What was I thinking yesterday when I even remotely thought that I could make it all the way to Fairplay in one day under my own steam? Today was a hard ride for me, and I was able to get a lift part way from a really nice guy who lives in Canon City. I rode 45 miles, but made forward progress of 75 miles. I never would have been able to make the full distance on my own. Without the lift, I probably would have stopped in Guffey at a B&B after riding only 30 miles. There wasn't really any reason why I had to make it to Fairplay today, but that was really where I wanted to end the day. Plus, a 30 mile ride just didn't seem like enough (although it's possible that tomorrow's ride will be that short).
So why was it a hard riding day today? Maye it was just a low energy day, maybe I didn't eat enough, maybe it was the altitude, and maybe it was the riding. And maybe it was a combination of everything. Pueblo is at 4700 feet of elevation, and Canon City is close to that. Fairplay is almost at 10,000 feet, which is a pretty big jump. And I climbed 3800 feet today on the bike. The rest of the elevation gain came from my ride in a pickup truck. Hoosier Pass - my climb tomorrow morning - is at 11,500, so it's possible that tomorrow's climbing will be less than today's. That depends on how much climbing there is on the other side of the pass.
Today's ride started with a seven to eight mile climb up to the Royal Gorge area. And no, I didn't stop to see the world's highest suspension bridge. I figured I had enough climbing to do for the day without taking a side trip uphill! After the climb I went downhill for a bit, then headed up another long climb. Sometimes when you know the road is going to turn up again you really don't want to see the downs. You lose the elevation that you fought to gain, then have to do it all over again. But - that's the nature of riding in the mountains. After seeing my lack of speed on those two climbs I was pretty much resigned to stopping either in Guffey (which had a couple of B&Bs) or at a hostel just past Guffey - even though I still really wanted to get to Fairplay. (I know, I know, that's not really rational.) I was resting on the side of the road when I saw a pickup coming, so I stuck my thumb out and hoped.... I've been sworn to secrecy on his name - but a really nice guy stopped to see if I was OK. I told him that I was fine, but that I'd been hoping to get to Fairplay today and realized I wouldn't make it all the way there without a lift. That turned out to be his destination, and he said he'd be happy to give me a ride. I had him drop me off in Hartsel so I could ride the last 18 miles. He asked if I was sure, and I told him I'd probably regret it but that I thought I should do some more biking. He said it sounded like I was leaning towards being a purist again (nope, I'm not - if I really was a purist I wouldn't have asked for or taken the ride in the first place). And yes, I was really tired when I pulled in to Fairplay, so I did halfway regret it!
I picked up an interesting fact about the Canon City area during my "ride". It turns out that there are 14 prisons in the area. I had actually biked by several of them on my way into town, but I didn't realize there were so many. There is also a Colorado Prison Museum just outside of town. I didn't stop because I was too focused on getting the day's mileage under my belt. Might have been interesting though.
The scenery today was drop dead gorgeous. Obviously I'm in the middle of the mountains - but there were also rolling hills, some areas that were very dry with no vegetation, and other areas along the South Platte river that were really green. And then there were areas with red earth popping out. I stopped quite often to take pictures, but I'm afraid they just don't reflect the true beauty of the area. They'll have to do though. I guess I'll use the pictures to remind me of how beautiful it really is.
I met three other cyclists today. The first two were Katie & Steve. Katie started riding from her home in Seattle, and Steve just flew out this week to join her. They're heading east on the Transam. They stayed at the Schecter hostel last night. It's pretty primitive - a cabin with running cold water and and outhouse. Hmm - I was considering staying there, but I'd really like a shower. Fussy, fussy. We stood on the side of the road and exchanged tips, the typical cyclist encounter. Katie told me that there are a couple of women from Boston cycling west to east who she thinks are currently behind her. She asked me to pass on a hello to them if I see them.
While I was looking for a place to stay I ran into Matt. He did an Adventure Cycling group ride in the Wind River area (Wyoming), and then continued south on his own. His wife was with him for the first part of his trip, but she didn't have enough vacation time to continue on his extension. He's following the Great Divide route south with some variations and is headed to Durango. Matt told me his trip was a 50th birthday present to himself. Guess there are quite a few of us 50-year-olds celebrating by riding our bikes. I had just come out of the Hand Hotel B&B after hearing that it was full. We both headed to the Fairplay Hotel, and luckily they had two rooms. Both hotels are big old buildings, and of course our rooms are on the second floor. Another night of hauling bikes and gear up stairs! Old buildings, old wiring. When I plugged in my Jornada (the handheld PC), the lights in the room flickered! I turned out the overhead light, and the Jornada charged fine, and the lamp in the room stayed on. I figured if I attempted to charge anything else all of the lights would go dark. My room overlooked the main street. Luckily, things got quiet pretty early because I had to sleep with the window open to get some cool air in the room. I guess it would have been hard for it to be anything but quiet because the town pretty much rolled up the sidewalks at 7 PM. The only thing open after that was the little grocery store, and a couple of restaurants. The ice cream place even closed at 7!
Matt & I had dinner together in the hotel restaurant, then picked up a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream at the store down the street. We borrowed spoons from the hotel restaurant and sat in the lobby enjoying our ice cream. Then Matt got a bucket of ice from the kitchen to ice his hip that he injured in a fall. I took a glass of the ice for my knee. I've still been downing ibuprofen, and my knee feels fine when I'm riding, but it's been stiff in the middle of the night. I'm trying to ice it every night in the hopes that it will get better, or at the very least it will not get any worse. My little ice bag makes it much easier. It's not as cold as ice in a Ziplock bag, and it works much better than ice in a plastic bag on top of a towel - that doesn't let enough cold through!
I saw 2 deer this morning after I passed Royal Gorge. I was riding on a pretty quiet road. They just walked across the road and stood there for a bit. Once they saw me coming, they ran across the road again and off into the bush. This time I didn't even try to get the camera out.
