May 3, 2018
Am I riding smarter?: Heading into the snow.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Remember that storm that was supposed to move out before my departure? It is lingering. . . .
Two bright sides - when I weigh my gear, I'm going to be well under ten pounds because I will have all of the warm (heavier) clothes on! Second bright side is the rest of the trip should be warm and sunny.
I did it again. I packed in a crazy hurry. This time I was trying to make the 'no rain' window forecasted to be from 10-noon. I did take the time to weigh my gear. I was surprised at the results. I took everything out of the two black panniers and the yellow seat bag. Clothes, bike pump, computer, etc. All of that (but not food/water), weighed exactly 11 pounds. I was sure it would be less since I had on the warm/heavy clothes. There was no time to make new choices, it was not raining at that exact moment and I wanted to get on the road.
I had trouble fitting my stuff in the two small panniers. I left behind my desired soft/warm jacket, deciding I could layer. I regret that decision already. It wasn't the jacket weight, it was the bulk. I am carrying breakfast fixings that Jacinto usually carries. Toiletries are all the smallest possible size. I didn't even bring deodorant. Don't get too close! My dentist will be happy that floss is in the bag. I brought an almost used up container of chain lube. When cleaning the chain, I squeezed the bottle too hard and lube went everywhere but the chain. I only had enough left for about 1/4 of the chain .
On to the day -
Today was a familiar day. I usually do this ride at least once a year just to get out of town. I made few stops, wanting to stay ahead of the rain. I had a few sprinkles, but didn't bother to put on Jacinto's new waterproof gloves or my rain jacket.
I stayed on Highway 6 as long as possible. It is flat and fast. I rode through Silt and New Castle. I was happy because typically I would be driving the pre school kids home at this exact minute, but not today! Once I got to the interstate portion of the ride (4.75 miles according to ridewithgps), I put on my rain jacket because I thought there would be road spray from vehicles passing. I don't know if it was because I entered the canyon and the rain was concentrated, or if it really did rain more, but it was worth having the jacket on.
Bertha (my name for ridewithgps) was quite confused exiting the interstate and linking to the bike path at Two Rivers Park. If I had really needed to follow her, I would have been lost.
I had been debating about food all morning. I had leftover chicken and salad with me. There's another advantage to the cool weather - the salad traveled well. I wanted more food. Should I get a burrito (but I'm trying to stay away from wheat), or stop at Wendy's for chili. Wendy's was directly off of the bike path, so I stopped there.
There was a foot path over an abandoned railroad to Wendy's. I bounced my bike over the rails and parked outside of Wendy's. It took me a minute to take off layers and find my travel wallet. I ordered TWO large chilis to go. I decided to keep riding and stop down the bike path at a picnic table for lunch. The further I got without rain, the happier the day would be.
One big advantage to the weather system was the lack of wind. Typically through this canyon area, the wind always blows. It seems to seldom be in my favor. I checked my flag for movement, perhaps I had a tailwind and just didn't realize it. Nope. No wind.
I believe the bad weather this morning has kept everyone home. There were a very few people out walking their dogs. I saw one cyclist with a LONG beard. So long that I wondered if it interfered with his riding by getting hung up in the handlebars. I spent some time speculating if it would be more of a problem if he were a recumbent rider. What if he let it grow long enough to get in the chain? Now that's just silly. My mind goes all sorts of places when riding . . . . besides the bearded man, I saw only one other cyclist who was far too serious about getting his miles in to wave or even smile.
I stopped at the potty at bicycle path MM 10 because that's required. Then I stopped at the next picnic table for lunch. I spread out my clothing to finish drying and ate. I wasn't so excited about stopping to eat (a disadvantage compared to sipping a Spiz bottle as I ride). But I thought I'd need the calories for the climbing after Carbondale. See - there I go. Right back into the old mode of thinking. That I need to fuel during the day. I can ride all winter long and not eat at all while riding. As soon as I'm touring - I resort to old ways. Except I haven't broken out the Spiz. I'm just carrying it along, like a toddler with a security blanket.
