Crawford-Redstone: McClure Pass, heading the other direction.

July 16, 2009

Lodging: Redstone Cliff Lodge 888-652-8005 Kathy and Mitch Room #1 Queen Bed $92.

When I rode Hwy 92 back in 2000 or so with John Orlowski and Dave Gewecke my mother had scouted out a back road for us so we didn't have to stay on the main highway. The three of us had stopped in Paonia to eat and have ice cream. It had been such a nice downhill run off of McClure Pass, we were in high spirits. My legs had basically quit for the day. I didn't have any idea what sort of terrain to expect between Paonia and Crawford. I was, of course, hoping for more downhill. It was rolling, rolling, rolling, Uggh. Would these hills never quit?

That memory was quite fresh in my mind this summer. I had mentally steeled myself for a long roller coaster morning. I was very pleasantly surprised when it was a fast downhill run from Crawford to Paonia. Yes! No wonder it had been such a long ride back then - it was all uphill in that direction. Fred, Moni, and I started out basically together. Almost into Paonia Fred and I passed one of the tidiest houses I've ever seen. Not a weed in sight. That's a feat when you live on 40 acres. Every bush and tree was trimmed just so. Even the very large stack of firewood was cut exactly the same length. There was a big main house and a small guest house. Fred said he'd love to retire there. I asked in the big house or the small one. I never heard the answer as the owner appeared. Fred turned around to give the owner his compliments (or to ask if the house was for sale?). I continued on down the road.

As we approached Paonia there were several share the road signs and bicyclists heading the opposite direction. As I rode past a baseball field, I became concerned that our back road would take us parallel straight past town. We had been planning on a second breakfast and filling up our water bottles. I stopped one of the cyclists and asked how to get to town and for a breakfast spot. He told me to go to the bakery. The three of us rolled up to the bakery. It was strictly a bakery - no breakfast food. We ended up at a diner type place. There was only one harried waitress and lots of impatient customers.

Everyone but sleepyhead Jacinto has gathered for morning coffee before the day's ride.

While we were milling around outside of the cafe, John rolled up. We invited him to join us, but he chose to grab something at the grocery. He had been checking the town out and could tell us where the bike shop was located.

After Paonia there were quite a few semi's that were heading to the coal mine. I was happy for the shoulder and the courteous drivers. the road took a gently uphill, but the climbing wasn't bad yet. We pedaled along, mostly together, sometimes not.

When routing this trip we had several different return options to Rifle. I liked this route because we would get to ride scenic Hwy 92 - but the downside was riding the McClure Pass/Redstone section over again. We soon reached the turn for Kebler Pass. We had to stop again at the same spot for a snack. Moni commented that she felt much better today than the last time we passed this way. Jacinto caught up with us not far past the turn. He had just eaten a burrito down the road - the rest of us were eating ours, fueling for the climb. The road turned up towards the pass starting where we were.

Bandannas seem to be a touring cyclist necessity. I have purchased a couple - but never fell into the habit of using them. Perhaps because they were new and stiff? I had passed a red bandanna by the roadside, thought about stopping for it. Decided not to, since I never use them anyway. Jacinto did stop and pick the bandanna up. He thought it might be Moni's, as she had one that color. Nope - she had hers on. Moni had also given Fred a spare brown bandanna on the second day of the ride. He ended up using it every day. I think Moni made a convert. I decided to give the wet bandanna around the neck trick a try. It was warming up and we had a climb ahead of us. This was a nice soft, very used bandanna. The wet fabric around my neck was just the thing to cool me down. Not quite as nice as taking my shirt off and dunking it in the river, but far easier to wet down.

We had all seen the bandanna, but only Jacinto chose to stop for it. Way back down the road Jacinto said he saw a dead mountain lion by the roadside. We all agreed we had seen a dead deer in the same area, but only Jacinto saw the big cat. We speculated that the mountain lion was chasing the deer when they both got hit by a car. Wouldn't that have been a sight to see in your headlights?

Fred takes a quick photo break. The great view does make the climb more entertaining.

Here we are at a burrito break before starting the climb up McClure. Jacinto started the trend of bringing 89 cent Taco Bell burritos to eat for lunch. The idea gradually caught on - burritos are compact, cheap, and have both protein and carbs. Plus they don't squash as easily as PB & J.

Jacinto rode along with me until we hit the sign at the bottom of the pass. I was pleasantly surprised to arrive there so soon. I thought we had more rolling climbing before the 'real' climb. As usual, I let him take off after we rode one more mile together. He likes to attack the climb, I like to survive it. : ) I could see his bright orange Alert Shirt from far, far down the road. It entertained me tracking his progress up the side of the mountain. This was another one of those climbs that surprised me with the difficulty the first time I rode it. Again, I kept telling myself "This isn't so bad - not like last time.". It's interesting how the road/climb doesn't change - but it's the rider who is having a good day or bad day. Fueling, a difficult day the day before, lack of sleep, etc. all factor in.

