Lake City - Gunnison: Don't those two hills have names? - Expanded Slumgullion Tour 2009

July 14, 2009

Lake City - Gunnison: Don't those two hills have names?

Lodging: The Gunnison Inn 970-641-0700 $77.45 including tax. Two queen beds.

I was up and out the door, ready to get back on the road after our day off. A stop at the bakery was in order for a roast beef and swiss for lunch later down the road. Sure wish this bakery had a store in our town - or maybe not - it would be too tempting to go by on a daily basis. John was there when I arrived. Moni and Fred pulled up as I was leaving. This was obviously the spot to be. No one had seen Ken. We didn't know if he was ahead or behind. We all knew where Jacinto was - still asleep in bed!

I knew this would be a great day. The downhill along the river is so fun and scenic. Moni, Fred, and I played leapfrog all morning, depending on who was stopping for a photo where. It was a bit nippy to start. I even put a vest on. I do cold well, most of the group had on jackets and tights. I have to admit that I think the fairing on my bike gives me a 10 degree advantage with the wind chill. I imagine it is also a negative when it's hot, not giving me any cooling breeze . . .

Looking back down from the top of the first hill - which was hard enough it should have had a name.

I remembered last summer's trip, how hot it was when I hit the first climb. I really suffered in the heat. This year it was cooler, I was in better shape, or something. The climb was much easier than last summer. I stopped for lunch at the top. John, Fred, and Moni all showed up. We all pulled out our bakery goodies. We discussed since they were all camping, perhaps taking the Sapinero Cut Off Road would be appropriate. But Moni said it would take them too far west, they would have to back track to the campground. A motorhome pulled in, they wanted to take one of the two cut off roads and determined this one was not correct. We had a map (they didn't) and sent them off to the correct road.

I had been at the lunch stop way more than an hour. It was warming up, time to get on the road. John took off, never to be seen again. The downhill was very nice. Moni had laughed at me, that over the years I have always passed the turn for the town of Powderhorn but never stopped. I don't think she stopped either. The turn is right in the middle of the great downhill - who wants to ruin a good time?

An impromptu lunch stop at the top of the climb.

I was very jealous of the camping people. They were going to cut out an 18 mile round trip to Gunnison that we hotel people need to make. Plus they were riding 7 (?) miles today that the hotel people will need to ride tomorrow, making their day tomorrow about 18 miles shorter. Tomorrow looked to be a challenging riding day - I would have been very happy to shorten the day. But, no, we get to sleep in a cushy hotel bed instead of at a dry, hot campground in the wind.

All of the lunch break people took off at about the same time. John and Ken quickly outpacing me, as usual. I was enjoying myself much more than last year - the day had cooler temperatures and I entertained myself by watching my rearview mirror to see who might be catching up with me. Last summer I didn't see Jacinto until the second climb - which is exactly where I saw him again this year. We stopped together for a snack. I told him to continue on. His hill climbing method is to ride it all in one shot. This wasn't that long of a hill, but an unpleasant headwind had come up, adding to the punishment of the climb.

As I approached the crest I could see two tiny bright figures at the top. Jacinto had caught up with Ken and they were waiting for me. We ate some more bakery goodies. I debated if the wind was blowing stiffly enough to warrant taking my flag pole off. No, I would try the downhill and see how it goes.

Jacinto and Ken are very small blobs in the center of the photo at the top of the second hill. Jacinto had on an Alert Shirt that was visible for miles and miles away.

I have never hit a headwind on this section. Typically we fly all the way into town with giant grins plastered on our faces. This time we got to pedal the entire distance. Jacinto and Ken waited for me at the potty right before Hwy 50. We did not see any of the camping folks again this day. I was again jealous of them for their shortened day. Although not so jealous of their very stiff headwind those last seven miles to camp. Also not so jealous of their dry camp in the hot wind.

The three of us rode into Gunnison together. Jacinto knew a side road that got us off of Hwy 50. We stopped at Taco Bell for their 89 cent chicken burritos. Jacinto had purchased a bag full as we left Gunnison the first time and had been eating them all along the way instead of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. His burritos quite took the fancy of the other riders. Jacinto had orders from both Fred and Moni for burritos. Ken bought some also. I'm sure the cashier wondered what we were doing, ordering burritos by the dozen . . .

We ate our Taco Bell snack with plenty of cold ice water. We agreed to go for chinese food for dinner after showering. I would have been happy to go back to Mario's again, but Jacinto says I only like going there because of tradition - not because the food is good. I disagree. But Chinese sounded good, so that's what we'd eat.

I wasn't so excited about tonight's hotel. I believe the Super 8 has changed hands and gone downhill. We had a non-refundable room (agreed to that to get a lower price). I had asked about getting a refund as we left last week, but needed to talk to the owner and he wasn't in. I presumed we were stuck. When I went to check in I found that we had no reservation at all. The owner had canceled our reservation and given us a refund. Luckily the Gunnison Inn across the street where Ken is staying has space. Plus the room was far nicer and it was $10. cheaper. We will stay here in the future.

Jacinto didn't know about the room change. He had stopped to buy wool socks on sale. Luckily he remembered where Ken was staying and took a chance of asking there. We showered and were ready to go when Ken came by. I wasn't too hungry at the Chinese restaurant, but knew I'd better fuel for the tough day tomorrow.

Jacinto had just ridden Hwy 92 with Ride the Rockies. He kept telling us how tough the ride was and how hard the tailwind was that pushed them into Gunnison. Which meant we would have a headwind. He talked Ken and me into leaving at 5:30 AM to try and beat the wind. The others would be able to sleep in and still get out on the road at about the same place we were at the same time.

When we got back to the room Jacinto admitted that his legs were sore from his extra climbing on our day off. Plus the two climbs today. He decided to try icing his legs, hoping they would be in better shape for tomorrow's workout. Rather than trying the marathon runner's approved method of taking an ice water bath, he tried putting bags of ice on his legs.

Jacinto said the tough climb up the hard side of the Slum, back down the other side, and part way back up Spring Creek has finally caught up with him. A friend who runs marathons swears by icing her legs. Jacinto said he didn't notice any improvement.

I tried to go to sleep early as the 4:30 AM alarm would come way too soon. Of course, since I needed to sleep, I kept waking up to check the clock and see how much time I had left to sleep . . . I was wide awake when the alarm went off.

Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 448 miles (721 km)

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