Yes, I think I did. I’ll get to that in a moment. First, I know, this is delayed post. I have many excuses to choose from to
explain my tardiness: fatigue, dead batteries, long days in the saddle,
exhaustion, lack of cell service, old age, general ineptitude, senility .... the list goes on. I’ll offer the latter excuses since most who
know me will have no trouble buying that.
So, my last post was from Brush Mountain Lodge just
before a big climb to Watershed Summit. BML is, itself, at about 7,500 ft and
the summit was at 10,000 ft, so about 2,500 ft of climbing, which is not
terrible. The road to the summit was ok, not paved but pretty hard packed and
not a lot of loose stones and gravel - until the last mile - and the weather
was cooperative. Temps in the 80, blue sky. Pretty nice, really. The climb was
steep in places, but rideable. Until the last mile. Did I mention that? The final push to the top was exactly that -
a push, or a hike-a-bike. Extremely steep, rocky, uneven, ‘rooty’ terrain. I
can honestly say that if the route has been wet I don’t know if I could have
pushed my ‘beast’ up that stretch. I was slipping and sliding as it was. A
muddy trail would have been nearly impassable for me. That’s partly because I
think my beast is overloaded. I should ditch the Lazy Boy I’m carrying. (Only kidding
but it does feels like I’m carrying one.
Clearly, I have not mastered the art of packing light. )
Anyway, we summited after a few hours at 10,071 feet and it felt pretty good. No great views, though, as it was ‘treed’ summit. The
descent, however, was horrendous. For those who ride bikes, you know that a
descending grade of 4-5 percent on a paved road can easily get you up to at
30-40 mph if you simply let the bike roll. By contrast we had similar grades
and descended at 5-7 mph for 10 miles. Rode the brakes hard the entire time. In
fact, so hard that my hands actually hurt by the time it smoothed out a bit.
The trail was strewn with large rocks, loose gravel, sand, large rivulets,
roots, etc. I may even have spotted a kitchen sink. (No, not really, but I would not
have been surprised to see one.) It was pretty exhausting. The constant need to
find a rideable line through that mess, not slash a tire, loose a spoke, and
simply stay upright was draining. But we made it through ok and rolled into
Streamboat Springs later that afternoon.
Steamboat is a typical Colorado ski town. Not too big,
pretty, well maintained, and expensive. And it had one major attraction for me.
I have been looking for brake pads for my steed for a couple weeks now and no
bike shop on the route that I called carried them. But, mirable dictu, the two
bike shops I stopped in both carried them, confirmation to me that, in fact, I
am leading a virtuous life. What other explanation can there be? Because I
needed them installed and an overall bike check to ensure that nothing on the
bike had rattled loose - unlike the fillings in my teeth - on that crazy
descent. We took a rest day, which is not a bad place to rest. I put it to good use and
did nothing.
Out of Steamboat we made our way to Kremmling, a small
town that served as a place to resupply and have a decent meal. Did I mention
that I hate Cliff Bars? I don’t know why but I bought a few. They’re supposed
to be ‘energy’ bars but I am pretty sure even the bears and other critters
would avoid them if I left them out. Never again. The Kremmling Merchantile
Exchange - kind of a supermarket / apparel / sundry store had what we needed.
Nice place and nice folks.
From Kremmling we rode to Silverthorne (still in CO),
where we stayed for the night in a hotel. Seems we camp every other night. Many
cyclists, mostly the younger ones, camp more frequently (or, conversely, make
fewer hotel stays), but I like a shower and a mattress, if available. I
unabashedly play the decrepit old man when it suits my purposes. Hmm…maybe I’m
not playing…no, I won’t go there. Anyway, Silverthorne is a pretty cool town.
Didn’t spend much time there but enjoyed it.
Got an early start out of ST rode through Frisco, a sort
of suburb of ST, about 7 miles south. Did not stop but kept riding to
Breckenridge, an additional 10 miles further on. Interestingly, the 17 miles
from ST to BR were on a nicely maintained bike trail. A real treat. I can’t
remember the elevation gain between ST and BT, but for sure you’re climbing. BR
sits at about 9,500 feet. The climb to Boreas Pass, the second highest pass on
the route at 11,482 feet, begins just outside of BR. So, while the pass is
pretty high, starting from BR, once you get there, the climb is not too long.
Only about 2,000 feet. And it’s on a trail with a reasonably constant grade -
maybe 3.5 - 4 percent, occasionally kicking up a to 6-8 percent. A fair bit of
the trail was on old railroad grade, hence the constantancy, which allows a
rider to develop a rhythm, very helpful on long climbs. In the end, the climb
was slow and long but not crazy difficult, notwithstanding the altitude. It was
nice to get to the top. (As an aside, there was an interesting article in the
NYT this week, “Can Affluence and Affordable Housing Coexist in Colorado’s Rockies,”
which described the impact of the influx of money in those ski communities on
long time residents. A good read.)
We reached Boreas Pass by early afternoon and so
decided not to camp somewhere on the
descent since it appeared that we could make Hartsel, the next town on the
route, about 40 miles away by late afternoon - since those 40 miles looked like
they were all descending miles. So, why not?
Well…the first 10 miles were pretty easy and actually were descending
but the last 30 miles were just a brutal slog. Yes, technically they may have
been descending but the constant undulations of the terrain, the crappy road
and stiff and unrelenting headwind made for a long day in the saddle. We were
glad to arrive in Harstel by early evening. We camped behind the lone bar in
town - no other accommodations. This was probably the third time we set up camp
behind a saloon. Not the best of places but it does have a certain allure if
you like to listen to some guy rooting through the nearby trashcan looking for
who knows what?, and then carrying on a loud and long conversation with a woman
somewhere in the same zip code.
We left Harstel in the morning, heading for Salida. The
road to Salida was, unfortunately, on the same crappy road as what we rode in
on. Washboards for mile after mile, stiff headwind, and lots of climbing. A
miserable, long day in the saddle. It is also, no doubt, the cumulative effects
of weeks of riding. What might not have been so difficult early on now requires
much more effort. Salida seems like a pretty cool little town, though.
Apparently, lots of history to it that I may get to explore as we are taking a
rest day, or two.
So, where am I, literally and figuratively on this little
adventure? Well, although we’ve put a good dent in the miles to get to the
border (over 1,800 now, I think), it is clear given the time remaining, the
increasingly reduced daily mileage for a variety of reasons (mostly cumulative
fatigue and more difficult riding) that we will not make the border within a reasonable
timeframe. Various commitments, both professional and personal, have put a
limit on the time available for all of us. It’s a bit disappointing but that’s
the reality. The question then is: what to do?
I see two options: 1) just keep riding until time runs out. That has an
inherent appeal to me but essentially entails just slogging along until we (or
I) can’t go farther. More miles, yes, but not necessarily a lot of fun, and
equally important, when time runs out I may be no where close to a place that
allows for reasonably easy egress off the route. 2) While we won’t make the
border, there are a couple iconic places on the route that might be fun to
tackle, such as Indiana Pass, the highest point on the route. The challenge
with this option is the logistics of getting to those points. It’s not my
decision alone but we’ll probably opt for option 2. At least I will. After
that, it may be it for me.
We’ll see. Our situation is sort of like a
television cliffhanger. You’ll have to stay tuned to find out how it ends.
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