Day 32 – Canon City to Salida. We heart Salida.

Well today was a roller coaster for many definitions of the word. Ultimately it was a good day but it took a while to get sorted out.

JP and I rolled out around 7am to head up over the pass next to the Royal Gorge and on to Salida. I had arm warmers on and JP had… well, jersey and shorts. I swear he never gets cold. We had an easy warm up through town then started cruising up the hill outside of town.

I’ve got to admit, so far the climbs in the Rockies are MUCH more polite than what we saw in the East or in the Ozarks. Long slow climbs and descents that only rarely require brakes. Pretty cool. JP and I made it about 2/3rds of the way up the climb and pulled over to chat, switch bottles, etc. I got going a few minutes before him… shortly after I got a text that said he broke a spoke. Apparently when he clipped out his heel came around and busted the nipple off. His wheel was way out of true, so even tying up the spoke wasn’t going to work.

Art came and picked him up and JP went back down the hill with his busted wheel to Canon City. I pushed on up and over and on my way to Salida.

On her way out of town Heidi took a detour to check out what she could see of the Royal Gorge Bridge and the fire damage in the area. While she couldn’t get up to the bridge due to the road closure, she did get to see how serious the fire was.

A lot of landscape was burned during the fire. I can’t imagine what it did to the park.  We do know most of the structures were destroyed.  The bison herd however was ok and safely moved to a nearby ranch.

Action Shot! Application of sunscreen! (actually, it was a reshoot because Heidi missed the first one. Note it’s not actually hitting my face)

There were some really nice rest stops along the Arkansas River. Heidi stopped with the boys and played in the water for a bit while I rode on.

 

For the vast majority of the ride today, we didn’t have cell service. First, what’s really interesting about that is JP was supposed to have a 9am call. While that call turned in to a series of emails, he never would have been able to send those emails if he hadn’t broke the spoke. We didn’t have cell service from about mile 10 to mile 50. JP would have been totally out of luck.

Also, when we don’t have cell service, it changes the way SAG is run. Rather than run ahead of us and hang out, the SAG vehicles will hang behind us for a set period of time, then come up and see how things are going. So today while Heidi was in the river with the boys, I was riding ahead. That’s when my fun started. I was taking it easy, enjoying the scenery… but around mile 23 I started to feel pretty off. I got lightheaded and started really struggling with the sun. I’ve had that happen before when I ride and usually it’s because I’ve had too much coffee or something similar. I figured I’d just keep taking it easy and it would fade.

From there, things sorta went downhill. I lost track of time and eventually looked down at my bike computer.. it felt like I had been riding for an hour since I last checked, but it had only been like 10 minutes. Further, I realized I was starting to get tunnel vision and was _really_ lightheaded. If my drinking in college taught me anything its that when you’ve got tunnel vision, it’s time to stop. So I did. Luckily Heidi and the boys were only a few minutes behind me and they were up to me shortly after I got off my bike. My riding day was done… which I’m really pretty upset about. It’s an amazing section of road, and it certainly wasn’t challenging. I assume it’s the elevation (this all hit around 6.5k’) so I’m hopeful with a few more days up here I’ll be fine.

And “yes” I was plenty hydrated, “yes” I had plenty of sleep, “yes” I’ve been eating well. *shrug*

Meanwhile, JP did his emails, got his wheel fixed, and SAG’d back up to where he broke down. He finished his climb, shot down the back side of the hill and pushed on. He pushed on for 36 miles and decided to stop for lunch and head in to Salida. He still had a productive day even with all the excitement.

Shortly after Heidi, the kids,and I  got to Salida, all hell broke loose at work. I’ll spare you the details, but I had a very busy day on the phone and email. At some point I was even planning how to get to Denver and get back to the office by tomorrow morning (it could be done, but it wasn’t cheap). Luckily, I was able to work with folks back at the office and get things resolved… but it was touch and go for a bit.

Lost in all this excitement is the fact that we’re in Salida. And to be frank, and with no disrespect to our friends in Maryland…

We would move here in a heartbeat. This place is VERY us. Even Bobby, after playing in a local park, got in to the MCC and asked “can we move here?”  Both the older boys said they’d be more than happy to scrap the rest of the trip and work logistics for a move from Maryland to here.

This town is amazing. Bikes everywhere (seriously, the probably out number the people), amazing food, great beer, lots of music. There’s tons to do outdoors including Jeeping, fishing, skiing (when the weather is different) hanging out in the river, and generally bumming around outside. As the waitress at dinner pointed out “this is the first place I’ve lived where not only is the place cool, but the people are cool too”.

So yeah. I _think_ we’ll leave town tomorrow and head to the next stop. But if you don’t hear from us, check out our new blog, “The Potters Move to Colorado.”

J “my calves are too big for cowboy boots” P, Bobby, and I all had our hats on tonight. I even had a local assume I was from Texas. I guess that’s a win.

