Tour Divide - Day 13

I didn't allow myself much sleep last night, waking just before dawn to break camp. Just as I was stuffing the last of my gear into my bags Tom D.V. rolled down to my little river crossing. It sure was nice to see a familiar face and he exclaimed how he thought I would be miles down the trail by now. Another example of how you think everyone else must be doing it easier than yourself. In fact, everyone is hurting and retaining the motivation to press on is extremely difficult when the ride is almost overwhelming. 

We climbed a few short steep hills before coming to an overlook where some tourers were still camped. I pedalled on as Tom stopped for a minute and before I knew it I was looking down onto Radium. I was so close last night, yet it was soooo far away.

Yes, I was hurting.

I now had to endure a huge descent in the cold morning air to cross the Colorado River at Radium. Dropping down through a series of tight switchbacks I soon crossed the river. There was a proper camp ground and dozens of campers spread around it but none showed any sign of movement.

I noticed a rail tunnel on the other side of the river which seemed so exciting at the time. I think after so much time alone, these signs of civilisation were almost overwhelming.

Then I turned onto a main road, while made of dirt was as wide as a four lane highway and quite smooth. It looked like it was oiled to stop dust and erosion. Looking at the map last night I could see the huge climb and had not even contemplated riding this far as I thought it would be a back-wood climb late at night while extremely tired. The reality is that it was a perfect dirt road and while a huge climb, completely "civilised". This is where my "rookie" status let me down compared to a veteran racer's knowledge of the course.

The huuuge climb gave way to a massive fast descent that went on forever. Well, not quite forever but to the beginning of another huuuge climb. This one was called Gore Pass and had spectacular views down into the Colorado River. I wish I wasn't as tired and had taken a few more photos but I really just wanted to get to Kremmling and breakfast.

Cresting, then descending off Gore Pass was another great pleasure as it went on forever. 

While coasting along I was still debating whether to go off route into Kremmling for food. It was 2 miles each way, which is a significant amount of extra pedalling. I still had a bit of food and could collect water but in the end I decided on the "bird in the hand" approach and reluctantly turned off route, into Kremmling. It wasn't a very attractive looking town from a distance, looking very industrial.

I wasn't sure where to go but when I saw a sign advertising coffee and breakfast burritos I thought I would investigate. I had actually stumbled on the best coffee that I encountered in the whole of the time I was in the US! The burritos were huge and awesome. I had 2. I had a bucket of coffee, a cinnamon scroll and some ice cream. While I was gorging two tourers rolled in, then Tom rolled in. I lounged here for about 30 minutes more than strictly necessary before bidding everyone farewell. Tom was saying that he was really struggling this morning and I tried to cheer him up by saying that we were nearly there! He was a strong rider and could do this thing easily. He just needed to believe it himself.

Just a few miles out of Kremmling and back on route I caught up to Patrick again. This time it was me thinking that he should be miles down route. He said he pressed on to Radium last night and had bypassed Kremmling but was struggling now. I couldn't help but tell him how good a resupply Kremmling had been which may not have helped his mental state!

We rode around Williams Fork reservoir which on a still morning like this was quite spectacular.

We were climbing all the way out of Kremmling, heading for Ute Pass at 9500ft. The road was good but I wasn't feeling much love for climbing this morning having already done two passes.

I had a to-go burrito and looking down at it now I decided that it was time to stop carrying it. I was too tired to unwrap it while pedalling, probably risking a crash, so I hopped off and pushed my bike along while I ate it. It was all about forward progress this morning.

The land soon changed from open countryside to aspen studded hillsides and gushing rivers. 

Ute Pass itself was a paved climb that I didn't have the legs for. I pedalled some, then walked some. It was hot, the air was thin and after almost thirteen days on the bike, my legs were well past their best. Somehow I got over the top and began enjoying the crazy fast descent.

The views across to the Eagles Nest Wilderness were breathtaking and just the cure for failing motivation.

Again, I thought it was all downhill from here to Silverthorne and again, I was wrong. 

The false flat that ran along the valley floor was exacerbated by the growing heat of the day and by this stage I had consumed the whole 3 litres of ice water that I had packed from Kremmling. It tasted so good that I had drank it all before cresting Ute Pass, a mere 52km further along from Kremmling! That is the highest water consumption rate for me on the entire Tour Divide by a huge margin and was a massive failure of my usually solid self discipline to make it last.

As a result I gasped into Silverthorne and stopped at the first gas station where I inhaled a massive bottle of Gatorade, which barely touched the sides.

The rear shifter on my bike was becoming more and more difficult to move late yesterday and this morning. I was cursing Orange Peel bikes for not doing the job properly and installing a cable outer as well as the inner. There are a million gear changes on this ride and I was starting to worry that I might break the cable in some inhospitable place if I didn't get it looked at asap.

I wasted a heap of time in Silverthorne. First, when looking for the bike shop which was closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.(it was Wednesday today) Then I went to Wendy's for lunch where I bumped into Patrick again. I noticed that I had cell service here for the first time all ride and rang my wife to voice my displeasure at the shifter situation. That done, I filled my Camelbak with ice from the vending machine and pedalled on toward Frisco. 90 minutes wasted....

The ride across to Frisco (and then Breckenridge) was awesome as there was a dedicated bike path to follow. It first passed Dillon reservoir, then paralleled the main road. 

Even though it was a Wednesday afternoon, there were heaps of riders out. I cleaned up a few guys on road bikes and I think they got a shock when my rig went shooting past.

The path dumped me at the main street in Frisco, a very groovy looking little town. Here I spied a bike shop, just on the left of the photo below.

I rode in and explained what the problem was. I asked very nicely if they would mind taking a look at it. I got the "too cool" vibe right away and could feel that they weren't interested in fixing it and then I noted that it was 4:30pm. I am not sure when they closed but it must have been soonish. They said I would have to overnight and bring it in tomorrow morning. Yeah, right. Anyone would think I was asking for a full rebuild. All I needed was a shifter cable outer housing fitted. I thanked them for their time and rode on, hoping that it would be ok.

The bikeway continued on to Breckinridge and I was feeling a lot of "drag" here. Breck was such a beautiful place that I was starting to look for reasons to stop for the day.

I passed a store selling garden ornaments and I couldn't help but feel this rooster was talking to me in a Foghorn Leghorn voice. I wasn't sure what he was saying but I knew it was motivational and the gist of it was "boy, ah say, boy, move your arse"!

I pedalled along gently while scoping across the road for a hotel to call it quits at for the night. Motivation was lacking with the massive storm that seemed to be over Boreas Pass and the thunder emanating from said storm. I flopped onto some nice soft grass alongside the bikeway while I considered what to do. The 9000ft elevation wasn't particularly motivating either.

As I sat pondering, Patrick rode past again. I suddenly had a rabbit to chase and I jumped on my bike again. Screw the storm, it was time to push some boundaries and comfort zones.

I passed some old railway equipment and while I would have loved to check it out I had already wasted three and a half hours in Silverthorne/Frisco/Breck and it was time to pedal. Boreas Pass was a high one at 11 482ft and it was late in the day to tackle such a high climb but seeing these old trains reminded me that it is an old railway line so the grade is very manageable.

I stopped at the last gas station leaving town and stocked up on little bags of nuts, Sweet and Salty bars and some beef jerkey. There was a good chance I might have to camp tonight but my first choice was to get a room in Como.

The climb out of Breck didn't feel too steep but I was gaining elevation quickly. The view back across the Eagles Nest Wilderness toward Vail was spectacular, even in the fading light. I love this photo because it shows how the road looks to be going downhill but it was climbing, trust me!

Along this straight I cracked 10 000ft for the first time....and it felt easy!

As you can see I was just at the 100 mile mark (162km) for the day and already had 3 passes in the legs. Why not take on the biggest one so far?! This whole race was crazy anyway, right?

It was looking dark with rain to the south but I was committed now. I wasn't going back down to Breck.

As I climbed I could hear shots ringing out. I soon came to a group of young guys and girls on the side of the road who were flinging clay pigeon targets out into the valley and then blasting away at them. I stopped for a while to watch as big rain drops began to splat down around us.

I donned my trusty rain gear and pressed on. Before long the top of the pass came into view. I had to stop for the obligatory photo but lets just say it wasn't the best day to yield high quality photographs.

Of course, one of the mandatory off route sections of trail was a few hundred metres below the summit here. The Gold Dust Trail is approximately 7km of single track that in good weather, would be frickin' awesome. Tonight? Not so much. 

I was cold, it was raining, I had a LOT of miles in my legs and my 25 kilograms of not-the-best-singletrack-bike were all working against me. This didn't stop me from taking some stupid risks as I sloshed down this creek er.... singletrack. Most of it was fun despite the water but the tree roots were uber slippery and there were a few creek crossings that I could hear long before I saw them, they were crashing down the mountainside so full and fast.

Needless to say, there was no more photography tonight which is a shame as the trail builder in me was marvelling at sections of this trail. Quite a bit of it resembled a World War 1 trench!

I was somewhat relieved when I was finally spat out onto another fire road and I could start powering toward the little ghost town of Como. I had heard of the Como Depot, a refuge for riders and was hoping it might be open tonight, despite the map saying that it was closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Riding into Como just on dark, there was not a single light on on town. The Como Depot looked shut up and I spent 20 minutes looking around town for somewhere to stay. My brakes were squealing because they were wet and I was sure someone would come out to see who was getting about on this dark, wet night but no, there wasn't a soul to be seen. This place seemed deserted.

I looked for the school, which is another place where cyclists can camp but I couldn't find it in the dark. I then began looking at porches on the front of some of the old buildings. I finally found one that was almost totally enclosed, with just a doorway opening to the wet night. There was no sign saying what the shop was but looking on Google Maps now that I am home I can see that it is listed as "Hondo Arms". A gun shop!

I was quiet and kept my light dim. I just wanted to sleep and not attract any attention. I laid my tent on the dusty floor then inflated my sleep mat. Hanging my wet gear around the porch I was again surprised at how dry it had kept me. I pulled my seal skin socks on as I though I might be cold at 9870ft and promptly fell asleep.

The day started slowly and it felt like I took a long time to warm to the task but looking at the stats of 12 hours moving and 2900m (9500ft) of climbing it was a pretty solid little ride with some of the most spectacular views I had had in a while. 

Cheers.

Tour Divide - Day 12

There was nothing hurried about this morning. As part of my "Brush Mountain Lodge experience" we had asked for breakfast at 7:30am, much to Kirsten's relief. I think she gets a few too many 4am departures and having gentlemans hours was a nice change.

She whipped up a huge stack of blueberry pancakes for Tom and I. Far more than we could devour (I downed 5) and we washed these down with coffee and orange juice. The leftover pancakes were rolled in foil and inserted in my frame bag for later in the day.

Kirsten presented Tom and I with freshly washed kit as well. It felt soo good to slide into clean kit and I am sure we were much more pleasant for others to be around as well!

Tom was on the phone to his wife so I signed the guest book with some lame comment (not my strong suit) and said my goodbyes and tried to express my gratitude to our lovely host, Kirsten, who sent me on my way with another HUGE hug. Happy Days!

I stopped just up the valley to take in the scenery and catch my breath. It was all uphill again this morning and there was a killer pass at almost 10 000ft. But for now I was feeling pretttty goood.

Clean shaven..and well....just clean!!

There had been huge amounts of rainfall in Colorado in the month preceding the race so it was looking lush and green.

The climb took me into groves of Aspens which for some reason make me feel good. There is just something about these trees that make you go "wow" and relaxes the soul.

I went from "wow" to "ow" pretty quickly though as I climbed the watershed divide some 15 miles before Clark. Maybe I should have held onto that bear spray for a bit longer as it was looking like bear country again?

It was purely hike-a-bike for me this morning as the mountain reared up quite steeply to it's summit.

The views out to the east were quite nice.

But the descent off the mountain down toward Clark was anything but nice. It was steep and ROUGH. I had to pick my way through washouts and rocks. In hindsight this was exactly what New Mexico roads were going to be like-little did I know it.

After the pounding that my arms took on the descent I was glad to get onto some silky smooth dirt roads that led to the little town of Clark and more importantly, it's store! Here I met Bill Peshka sitting outside enjoying a cold drink on this hot morning. The store itself was super busy and I just bought a cold Starbucks Frappacino to wash down my leftover pancakes.

The road from Clark to Steamboat was sealed and I flew along here at 30+km/h. Clearly, I was well rested for a change and it showed. 

I followed the bike trail into Steamboat as it criss-crossed the Yampa river.

 It goes right by Orange Peel bikes where I stopped to get some work done. I needed a new chain, a new rear Maxxis Ikon, a re-wrap of my right aerobar grip and the Stans topping up both ends. Patrick D was there, sorting through his gear while the mechanics worked on his bike. I was a bit surprised to see him as he left Brush Mtn at about 4am but he explained that he was getting a full drivetrain replacement plus a new frame bag as his old one had a busted zipper from the mud on day one. I reminded him about soaping the zip when it gets muddy to stop it busting as I am sure it saved mine on day one.

I grabbed some lunch and looked at the map while my bike was worked on. An hour turned into nearly two before they were done as they said they needed to replace my rear shifter inner cable. I was dubious of the work as they hadn't replaced the outer as well. My doubts would be justified just a day or so later. 

I picked up my sun sleeves and the next series of ACA maps from the Steamboat post office and was mightily relieved they were there. Even though I had the gps track and my route notes, there is just so much information on the ACA maps.

Leaving Steamboat I bought a few more drinks as it was now hot and quite humid. Very much like Brisbane weather. The trail wrapped around Stagecoach Reservoir and I stopped at the boat ramp to wash my feet and legs off, cooling down in the process.

What I didn't realise until too late was how little resupply there was going to be in Colorado. I sort of figured that in this well populated area there would be gas stations and small stores but the ACA route seems to pride itself on missing any form of resupply! I had enough food for today but it would be getting slim by the morning, meaning I would need to push on a bit tonight to position myself for the morning.

Looking at the map as I rode I could see that I would need to climb Lynx Pass at 8937ft to get to Radium. While there wasn't anything at Radium, it was only about 20 miles (32km) from Kremmling, a 2-mile-off-route town. What I didn't really notice was how many up and down pinches there were between myself and Radium.

I worked my way along, all the while climbing toward Lynx Pass. I topped up my bottle from the cleanest bit of Morrisson Creek. None of the creeks looked very pristine around here (being cattle country) so I took no risk by popping an Aquatab into the bottle.

Finally cresting Lynx Pass I was very tempted to stop at Lynx Pass campground but I would be leaving myself a long ride to breakfast in the morning so I continued, guessing on about 2 more hours of light yet, even though it was getting a bit dark.

So began the saga of dropping down a steep descent, then climbing a steep pinch only to do it again. I found, to my growing anger, that the mechanic at the bike shop had adjusted my brake levers out from the bars "to give me more lever before they hit the bars" even though I had not asked him to do this and had ridden the bike 2523km (1568mi) the way it was. It was now a real stretch to reach the brake levers and when I did, the brakes came on instantly! Grrr. On my bike, when descending or riding technical stuff, you ride in "the drops" and yes, while it felt like the levers came in a long way when you were on the hoods, they were perfect when you were in the drops. I adjusted the pads out to compensate until I would have more time to look for the lever adjustment in the daylight tomorrow. Bloody hell, it is hard to find a good mechanic who listens and I paid a lot of money for that service! Double grrr.

I was now in "getting it done" mode and rode like I was in a race. Racing sunset to get to Radium that is. I had to cross Rock Creek and seeing no dry crossing, charged through. Almost right away I thought "thats not a good idea so close to dark" but it was too late, my feet were soaked and I felt my achilles tighten up and go squeaky (yes, my achilles, not anything else!) for the next few kilometres.

The whole saga of climb/descend, climb/descend repeated itself many times and in the dark became even more frustrating. The map said "Radium, at the end of a long, steep descent" so at the top of each descent I wondered if this would be it. 

On one of the descents I crossed a small, fast flowing creek and began another steep climb in the dark. I stopped and looked back into the blackness toward where I could hear the water flowing loudly. Screw this, I am never going to get to Radium at this rate. My legs are simply empty with nothing more to give today.

So I rolled the 100 metres back down to the creek and found a small flat area right next to the road, beside the creek. I decide that as I have not seen a car all afternoon along here I will risk camping right on the roadside. Setting up my tent in double quick time I filled my bottle from the creek so that the Aquatab has time to do it's thing then shoved some beef jerky in my mouth, followed by a huge blueberry muffin that I bought at the Wholefoods Store next to Orange Peel bikes. Sleep grabs me almost right away. As someone once said, there is no insomnia on the divide....

Looking at the days stats you might assume that I was a bit disappointed with today's effort. Only 168km and 2250m climbing is a bit light on. However, I wanted to take a few hours to enjoy Brush Mountain Lodge as it was one of my "carrots". It was just a shame that it fell on the same day as I needed to go to a bike shop. The only real bike shop until Salida, some 3 days down the trail. The one hour that turned into two hours at Orange Peel bikes? That is just the way it rolls I guess but I haven't wasted one hour like that anywhere else in the last 12 days of this race. Sure, I have stopped because I was tired or injured (achilles) but I have not lost my self discipline when in town yet. I am proud of the fact that I have actually stayed that focussed.

Now, to retain that focus........

Cheers.