Day 1: Saguache to South Fork, northern San Luis valley

May 29, 2019

I got on the road at 8:50 AM after breakfast at the Oasis restaurant. Departure is always later when I eat breakfast at a restaurant instead of at a motel's breakfast room. After a low of 33F (1C) I wasn't eager to start early.

I did not create a map for each day. To follow the route on a map, you can open the full-screen route map in a new tab. Then you can switch to the map tab at any time while reading the journal.

After only 3 miles on the road an old man parked his car in front of me, got out, and asked if I'm riding a Bacchetta bike. He also owns a Bacchetta bike and we talked on the roadside for 15 minutes.

The weather forecast calls for unusually cold temperatures, a strong southwest headwind, and occasional rain. But the day started sunny but with clouds steadily building so it was dense overcast by 11 AM. I am starting well-rested but not happy about the weather. I wanted to beat the heat but I didn't want to be cold every day. Regardless of how warm or cold, the first several days of the tour go south into the prevailing southwest wind.

Today I have distant views of the Sangre de Cristo mountains to the east. But the sun angle is poor and there were puffy clouds above the mountains. I will see them up close later in the tour.

Looking east across the San Luis valley towards the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

Today I stay in the San Luis valley all day. This is easily the flattest day of the tour.

Looking north from US 285. Sawatch range in the distance to the left.

The valley scenery was kind of boring. Mostly sagebrush high desert. Occasional circles of grass watered by center-pivot irrigation. A few cows here and there. Very few old farm houses, but I saw ruins of old farm buildings.

The San Luis valley is quite arid. Annual rainfall is only 9.5 inches (24 cm) but most of the rain occurs in large bursts that create massive but short-lived runoff.

This appears to be for storm drainage, not for irrigation. San Juan mountains in the distance.

I crossed several irrigation canals. Most had water flowing in the canal. The source is the Rio Grande river flowing into the northwest part of the valley.

This canal is definitely for irrigation.

Looking northeast at the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

Light rain fell for a few minutes when approaching Del Norte. Not enough to get me soaking wet, but it still cools me down. And the southwest headwind became gradually stronger during the afternoon. The terrain is flat but progress was slow.

Looking south towards Del Norte and the San Juan mountains.

In Del Norte I crossed the Rio Grande for the first time. It's nice to see the dense line of trees along the river bank. A lush riparian zone in the high desert.

Lovely riparian zone as the Rio Grande flows through high desert.

I didn't spend any time wandering around Del Norte (strangely, the locals pronounce it Del Nort). I was cold and just wanted to get to the motel in South Fork. In 2010 I took a photo of a Catholic church that I didn't even notice this time.

Former Denver and Rio Grande train station in Del Norte.

The road is more noticeably uphill between Del Norte and South Fork. And the landscape becomes noticeably greener as I approach the San Juan mountains.

Just outside of the town of South Fork I crossed the South Fork Rio Grande. It's smaller than the Rio Grande at Del Norte but the flow is still very good because Colorado is having massive snow melt. This year's spring snow pack in Colorado is 400% of normal.

South Fork Rio Grande at the town of South Fork.

I passed through South Fork and Del Norte in the opposite direction in 2010 after crossing the divide at Spring Creek pass and descending the main fork Rio Grande.

South Fork is an attractive rustic mountain tourist town but it's very boring. It seems to attract elderly and very conservative visitors who have no interest in adventure activities such as paddling, hiking, and climbing. Very different from Salida where every visitor seems to be an adventurer. And it's less charming and town-like than Pagosa Springs. Visitors and residents mostly speak with a Texas accent. I noticed that in 2010 as well. This is the closest part of the Rocky mountains to Texas. Most visitors and seasonal workers are from Texas.

I arrived at Four Seasons Lodge at 3:50 PM and waited outside in the cold until 4 PM for the motel office to open. I got a reserved $97 room, well located in the middle of town. The proprietor saw my bike and asked if I'm traveling east or west. I told him I'm going south. It never occurred to me that nearly all long distance cyclists travel east or west, usually coast to coast. Apparently the non-cycling public is conditioned to assume that all long distance cyclists travel east or west.

I was exhausted and aching all over when I got to the motel. I took a nap from 4:15 to 6:15 PM, then got a pizza from the Mini Mart for dinner because no restaurant is open tonight. I overheard the cook say to the cashier that it's winter every night in his tent. Tonight's low temperature is forecast to be 30F (-1C).

Today had a high of 55F (13C), far below normal. The southwest headwind was gentle in the morning but brisk in the afternoon as expected. I definitely notice the Rocky mountain pattern of clear mornings and cloudy unstable afternoons.

I'm worried that I started well-rested but was exhausted and aching after one flat easy day. I never used the granny gears and never worked hard enough to get sweaty. The likely cause is that this is my first day to exercise at high elevation. I live at 450 feet elevation but today I started at 7707 feet and ended at 8209 feet elevation. Before today I slept 2 nights above 7000 feet elevation, but that apparently wasn't enough for me to adapt to the elevation.

Distance: 54.3 mi. (87 km)
Ascent/Descent: +767/-275 ft. (+234/-84 m)
Average Speed: 10.0 mph (16 km/h)

Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 54 miles (87 km)

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