Day 31 – Pueblo to Canon City

Everything I learned about cycling at high elevation I learned from the Internet… Which is to say I have no first hand experience and anecdotal stories ranging from “I was fine after a day” to “OMG I’VE BEEN HERE 2 WEEKS AND I CAN STILL BARELY BREATHE”. Fun. Anyhoo, we started our slow push in to the rockies today. Figuring discretion is the better part of valor I mapped us an easy 37 miles in to Canon City.

Wow did the landscape change today. Even leaving Pueblo today was different than arriving in town yesterday. The weather was great and we had much better visibility today. We rolled out at 8am, and could finally see the start of the mountains in front of us.

About 17 miles in to the ride, I found a route that didn’t involve Rt 50 for a while. Now, when I say I “found a route” I mean I saw there was a road on Google. Turns out, the first bit of it was… well not paved.

However JP was game so we did a little gravel grinding for 2-ish miles. The next few miles were “paved” to some degree but left something to be desired. However, the scenery was amazing. Rt 50 may be efficient, but it’s not necessarily scenic. The second half of the ride today was the most visually impressive ride we’ve had in weeks.

We finally got back on a real paved road and cruised in to Canon City. Small rollers and curves… again, something we haven’t seen in a while. It’s nice to be back in to doing some serious biking.

Once we got in to Canon City, we had a nice lunch and bought cowboy hats… Well, Bobby and I did. We walked in to a Western store, said we were yankees, knew nothing about cowboy hats, and wanted to buy two. The woman at the store was fantastic and we ended up with 2 really great hats… and much better educated about cowboy hats.

Then the whole crew went on the Royal Gorge train ride, a 24 mile train ride in to the Royal Gorge Canyon. We got tickets for the “Vista Dome” which is a train car with a curved glass roof. Made for great views (unsurprisingly).

Here’s Bobby with his new hat enjoying the view from the Vista Dome.

The poster in the bathroom said this section of rail had the most arresting view of any North American railway. I don’t normally trust the posters in the mens room, however this one seems to have nailed it.

We saw the Royal Gorge Bridge, the highest suspension bridge in the world at over 1k’ over the canyon floor. There used to be a park on the other side of the bridge, but unfortunately a serious fire destroyed the vast majority of it. They’re in the process of rebuilding and hope to have at least the bridge open later this summer.

This is a seriously big canyon.

And here’s the bridge from the other direction.

All in all, a very good day. Tomorrow promises to be a bit more serious from a riding perspective. We’re heading to Salida at 7k’ above sea level. There’s a relatively major climb heading out of Canon City, and then a slow climb all the way to Salida over the 60 mile duration of the ride. We’ll see how we feel by the end of that section. Thursday is our last riding day before the rest day, and it’s our first real mountain. We’ll head up and over Monarch Ridge at 11k’. I expect excitement.

 

30 days into the ride – La Junta to Pueblo

When I came out for breakfast this morning, the weatherwoman on the TV in the hotel lobby said “This never happens, especially in Colorado… but these storms are moving from east to west today”. THAT HAPPENS WHEN CYCLEOVERRIDE IS IN THE STATE! 🙂 Needless to say, our trip westbound in to Pueblo today was a speedy one.

JP once again beat Terran and I out of the hotel. I think he’s still on Eastern Time. For the first time in a long time I had on arm warmers, and Terran decided to put on a light jacket. I hope that becomes a trend.

For the last few days we’ve been paralleling a BNSF rail line. While it’s pretty impressive to see how much cargo they carry (including train after train after train of coal today), they seem to cause problems for the MCC. The MCC’s alarm system has 3 levels of response to “shock”, ie: someone trying to break in to the vehicle. The first level, in response to a small jolt, is a polite set of beeps. The second level, in response to a stronger hit is a short term audible alarm, plus we get notification on our phone and key fobs. The third level is a full blown “BEEWOOBEEWOO” alarm and our phones and key fobs go crazy. We’ve had problems with trains before. In Christiansburg VA the hotel was feet away from a train track so the third stage alarm went off because of the vibrations from the train. We had to disable the alarm that night.

Last night, we were about 100 yards from the train yard across the street. Far enough that I wouldn’t think it would be a problem. Well, at 5am the BNSF conductors fired up their locomotives… and they managed to continuously send out enough seismic waves to get the MCC to continually beep out the polite stage 1 beeps continuously. Since we had parked directly outside our hotel window, I heard it at soon as it started. I jumped up, saw the MCC was OK, disarmed and rearmed the alarm, and thought it was done. Seconds later, it started again. I got dressed, went outside in my stupor, and eventually figured out what was going on. That was way better than any iPhone alarm 😐

We had a solid tail wind for the entire trip to Pueblo. Terran and I were able to clock in nearly 30 miles in well under 2 hours today without really breaking a sweat. Terran called it a day after 2 hours mostly because he was sore from being in the saddle, not because his legs were tired.

I pushed on to Pueblo, chasing down JP. Now, the route I put together left US 50 for a while today to try to change the scenery a bit. Unbeknownst to me, JP missed the turn and kept cruising on 50. For punishment the road deity FINALLY gave JP the flat he had been waiting for. JP, until today, was running the same rear tire he had used last year for the second part of our east coast ride. The tire was worn flat and was literally threadbare. I kept joking “You’re going to get a flat before Pueblo”. Well, 30 miles out, he got it.

 

We rallied where the 2 roads we were on came together.. and both arrived at Art and the MCC within seconds of each other. Crazy.

We finished out the day together on 50. The final calculation for me was 64 miles at 17.7 mph and my heartrate was basically at a brisk walk. That’s probably the best possible way to finish out the flats.

Tomorrow is a short ride (less than 40 miles). We’re going to be over a mile in elevation and I’m keeping the routes simple for the next couple days as we acclimate. We’ll get one day of real climbing on Thursday and then get our rest day. Hopefully the Rockies are kind to us.

Day 29 – Holly to La Junta

Today was one of those rare days when (basically) everything goes right. When the wind is at your back and you’re heading through Eastern Colorado, you can make pretty amazing time. And when it’s not approach 100 degrees, your view on the world is a bit better.

No actual pictures of the ride today. 😉 There were much more interesting things today than the two of us riding trough the flats outside La Junta. It was almost cool when we rolled out of Holly. The breakfast at the Miles Court was great, especially for a $70 motel. So with some food in our belly and the wind at our back, we started the 84 mile trek to La Junta.

About 10 miles in, we passed a sign for the Amache Japanese-American Relocation Center… ie: one of the camps where Japanese-American’s were sent during World War II. It was a an interesting, dark time in United States history, and one that I thought Heidi and the boys should take some time to explore.

So I called back to Heidi in the MCC. They were only a few miles behind and drove in to see Amache just after I passed it. There wasn’t much really left of the camp, but there were still enough artifacts to serve as an eerie reminder of what happened there.

The buildings are mostly gone, but their cement foundations are still scattered around the landscape.

Heidi, the boys, Art, JP and I all rallied about 25 miles in to the ride for our first stop. Even though it was relatively cool the wind and low humidity still draw water out of you in a hurry. Water bottles were swapped and we kept cruising.

By this point the wind was really cooking. We were holding steady at about 20 mph on the ride and it was basically silent… Which means that the wind was at our backs at about the same rate we were moving. We met up next to the Hasty Post Office for our next rally point… nearly 45 miles in to the ride and barely an hour after our last stop. Nice.

We pushed on again, but the wind started to get a bit fickle. Eventually we pedaled in to Las Animas at around 62 miles. JP is the metric century man… 62 miles (ie: 100k) and he punched his card for the day. He rode really strong today and once again showed that being on the road before 7 is his spinach.. or some metaphor.

I grabbed a few more bottles and took a shot at getting in to La Junta. Again with the tail wind, I was cruising along, although the temps were starting to creep up in to the low/mid 90’s. Heidi pinged me after she got in to La Junta to tell me about a work zone on the way in to town. It was about 5 miles long where Rt 50 split in to a 4 lane divided… and one lane on each side was closed and there was no shoulder.

So yeah.. a 5 mile long work zone that was about as wide as a tractor trailer. I’m going to label that “not a good bike route”. I had Heidi SAG me in to the hotel. I’m a little bummed I didn’t ride hotel to hotel, but whatever.. at least I’m alive. 🙂

After we got to town, Heidi and the boys checked out Bent’s Old Fort, a national park with a (recreated) adobe fort that served as a fur trading post in the 1800s.

Heidi likes covered wagons, I think because of all the Little House she read as a kid. The next vinyl wrap for the MCC will probably have a covered wagon theme.

The fort was very authentic… “except for the restroom and electricity” as Heidi pointed out.

They even kept the old west “holy crap it’s hot out” feel. I thought that was nice of them. For the record I stayed back in the MCC, cooled off, ate about 200 grapes, and played iPad. I have had enough oppressive heat for a few days.

It was actually relatively cool in the shade in the fort.

Also, they had peacocks. Here we see the boys preparing to launch a sneak attack. What we won’t show you is them getting chased out of the fort by 6 very angry and loud birds (Note from Heidi – that did NOT happen).

In Colorado, we seemed to have transitioned from the farming in Kansas to the ranching we see here. There are a lot of cows in eastern Colorado. A LOT of cows.

Welcome to La Junta. We refilled the MCC with propane at the local KOA. The propane gauge on the MCC has basically 3 values: “full” “not full but not empty” and “empty”. We have been on the “not full but not empty” value since the first time we used propane months ago back in MD. After running the generator to run the big roof mounted AC over the last week, we had no idea how much propane we’ve used. As it turns out, we had used half of it (7 out of 14 gallons). At least now we’ve got something to gauge our propane use off of. I think we can get 30 hours of use out of the generator without worrying about running out.. which should get us to the west coast and back to Maryland if we play our cards right.

Tomorrow we ride to Pueblo. Only 64 miles, but a front is moving through and we’re likely to hit rain along the way. Tomorrow is a big day too because Pueblo will be the last big city we hit until Cedar City UT in a week and a half. We’ll be doing a lot of stocking up, especially on biking related supplies. Small riding day, but big shopping day ahead. Sleepy time.