This tour had more climbing than my previous 6 tours. It pushed me to my limit. I was developing chronic fatigue at the end of the tour, with secondary symptoms such as a bad cough and upset stomach.

The trip went fairly well. At least there were no disasters. No flats. No crashes. Almost no rain. No ferocious headwind. No smoke or sandstorm. A few high desert areas had terrible flies.

I weighed 188 pounds when I left home and weighed 185 pounds when I returned. This was the lightest I've been in 3 years, beneficial in Colorado's mountainous terrain.

Weather

The weather was never abnormally hot. Desert areas had 95-98F high temperatures which is normal for July.

Temperatures dropped considerably as we climbed into the Rocky mountains. 6 overnight locations were so high and cool that no place had air conditioning.

There was a little bit of rain in the desert regions but I never got rain in the high forested regions that normally get more rain.

Wind was mercifully mild in the open desert areas. We had tailwinds going east and north in the high desert. That made the miles go by faster but reduced the cooling airflow. We expected strong headwinds when going south but had only mild headwinds. I had the expected headwind going west in the Colorado river canyon, but never extremely strong.

Partners

For the first time in years I had touring partners. Kelly and Jacinto Iniguez for most of the tour, also Tom Swanson and Ken Paulsen for 5 days.

It was a loose partnership, though, with no expectation to stay together on the road. My kind of group.

Roads

Nearly all of the roads had a paved shoulder or very low traffic. The major exception was 10 miles on busy CO 9 coming into Silverthorne. I also pedaled 20 miles on I-70. 3 miles of that was extremely narrow because of road construction.

The roads had comparatively little tire debris and almost no broken glass. There was also very little trash on the roadsides.

Elevation

The elevation didn't bother me too much. Near the end of the tour I spent 3 nights above 9000 feet but by then I had been at high elevation for two weeks and was well acclimatized. Leadville (10,200 feet elevation) was the highest place I have ever slept, not counting airplanes.

The highest elevation of the trip was 11,319 foot Fremont Pass. In 2010 I pedaled 3 Colorado passes that were even higher.

It was interesting to observe that my VDO MC 4.1 cyclocomputer's pressure-based measurement of total climbing matched Kelly's Garmin GPS-based measurement of total climbing. Jacinto's iPhone running Strava consistently measured 10% more climbing. I think Kelly's Garmin has a pressure altimeter.

Continental Divide

The route crossed the Continental Divide four times. First was Battle Pass, crossing from the Little Snake/Yampa/Green/Colorado watershed to the Platte/Missouri/Mississippi river watershed. Second was Ute pass, crossing back to the Colorado river watershed. Third was Fremont pass, crossing to the Arkansas/Mississippi river watershed. Fourth was Tennessee Pass, crossing back to the Eagle/Colorado watershed. It was interesting to see tiny rivers near their headwaters. I've seen all the rivers far below where they are much bigger.

Scenery

The route is roughly one third forested mountains, one third valleys near forested mountains, and one third high desert. It includes a long segment in the Colorado river canyon. The route north of I-70 is not a heavily visited part of Colorado but there is a great diversity of landscapes.

The route includes a lot of high deserts that many cyclists might find boring. It's not the main tourist region of Colorado. Sometimes it really was boring. But forested mountains were often visible in the distance and I periodically climbed into the forested mountains. I like going back and forth between high desert and forested mountains.

I enjoyed one Colorado tourist activity, seeing Aspens appear as I gain elevation. Sometimes at 8000 feet or less, sometimes not until 9000 feet elevation. I hope to do a future tour in late September when the Aspen are at peak golden color.

It was fascinating to see Fireweed above 9000 feet elevation, a plant I associate with Canada.

Tourist Stuff

This was more of a just ride tour than a tourist tour. That's the style of my touring partners and it seems to be the style of most bike touring groups. I did do a couple of tourist things. First, while solo, was the rewarding ride through Colorado National Monument. It has been on my bucket list for a long time. Also on the bucket list was the spectacular Glenwood Canyon bike trail.

When it comes to highlights, it's hard to beat spending the night in Leadville, the highest incorporated city in North America. Now I've pedaled the highest thru road in North America (Trail Ridge road in 2010) and slept in the highest city in North America. Both in Colorado, of course.

This tour included some walking in towns but did not include any real hikes. That's okay because the route is too strenuous for me to want to add hikes.

History

This tour allowed me to experience a bit of the region's history.

In Grand Junction and in Fruita I stayed in the historic downtown area instead of in the suburban motel area. Worthwhile in both places.

I stayed at Victory Hotel in Maybell, a high desert roadhouse built in 1898. I also stayed at Delaware Hotel in Leadville, built in 1886, the highest hotel in North America.

The route took me through a large mining district near Leadville. It was interesting to see the remains of early mines and mining settlements.

I also saw 1500-2500 year old Indian pictographs in the Canyon Pintado National Historic District.

Heart

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