June 23, 2021
Day 42 - Canon City, CO to Fairplay, CO
Raging cagers part 2
We left this morning in record time. We left around 615. We had a few miles to back track to canon city before we started climbing. The first 30 some miles to guffey wasn't that hard, but the locals said we did the hardest part already.
They never tell us good things, so this is a nice change. We stopped at this small hippy store outside guffey and we ordered smoothies. My legs definitely felt tired and I'm sure it was a combination of 4000' in 40 miles and the elevation. Mary and I decided to go check out guffey while mark and Alex went on to hartsel. It was around 11 and I was convinced that we would be fine to make it to my USPS package in hartsel before 330, when the office closed. Guffey was a mile up the road and we ran right into the mastermind behind the hostel there, bill Sioux. He was chilling outside with his friend Ted and we stopped for a chat.
I had heard pretty legendary stories about them from other journals and they didn't disappoint. They are both mechanical geniuses and make custom cars, art, and more.
Bill gave us the key to look around city hall, which was mostly art and memorabilia. We also checked out the antique store where we bout some of their art for our tiny house. We donated $10 to the "guffey historical society", which turns out to be beer money. They tend to give out beer to cyclists and we had to have one. Bill showed me his old Camino that had a beautiful patina. He re did the entire car and it has a new Corvette engine inside.
We didn't see the mayor though, who is a cat called monster. After a while, we had to leave so I would have any hope of making it to hartsel. If I missed the package, I would have to stay in hartsel overnight and wait until 9 the next day. That wasn't an option so I pedalled as hard as I could. I burnt myself out getting there. Even though it wasn't much elevation gain, there was a strong wind coming down from the mountains. I did make it in time, about 30 minutes before closing and packed all my stuff. Mary rolled into town a little after and we ran into mark and Alex at a c store. I was surprised to see them still here and felt better when they said they struggled through that section too. They left and we finished up some snacks. It was after 4 and we still had about 20 miles and 2000' to go to get to our church in Fairplay. This is where shit really hit the fan. So many cars ran us off the road, honked at us, and made mean gestures. A white Tacoma pushed me off the road and into some loose gravel. He didn't hit us, but it was one of the closest encounters I have had. To make it worse he was laying on the horn, right in my ear, and was pointing off the road to tell us "get off the road".
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 1 | Link |
3 years ago
There wasn't even a shoulder and if there was, I am still entitled to ride the road. We were so mad they we stopped to pick up rocks for the next bad driver. I was livid and extremely tired at this point. All I wanted was for a car to pull over and fight us. There were so many RVs, vacationers, even people with bikes on the back were a holes! I didn't use the rock, but we did fight the last few miles of headwind at an abysmal 7mph to arrive in town. We stopped at the grocery for food. It was already 7 and we hadn't even gotten to the church yet. We should have just stayed in guffey instead of doing this mega day.
Finally we made it to the town and got food at the grocery. We biked up the hill to the church and set our stuff on the porch. I sat down and ate cereal for like 30 minutes while the pastor talked to us. We showered up and Mary made a delicious ramen. I sink washed my clothes and went right to sleep.
After talking to mark and Alex, they had the same experience with the drivers on that last stretch. While we were at guffey, bill and Ted told us a bicyclist got hit up near here a few days ago. There is definitely something going on around here with the locals. The vast majority of the offending cars were Colorado plates. The views are great, but can't wait to leave this state.
Mileage:82
Altitude gain:6800
Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 2,341 miles (3,767 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 5 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 5 |
3 years ago
Wyoming will be much, much better.
3 years ago
You two are doing great. Keep it up!
3 years ago
Did you find out if Monster the Mayor is still alive?
3 years ago
3 years ago