I caught up with Clive today. It’s kind of funny that the very next day after I wrote about him I tried to send him on his way. I had to ride an extra 30 miles to catch him, but I’m glad I did. I don’t want to ride this alone anymore.
Back to today’s ride. It was hard. I started off this morning at 6:00 am and it was raining then. It rained and rained and it was only 46 degrees, up ahead of me on the mountain where I would be going I could see the snow from last night and this morning. It was the most miserable I have been on this entire journey. I was trying to catch up with Clive (who was in Ridgway) before 10:00 and it wasn’t looking good. I had a several thousand-foot climb, it was raining, I had a head wind, it was cold and there was almost no shoulder. I was losing the desire to ride today. The map said that it was only 26 miles to Ridgway, but it was more like 30. When I did arrive, all I wanted to do was get some breakfast (which I did) and some hot chocolate (which I didn’t).
Clive came down and met me at a restaurant called the “Galloping Goose”. It was an interesting place. The menu (at least the breakfast menu) had only individual items. If you wanted a complete breakfast, you had to order for example eggs, sausage, toast, and hash browns all separately. I have never seen that before. Anyway, while we were inside, we took a look outside and the weather looked ominous, to say the least. The clouds were almost black and we had a serious climb ahead of us, the temperature was only supposed to get up to 54 degrees, and it was raining. We considered staying in Ridgway, we actually talked about it for about an hour. While I was paying the bill, Clive went outside to take a look at the sky and came back very excited to tell me that the sky was blue where we were going. So, we decided to head off to Telluride.
The ride from Ridgway to Telluride has a couple of climbs. The one out of Ridgway was tough. It took us over 2 hours to travel the 12 miles up the mountain. Because of the fresh snow, we both got some really good photos. The descent was a long one as far as descents go, but there was a head wind, again. So the 11 miles down didn’t go by as fast as I would have liked. But they did go by. At the bottom of the mountain, I was ready for some hot chocolate. I was still cold from this morning and I couldn’t get warm, so I stopped in the village of Placerville. It has the distinction of being the smallest town (population) in Colorado… 27.
We are staying at the fire Station in Placerville. We were trying to figure out where we were going to stay (by the way that is half of the adventure) when I saw a vehicle with a fire fighter sticker on it. I approached the owner and he turned to be the chief of the fire department and a cyclist, as well. I told him we were traveling cross-country and needed a place to stay for the night and he ended up opening up the entire fire station for us, washer and dryer, kitchen, shower… and food. His name is Gary Whitfield and he is a very nice guy.
I have discovered that as much as I love Colorado, It has been my least favorite state to cycle in. A lot of trucks (pickups and others) have been getting very close to me, even though I am riding on the shoulder. Today, with the rain and the climbs I don’t think I needed the extra abuse from the traffic. Anyway, I am here now and I am safe.
Tomorrow, Telluride!
