Lake City-South Fork, CO: A tough, rewarding day.

July 6, 2014

Ironically, I slept well last night and the alarm woke me up instead of my checking the clock multiple times during the night. You'd think this would have been the day I was worried about with the horrible climb up the steep side of the Slum. Instead I had long ago decided that today would be hell on wheels and given myself permission to walk as needed because of the difficult grade.

Perhaps I slept well because of our deluxe bed. I think it had a feather pad. Certainly it had feather pillows. The bed was so tall I wanted a step ladder to get into it. What a life!

I was a bit behind schedule this morning since I got up with the alarm. Oren was ready to go and took off. I never saw him again. Ken putzed around, waiting for me and Bill to get ready. It was a downhill cruise through town. I appreciated every mile of cruising I did on the way to the pass. That amounted to ~2 miles before the real climb started. It started with a bang. Town was MM72. By MM68, I was walking the bike on a steep section. My Garmin said it was a steady 12%. I didn't walk too far. But it didn't seem productive to kill my knees when I could easily walk. Thank goodness my breathing could keep up. I got back on the bike and the next few miles seemed almost easy. At least they seemed like normal mountain climbing, with a reasonable grade of 6-7%. I stopped for a break and there was Ken right behind me.

Ken stopped to chat. Here came Bill, but he wasn't stopped - he was doing the Strava thing. I told Ken I was doing just fine. It was only four miles and 1,000 more feet to the top. I would be there, slow but sure. I either stopped for too long, or it really was a steep section right after that. My legs were really whiny and I ended up walking another section. I got back on the bike and some good music was playing. I just kept going and going and reached the top. Yay! That wasn't near as much walking as I anticipated.

I was all set for the nice, cruising downhill. Boy, was I wrong. That five miles was the worst piece of road I've ridden in years. It had huge frost heaves every 5-10 feet. Huge. Even on my recumbent I could feel the vibration up my spine. Boom, boom, boom for five miles of what should have been wonderful downhill. Then to make matters worse I started to see construction signs.It said 14 miles of fresh gravel. Ooohh. That could be very not good. Luckily, it was all packed down and nice. I never did quite trust the surface though. Just in case there was a patch of gravel left. I rode in the driving lane, but it wasn't a problem as it was still early in the morning and traffic was light.

The two miles up Spring Creek Pass were VERY easy from this side. I knew there was a false summit I had yet to climb. That was worse than Spring Creek, IMO. It the top of the false summit I stopped. I had been on the bike for 5 hours and ridden 25 miles. Hard work. I still had 50 miles to go. Better keep fueling.

I was ready for the nice downhill. There was still chip and seal, so I didn't let my speed build up much. Pointing downhill was mighty fine. It was satisfying to see the miles start to tick away and my average speed build up.

I enjoyed seeing the vistas from this direction as we've ridden this road many times the other way. Certainly the climb up Spring Creek from this side was much more difficult. On the way up, I always stop at Freemon's Store - today it was jammed full and I kept on going.

I was getting a headache. I think from eating too much sweet stuff. There are only so many bars and Spiz drinks I can consume in a short period of time. I had long since finished my apple, but still had salted almonds. I ate more of those and made sure to keep drinking water. My headache gradually went away.

The wind started to build some. I suspected there would be a head wind once I turned at Creede. Darn. I was hoping the downhill would compensate for the headwind.

I was very happy to reach the outskirts of Creede. I stopped at the ball fields to use the restroom. I debated eating in town, but decided my legs would get cold and I still had 22 miles to go. I stopped at a convenience store and bought the most expensive V-8 of the trip, $2.09. I downed that and filled my water bottle with ice and water.

I very carefully walked my bike over all of train tracks that I had warned the guys about. AT MM 16, there is a fresh water spring where you can fill up your bottles. I didn't stop this time.

The wind was blowing pretty good now and the traffic was picking up. It was Sunday and many of the people who had been playing in the mountains were on the way home. There wasn't much if any shoulder on this road. Riding in a headwind with traffic still seemed easier to me that climbing Slumgullion Pass. I was happy to watch the mile markers tick down. Jacinto stopped in the truck at MM 10. He had cycled from Lake City, up the Slum, down the Slum, and up Spring Creek and then back. That was 36 miles and 4,800 feet of climbing.

It didn't take me too long to get to town. I was hoping for a west/tailwind to Spruce Lodge. Nope. Headwind. I was amazed I still felt strong. Not to say that I wasn't happy to be there!

All of the guys were outside when I arrived. Bill offered me a banana, but quickly told me I was peeling it wrong. He had learned on YouTube to peel a banana like a monkey. Turn the banana over and pinch the bottom and it splits right open, easy to peel. How about that? I think I was a bit too tired to appreciate it at the time.

I did the get to town routine - shower, cleaning water bottles, charging the electronics, etc. Then I really wanted a nap, but the room was pretty warm. I don't think I really slept.

We went next door to dinner. The waitress admitted she had only been a waitress for four days. She was nice, but . . . ah, well.

Jacinto warned me that I had killed the guys with the route today. We should have stopped in Creede. I thought we could add the extra 22 downhill miles and stay in cheaper South Fork. But that was a hard 22 miles with weekend traffic. Lesson learned. But in the meanwhile, we all did the big miles with a headwind at the end. Blech.

Oren pointed out that I mentioned our last day is a repeat of one day of the first tour. It's basically a connector to get us back to the beginning. Not the stupendous scenery we've been having, but it does have the easy side of Poncha Pass to massage the cyclist's ego. Not too exciting of a day, if you've already done Poncha, as we have several times.

The end of the story is we are going to end the ride tomorrow. Bill is the only one who hasn't ridden Poncha - so he and Ken are going to spend the night in Saguache. Bill is going to ride Poncha while Ken rests up and is ready for the 12 hour drive home.

The rest of us will head home after tomorrow's ride.

Ken stopped to talk to me on the big climb.

Bill did not stop - he was busy Strava-ing.

It was hard work to get here from the Lake City side. It was a very steep 10 mile climb from town.

This pass was an easy two mile middle chain ring climb from the Lake City side. All the work was already done climbing the Slum.

The view from the top of the false summit. My phone rang while I was here. Can you believe the phone works at 10,000 feet? It was Spoon checking on us!

This isn't a very good illustration. I took this photo trying to show the beetle kill pine trees vs the healthy aspen. Thank goodness the aspen are healthy here.

Typical view between Spring Creek Pass and Creede.

I had a few fat drops of rain from these clouds. That was it. Whew.

Jacinto wrapped his shirt around the post to show me which room was ours.

Today's ride: 73 miles (117 km)
Total: 391 miles (629 km)

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