Day 22: Colorado Blues

September 9, 2024

Distance: 118km

Climbing: 1479m

Max elevation reached: 3002m (new record for this trip)

Despite all three of us agreeing that we slept better in our tents, it was very nice to make breakfast indoors and not have to pack up as much. The lodge also put on coffee for us which was a very nice treat.

Brush Mountain Lodge is in beautiful valley.

Hike-a-bike as we approached 3000m of elevation.

We said our goodbyes with Todd as he was planning to go a little slower today and end in Steamboat Springs whereas we planned to go a bit past. It was great riding with him for a few days as he was easy-going, likeable, and had lots in common with us.

The climbing from the lodge was very pleasant for quite a while. The grade and surface were such that we made steady progress without it feeling like a grind. It was also a beautiful valley. It turned into quite a bit of hike-a-bike as we reached the summit and a long bumpy descent.

As usual, the road sections were not especially pleasant.

At one point we saw a few signs saying “no gravel bike races, protect rural Routt.” Routt being the name of the county. I must have missed the signs saying “no car-dependent 4000sq. ft. mansions, protect rural Routt.”

I saw a lot things orders of magnitude more damaging than a few people on bikes.

There must be a story behind the signs, but it was an unfortunate trend for the day where Colorado felt quite a bit less welcoming than Montana, Idaho, or Wyoming (Brush Mountain Lodge excepted of course).

Once we got to Steamboat Springs and a bike path appeared to take us to downtown, and it was impressive that when the path was blocked due to maintenance they had a safe detour rather than most cities’ approach of providing no alternative. Once we were in downtown however all the good stuff was overshadowed by a four lane road running through the middle of town that was so loud you couldn’t hold a conversation. Most of the restaurants and shops were along that road and were highly uninviting. Perhaps it’s a state highway and the city can’t do anything about it, but it removed any charm the downtown might have had. Again, in fairness, the bike infrastructure to get back out of town was pretty nice.

We had aimed for a state campground about 30km past Steamboat and had a fair bit of rain along the way there. Despite that it had some nice sections on a trail beside a river.

The campground (Stagecoach State Park) had no provision for people arriving on foot or by bike the way the Montana’s state campgrounds did. All sites were reservation-only. Fortunately we were able to get through by phone on 1 bar of signal to make a reservation. Prior to that we had elected to make dinner under a shelter while it was light and even that was unwelcoming with a sign saying the shelter could only be used by reservation, which we ignored.

Here’s hoping that all of this was just an anomaly. It was all pretty minor really, just a contrast to all the great positives we’ve experienced so far in terms of how welcoming communities have been. Colorado is much busier and more heavily visited, and perhaps the bureaucracy is just a function of that.

(Note from future Peter: all is well.)

Today's ride: 118 km (73 miles)
Total: 2,557 km (1,588 miles)

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