I was surprised and happy to see this sign. I thought it was much further down the road to the start of the actual climb.

I took the stop every mile method of attacking the pass. Frequent gulps of water and nibbles of food. It was once pointed out to me while climbing Douglas Pass in northwestern Colorado:"My body doesn't have time to digest food, it's busy climbing." Hmmm, good point. But I still nibble. Early in my cycling career I would quit eating at the top of the climb, then my body would run out of fuel for the rest of the ride. Now I eat a little bit all day long. Keep the engine fueled. But I digress - we were discussing the climb.

On steep sections I have been known to take ten or even twenty steps before remounting my bike. It has to be a pretty steep climb, or I'm having an off day to count steps before getting back on the bike. I did that several times today. The weather was warm - I was happy for the cooling, wet bandanna. Moni, Fred, and I played leap frog. Moni started to feel the effects of the altitude again and decided she could walk faster than she could ride. Fred just totally disappeared. He must have finally found his mountain legs. One minute he was there, the next minute he was zipping out of sight as if we were on a downhill rather than a significant grade.

I have ridden McClure Pass quite a few times coming from Redstone. This is only my second time going into Redstone. I think the west side of the pass is easiest. It is very steep, but only three miles long. The east side goes on and on - basically climbing since Paonia. Then after your legs are tired from the long ~3% grade, the road tilts up and the real climbing begins.

I live in Rifle, CO at 5,345 feet. Many people have aspen planted in their yards in Rifle, but they don't grow in the wild here. That's always my measure of getting high up in the mountains - when I see aspen trees. We saw plenty of old growth aspen at the top of Kebler Pass - as much as I whined about that last 1,000 foot climb after the plateau - Kebler Pass was one of the prettiest passes I've ever ridden. Kebler has really sparked my interest in riding more dirt roads. It was nice to get away from the populace and signs of civilization. We got high enough on McClure Pass to see aspen. Our last aspen of the trip. Darn, things are winding to a close.

I was concerned about repeating this section of the trip. But I didn't hear any negative comments from the other riders. I did hear several times that the road looks totally different heading this direction. I felt the same way - with relief that we weren't bored with the repetition.

Fred was at the top of the pass. When I told him Moni was walking, he took off. I thought Jacinto might be waiting, but he wasn't in sight. I pulled out the last burrito and ate it while I waited for Moni. We did the obligatory photo and headed downhill. I rode the brakes. It's a steep downhill with lots of debris in the curves. There's no need to dump the bike at this point.

Looking back down the climb. Sure is a pretty sight. We enjoyed the lack of traffic on this route. It seems that most motorists are up around the Denver area. I personally enjoy cycling southwestern Colorado more. It has far less traffic and is more scenic. Less sagebrush and more flowers, etc.

The camping folks were hoping to run into the pastor and his wife again to enjoy the nice facilities at the church. We were all sitting outside next to the park when who should walk up but the pastor! They had just arrived home after a long two day drive home from visiting family in Kansas. He was quick to offer their backyard again. We chatted some about riding and recumbents. He and his wife are tandem riders and are very interested in a recumbent tandem. I suggested he try a single recumbent first and offered a loaner. It's a small world. Their daughter is a teacher in Rifle and knows Jacinto from the school bus.

I have to tell a funny on Fred. Our first time through Redstone he and Moni went for ice cream at the general store. They ordered medium size, which turned out to be very large. This time they both bought small size. But those were too small. Fred went back for a second one and ate it while we talked to the pastor. After lodging and dinner arrangements were made, we started to get up. Fred said in complete, total amazement, "Did I eat my ice cream?" Yep, there's the empty cup. Fred longingly scraped the spoon around the edges and muttered that he couldn't remember eating even one bite of that second ice cream. He seriously considered going back for a third serving. I think he would have except we were already teasing him about not remembering eating the second cup.

My favorite restaurant next to the cabins was open tonight. Yeah! We agreed to go for a celebratory dinner. We started out at an outside table, but moved inside because of the cold as soon as the sun set. The other riders generously chipped in and bought our dinner as a thank you for organizing the tour.

This was one of my favorite cycling tours ever. The route had varied scenery, some hard days and easy days - a little of everything. Mostly good overnight spots that were attractive examples of small town Colorado. What really made the trip work was the fantastic companions. I knew John from riding the Lewis and Clark in 2005. Moni and I "knew" each other from CG and the phred list. But we had never met. Ken and Fred both found us on CG and decided to join the trip within two weeks of the start. It just worked out to be a cohesive group of new friends. We hope to ride together again in 2010 on the Pacific Coast. I can't wait!

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 574 miles (924 km)

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