"DUDE: IT IS COLD."

July 7, 2013

Day 14: Idaho Springs, Colorado to Fairplay, Colorado

I woke up this morning in the mood to ride. When I checked into the crappy motel yesterday around 5:30, the only guests appeared to be a scruffy, bleary-eyed old man who was wandering around while drinking out of plastic cup, a family that looked down on their luck, and a couple of working men. This morning, however, the parking lot was full of expensive cars and SUVs, and there was a "No Vacancy" sign on the motel office window. I imagine that the well-heeled guests attended the big concert last night, were unable to find better accommodations, and thus were forced to stay in this dump. I guess this explains why I couldn't negotiate a better rate with the woman at the motel yesterday.

It was nice and quiet this early on a Sunday morning. My first stop was at a fancy Safeway supermarket where I got donuts, Diet Pepsi, and a large box of cheap Safeway brand granola bars to carry with me.

The route this morning was slightly complicated, and had me winding in and out of various frontage roads, county roads, small town streets, and bike paths, all in order to avoid Interstate 70, which was an audible and sometimes visual presence most of the morning. The roads I was on this morning were almost completely empty, and it was very pleasant riding on them while hearing the loud rush of traffic on nearby I-70. I rode through the little towns of Dumont, Downieville and Lawson before stopping in Georgetown (pop. 1,034) for a real breakfast. After that, the climbing started in earnest, on a very nice, new-looking bike path. This was undoubtedly the steepest bike path I've ever seen. It wound through a forest, and was far enough from I-70 that I couldn't hear the traffic. Once I thought I glimpsed a large, cat-like animal run across the path ahead of me. Could this be a mountain lion? Hopefully not, because I certainly could not outrun one while ascending the steep-ass path on my heavy bike.

The path ended after several miles, and I got on US 6 for the four mile climb to Loveland Pass (elevation 11,990 feet.) My strategy for this was to shift to the second easiest gear, and keep at a steady 4.5 to 5.0 mph speed. I've learned recently that this works better for me than frequent shifting and standing up for brief sprints.

I got to the top in less than an hour. Lots of people were milling around at the top, and even people who had driven their car up were having their pictures taken in front of the sign. I talked to a local cyclist who had ridden up the other side, and mentioned that I planned to ride up to Hoosier Pass later in the day. I was surprised to hear that even though he lived in the area, he had never ridden Hoosier Pass because it was "too scary." Hmmm.

The descent was fast and not too terrifying, even for a timid descender like me. I initially missed my turn at the bottom, and had to backtrack a few miles, but I wasn't too bothered by this. After some floundering around, I was able to find the bike path that that I would be on for the next several hours, and that wound through the resort towns of Keystone, Dillon and Frisco. This was a relatively flat stretch, but it had gotten hot, I was getting tired, and I arrived at Breckenridge, where the bike path ended, much later than I had expected.

Traffic was clogged through the downtown of ultra-touristy Breckenridge. I got off the main street and found an ice cream stand where I got a Gatorade, Diet Coke and ice cream cone. The guy running the place was a dude in his twenties who lived in Alma, which claims to be "North America's Highest Incorporated Town." I asked the guy how he liked living almost two miles above sea level. He claimed that he loved it, because he worked in hot restaurant kitchens all day, and liked living in a place where even in the summer it was only 40F at night. "But what about the winters?" "DUDE: IT IS COLD."

I started the climb out of Breckenridge to Hoosier Pass much later than I had anticipated. This side of the Pass was switchback after switchback. I kept a steady 5.0 mph pace most of the way, but as it started to rain, then hail, I stood up and "sprinted" at 6.5 mph. About a mile from the top I had to stop and put on my jacket and gloves. I got to the summit, took an obligatory picture of the sign, and headed down. The hail had turned to a cold drizzle. It was a quick, chilly descent to Alma, then to Fairplay, where I was staying the night with Dixie, the sister of my friend Peter.

A nice, if long, day of riding.

I'll stick with Diet Pepsi, my current drug of choice.

Snacks for the day. I like the triple-chocolate Snickers more than the Paydays, but the Snickers turn to mush during the heat of the day.

Today's ride: 92 miles (148 km)
Total: 1,200 miles (1,931 km)

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