Today was supposed to be a 'recovery' ride over reasonable terrain, but it didn't quite work out that way. Breakfast was at 6.00am and we were there early. I'm amazed at the amount I can now pack away whereas normally it's a cup of tea and a cereal. Pumped my front tyre up properly and hoped that I was not going to get unlucky with punctures. When everyone was loaded we all set off together, which was unusual, and we were led out by Sue, the lady who welcomed us into Colorado with an ice lolly, who is local and led us along a bike path beside the Colorado River. The river was swollen and last week it flooded part of the path, but it was dried out for us to go through. Highway 50 is to be our road for a long time and I hoped it would be more pleasant than the Interstate, but it isn't really.
The temperature was rising and it was quite warm by the time we got to the SAG at 33 miles we had climbed a number of decent hills. The scenery was parched and rugged and the snowcapped Rckies were looming in the distance. Just after the SAG I saw a sign for Rattlesnake Gulch, but it as not appropriate to get a photo. Eventually dropped into the little town of DElta and saw a Dairy Queen (known as a DQ and never knowingly passed), so we were straight in there for a delicious, cold chocolate milk shake. By the time we got to Montrose it was in the high 90s F and later got to 103F. Around the town there were loads of cyclists as the 'Ride the Rockies' event was crossing our path and tomorrow we would ride the same route as them to Gunnison. They do a 7 day ride which basically goes up and down the Colorado Rockies, mad, and there are 2,300 approx of them.
Got a nice lunch in a real eatery with no processed food and then I tried to get money from a Wells Fargo office, but they didn't have any!! Perhaps the stagecoach had been held up. I then went to a drive-thu bank, or in my case a cycle-thru bank and got my card to work. Went for dinner at 7.30pm and it was still over 90F. There was a little anxiety around the group tonight as the next two days see us going over the Rockies with plenty of climbing.
Today's mileage was 74.2 miles.
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1 comment:
Hey Wayne-0,
Good luck with the up coming Rockies!! We know you can do it, you were built as a mountain goat, a few tips from the pro commentators:
- Just dig deep into the suitcase of courage!
- Imagine you are a donkey and chase a strawberry!
- Give the others a Lance Glance!
- Get the diesel engine going!
Go for it Wayne-O,
Love,
Neil and Anna
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