the morning and a slight tail wind helped me make very good time. I got to Ordway, my destination by 10am. Cycling in Kansas seems very easy, I was easily averaging about 15 mph on the flat land with only the slightest occasional hill to slow me down. I had breakfast at a little diner in Ordway and thought about going further. With the easy cycling I thought I could easily make Haswell and probably Eads as well. So I started off.

I met my first TransAm-er today, Marc started from Yorktown and still going strong. He's retired and has a business card that says "Adventure Cyclist" where occupation should be. We shared some stories, his were mostly about dogs in Kentucky. Missouri wasn't so bad to him, he only had a ham sandwich thrown at him, or maybe for him.

I passed my first huge feed lot today, not far out of Pueblo. The lot requires a steady flow of grain trucks bringing food for the cattle so they can generate a most noxious fume that drifts downwind for miles. I tried to moderate my pace so I didn't have to breath deeply but I did want to get away from the down wind plume as quickly as possible.

 

I got to Sugar City and stopped at "The Store" for a cold drink. The Store is appropriately named because it appears to be the only store in town. Unfortunately the store had only colas for sale, regular and diet. Just as I was leaving the owner appeared with the leg from a chair she was using as a fishing pole. She had tied a lure to a string and was attempting to use this equipment to catch a couple fish she had in a 50 gallon holding tank. The whole thing seemed a little strange, especially when she asked me if I want one. She could see I was cycling through, I suppose she wanted me to wait while she caught one of the fish, then prepared it for an early lunch. I declined.

After getting just far enough to feel pretty committed by my choice the wind switched and started blowing pretty hard from the side and a little front. After a while the wind was really slowing me down, and I could see heavy rain to the north and the front ahead was regularly lightning strikes, the resulting thunder reverbrating overhead through the dark clouds. I tried to pick up the pace so I could make it to Haswell before the storm. As I was riding the wind started shifting around wildly, sometimes blowing from the right, sometimes from the left, sometimes from the front and fortunately sometimes from the rear. I just got into Haswell to the store and under cover when it started to rain heavily. I was lucky to get to the store by 3:10pm because the owner was closing early at 3:30pm to take her son to play baseball at Eads. I got some cold drinks, some snack food, and contemplated my next move.

It's 21 miles to Eads where they have a motel and restaurant, or stay in Haswell and eat my ramen and tuna emergency meal for dinner and Odwalla bars from breakfast. With the wind and all I decided to stay in Haswell and camp at the park. The park is pretty nice, grass, tables, a somewhat primitive outhouse, and water. Unfortunately the water tastes pretty bad.

While haging out some travelers stopped to use the outhouses. We talked a little about how I came to be in Haswell park, when I mentioned I was low on food they nicely gave me a bunch of cookies, some bottled water, and a large bottle of Gatoraid.

While I was fixing dinner a couple of cute little girls came over to talk about the bicycle and what I was doing there, Jordan and Britanny. I guess their parents are not teaching them to be too smart for strangers. Maybe they don't feel the need in a small town like this, population of 84. Still, anybody can stop at this park, I think some caution would be wise. They are curious and talkative but it doesn't seem like life is handing them too many breaks. Britanny already thinks she's stupid, lives part time with her grandmother and 22 year old brother. Her mother has moved to Azteca New Mexico, Britanny hopes to join her soon. Even more amazing, the little girl had to loan her other 18 year old brother $50 of her $58 saving from chores, so he could go to Colorado Springs for a job. Jordan is the more curious one, already saving for college and thinks she's smart. But, she bounces around between her natural father, mother, grandmother, and aunt. Cute girls with a dim future.