July 11, 2013
Do Not Let the Scorpions Get in Your Tent
Day 18: Telluride, Colorado to Dolores, Colorado
I was up before the supported riders, who were taking a day off in Telluride. Last night I had met Stan, who was riding the Western Express, and then the TransAmerica Trail east. He was worried about the dogs in Kentucky, so I gave him the Halt spray I had been carrying around pointlessly.
I hadn't eaten dinner yesterday, so I needed a large breakfast this morning before tackling Lizard Head Pass. I stopped and asked a local about a good cafe, and he told me to find a place called Maggie's. As I rode slowly up Telluride's main drag, I couldn't find it, and stopped in front of another place instead. As I prepared to go in, the same man, who had been walking up the street behind me, called out "Don't go in there! It's the dirtiest, nastiest place in town!" Awkward - I'm sure the people inside the place could hear the guy. Just then I saw a sign for the place he had originally recommended, so I went in there and had a good breakfast.
Afterward, I went to the restroom and was shocked at my appearance. I've lost a ridiculous amount of weight riding in Colorado.
I rode out of town on the bumpy bike path. I should have taken the smooth-surfaced road next to it, but I usually feel a weird sense of duty, or something, when a bike path is available, and ride on it unless it is truly horrible.
The climb up to Lizard Head pass was tough, although there were a couple of flat spots, and even a minor descent, that made it one of the easier long climbs that I've done in Colorado. About half way up, I pulled into a turnout, read the historical markers, and talked to an older man for a while. He was from the southwest, and had advice for me about how to deal with the scorpions in the desert. This was his advice: Do not let the scorpions get in your tent.
The descent from the pass was on a rougher-than-usual road. I stopped at the first town on the way down, Rico, and dawdled there for a while. After that the traffic thinned out for a while, and it was mostly flat riding along the Dolores River. I arrived in Dolores early in the afternoon. I liked the look of the town, and decided to stop there for the day, even though it was a little early. The Outpost Motel, right on the Dolores River, advertised motel rooms, cabins, and RV hookups. On a hunch, I walked into the lobby and asked the owner about tent camping. They had *just* finished constructing their shower house, and I was the very first person to use it (and the second person to ever tent camp there.) I got a nice, flat, grassy spot on the river for $10.
Later, during dinner at the Drunken Moose on the other end of town, the couple at the next table asked me about my trip. The man either owned (or worked for, I was never sure) a company that made powdered fuel for endurance athletes, and he offered to give me some to try.
Later, back at my campsite, I talked to several of the friendly people who were vacationing there. Most of them were from Texas, and they came back to the same campground each year to escape the Texas summer heat. I was slightly less pleased with my campsite when I learned that a "young", "small" black bear had been in the campground recently. I moved my cache of Payday bars far from my tent as a precaution, but had a slightly more restless night in the tent than if I had not heard about the bear.
A nice day.
Today's ride: 66 miles (106 km)
Total: 1,520 miles (2,446 km)
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