After my stop at trip mile 35, I didn't stop again to eat or to use the bathroom. Not even in Carbondale. I always stop at Dos Gringos for a burrito. Always. But not today. I just rode on past. It was still dry in Carbondale. As I took the turn south, I was hopeful I would stay dry. Behind me was sunshine (finally). In front of me was totally gray, but not ominously so.
I had five miles of delightful bike path to the KOA. After that there was ten more miles on Highway 133. Typically through here there's a headwind. I've cursed the miles, clawing my way into town. Today I did have a few sprinkles, but I think they were worth it to not have the wind. Wind is a hard foe. The bike was already dirty. I was already wet. What the heck.
This was a Thursday. Traffic was quite light. Maybe the weather was helping me again? Keeping the people home from playing in the mountains?
One reason I wanted to eat before taking the turn south is that's where the climbing starts. I've ridden this enough times to gauge my fitness by how I feel when I get to town. I didn't use the granny gear once. Maybe because the gearing on this bike is slightly different? Speaking of this new bike - SWB bikes are the best in the rain! I had zero back splash from the road. The front wheel sits far enough under me that I didn't get wet at all on my legs. At least not road grit. That's a problem riding a diamond frame bike. It's a HUGE problem with long recumbents.
But, maybe I shouldn't give too much credit to my fitness and instead remember that I wasn't battling a headwind. This was the first time riding my new bike in the rain. It handled well.
One of Jacinto's duties is going to the store while I work on the journal. But he's not here. So I have to buy my own V-8. I entertained myself for a few miles trying to decide if I should ride straight to the store (on the far side of town from my room), or if I should walk down to the store after my shower. You know me. Once I hit the room, that's it. I'm in for the night. I'm the worst tourist. I never go anywhere or see anything. I've done my activity and I want to relax! Which means I RODE to the store first. I admired their complete selection of good junk food. Good as in homemade brownies and fudge, along with every candy you can imagine. I averted my eyes from all of that temptation. They do have a little snack area. It is honestly promoted as - Fried Food Available. I didn't look at the list.
I coasted back through town to the Red Cliffs Lodge. These are nice little cabins that we've stayed at a number of times. They are more expensive than the Redstone Inn. You would think the historic inn would be more, but if you don't mind sleeping on the 3rd floor and sharing a shower, it's cheaper. The little cabins have gone through a number of owners the past few years. It was an English man last time we were here. Now it's a new fellow. Friendly. He wanted to chit chat and all I wanted was a clean rag to wipe the bike and to get out of my damp clothes. But I played nice and agreed that computers were quite frustrating. He finally found my prepaid registration and gave me a key. One good thing about staying at the cabins is that they have wi-fi. At the Redstone Inn, you have to pay. There's no cell service of any kind in Redstone, you need to use wi-fi calling. It's a wonderful little getaway kind of town. Very quiet. In the summer there's lots of fly fishermen.
As much as I thought I was warm in my wool clothes during the day, I was quite chilled when I got to the cabin. It had a plug in heater that I spent some time trying all of the outlets and figuring out how to turn the heater up high. Right now I'm sitting on the sofa with my stocking feet right up to the heater. I'm still not very warm. It reminds me of the night in Mexico that I went to sleep with all of my clothes on because I was so cold.
I'm doing a good job of eating all of my food. I've had the salad and most of the chicken. One of the Wendy's chilis. I even had some oatmeal to try and get warm. See, it's a good reason I brought that third day's oatmeal with me. I still need to eat the pickle. I've had a bar and some salted nuts. About four glasses of water. I believe I'm in full touring mode already. I'm eating everything in sight!
It's going to be cold here tonight. Redstone sits down in a canyon and I think it will be slow to warm up. I'm hoping to wait until 9 AM or so to leave. That will be difficult as I like to get on the road early. Tomorrow has the same climbing elevation as today, but instead of having 55 miles to do the climbing, it's all done in 9 miles going up McClure Pass. I haven't ridden McClure this direction in a long time. Perhaps since the trip with Moni.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 56 miles (90 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 3 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |