Cedaredge, CO- Redstone, CO: Today has more climbing than yesterday? Holy, moly!
Fred and I made our usual 7 AM departure from a friend's house where we had spent the night. Jacinto? He was still in bed asleep. He planned to go to breakfast with Phil after Phil's 9 AM appointment. Jacinto ended up leaving town at 11 AM. That was fine with him. Jacinto is happiest when he has 'rabbits' to chase.
This is the Fruit Grower's Reservoir outside of Orchard Mesa. Look carefully and you will see the road goes straight through the middle of the reservoir. I saw one crane. Phil says in the spring time there are many cranes in the area.
There are a number of domestic elk herds on the mesas between Cedaredge and Hotchkiss. They are raised for their meat, antlers, and the velvet from their antlers.
Fred seemed to enjoy his Challenge Hurricane recumbent more than the Optima Lynxx he brought out in 2009. He certainly did enjoy all of the backroads on the tour.
We took Back River road between Hotchkiss and Paonia. Fred was riding ahead of me at this point, but he called to tell me to go on down the road posted 'no outlet' - bicycles could go past the washed out road that was barricaded.
Somerset is 9 miles up the road from Paonia. It is a mining community. The single restaurant has been closed for some time. I have begged water before at the Post Office. I was pleasantly surprised to see a Community Center. The man inside said it had been open only a couple of months, that they were trying to start a library. I used the restroom and topped off my water bottles.
It was warm enough in the valley that I was wetting down the bandana around my neck to help cool off. The snow capped mountains made the ride even more scenic.
Jacinto caught up with me on the climb to McClure Pass. I was hoping to eat my left over taco from our Mexican food dinner the previous night, but Jacinto had finished all of the 'real' food. I was stuck eating PB&J and fig newtons. I did have a banana and beef jerky for variety, but I was ready for 'food'. The climb was going well. We had about 60 miles in at the base of the climb. I was very happy with how well my legs were doing at this point in the day. This day actually had cumulative climbing of 6,346 feet - more than the Grand Mesa day 5,462 feet. These numbers are according to www.ridewithgps.com
Jacinto and his Surly Long Haul Trucker at the top of the pass. He and I rode the last 2.5 miles together. Jacinto didn't complain even one bit about taking my 'stop every mile and rest' approach to the climb. Typically he makes it a point of honor to ride to the top without stopping. Perhaps he felt guilty for eating my taco.
Legs like these come from spending plenty of time in the gym and on the bike. In Jacinto's place, most of his time is gym time. He had only a couple of hundred miles in before this tour.
The ride down off of McClure Pass into Redstone always goes too quickly. I keep using the word scenic - it certainly is pretty going past the waterfalls and riding alongside of the Crystal River. Jacinto and I got into town late. We had been going to dinner at 6 PM, but we were still on the top of the pass at 6 PM this night.
