July 8, 2018
Day 6: Dinosaur to Maybell. High desert.
Today is long and hilly, with no services and no escape from the heat. I got up at 6 and on the road at 7:15. Kelly and I left together but she out-paced me after a couple miles.
Jacinto had just gotten up and sat around drinking coffee for 3 more hours. He's so fast that he passed me long before I got to Maybell.
Today I stay on US 40 all day. Traffic was very light and the road has a usable paved shoulder. Sunday for sure has the fewest trucks. US 40 is a low stress cycling route despite being a "major" US highway.
Massadona was the only place with shade on today's route. The campground appears to be closed but maybe it opens for hunting season. The restaurant and bar seems to open now and then. Nobody was around. The shade was much appreciated.
Today the scenery is high desert. Mostly natural, not much evidence of grazing. No houses or ranch gates. Just me and the sagebrush.
High of 97F with a light west tailwind. With no airflow at slow speeds, swarming sandflies were a nuisance when I would get sweaty going uphill. The sandflies suddenly disappeared a couple miles before Maybell. Later I was told that the town is aerially sprayed.
The terrain is big rolling hills. The road routinely climbs 100 or 200 feet at a time. The highest elevations climb into the juniper zone. It's nice to see something green but they don't offer much shade.
The desert was quite sparse the last few miles before Maybell. Nothing growing more than 3 feet tall. Late in the day the only shady place to rest was the shadow of a solar powered electronic sign that flashed "Wild Fires Ahead". I didn't see any smoke but I did see a freshly burned area of grass. Later I learned that the fire was started by lightning last night.
It was a surprise to crest a hill and see a green irrigated valley below. I couldn't see the river but this is the Yampa river valley.
Today's destination is Victory Hotel in Maybell. Built in 1898, the only lodging around. I arrived at 4 PM. Kelly arrived at 1 PM. My $77 room has an air conditioner but the hallways, 3 shared baths, and public areas are not air conditioned. We were the only guests at the 13 room hotel, so our 2 rooms effectively had private baths.
Maybell has a population of 70 during summer, 55 during winter, and up to 300 during hunting season. Across the street from the hotel is a large city park campground with showers. It's quite a green oasis in the desert. There is no Verizon service, adding to the sense of remoteness. Elevation 5922 feet (1795 m) in a river valley surrounded by high desert hills.
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The restaurant in Maybell closed only one month ago. Now the only services are at Maybell General Store which has 2 small aisles of food. I bought a big frozen pizza and heated it at the hotel.
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We spent a long time sitting on the front porch as a storm passed by. Light rain for about an hour, but no lightning or gusty wind. Even light rain is noisy on a tin roof. This is a drought year so the rain is much appreciated.
Today's ride was boring, hot, and fly-infested, but Victory Hotel and the village of Maybell made it into one of the most memorable days of the tour.
Today was our deepest immersion in the high desert, the least populated and least vegetated region of this tour. Maybell is an outstanding example of a remote high desert farm village. I'm happy to have a "peak" high desert experience but also look forward to higher, cooler, greener mountains in the days ahead.
Distance: 57.8 mi. (92.5 km)
Ascent/Descent: +2763/-2669 ft. (+837/-809 m)
Average Speed: 8.8 mph (13.8 km/h)
Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 269 miles (433 km)
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