Day 41 Day 42
June 26, 2015 June 27, 2015
Miles: 66 Miles: 59.5
Gunnison to Salida Salida to Canon City
This post will cover our last two days of riding. Di, Jen, and Ben met for breakfast downstairs at the Holiday Inn at 7am. This was to be our first day of riding for Jen and Ben and we were all very excited. Our ride was to take us up the long climb of Monarch Pass to an elevation of 11,312 feet, so it was going to be a challenging day. Not only were we facing the long climb, but we had decided to make it a long ride by going the 66 miles from Gunnison to Salida.
Looking fresh and chipper at the start of the ride
It was a clear and sunny day and even though the map showed we would be climbing slightly for the first 30 miles, it seemed as though we had as many downhills as uphills.
We saw farms along the way
We rode those first 30 miles surprisingly easily and arrived in Sargents a little after noon. We stopped at the only restaurant to grab some lunch and stock up on gatorade. We knew we would start the 10 miles climb to Monarch's Pass very shortly after leaving Sargents, so we stayed at the restaurant for an hour and half to rest up a bit and to give our lunch some time to digest and turn into energy.
Lunch in Sargents
We left Sargents and we began the long climb to Monarch's Pass. At lunch, we had discussed how best to get up to the top of the pass and we decided that each rider should ride at his or her own pace. It is hard to ride slower on an ascent than feels natural; the bike can be difficult to control and you are not riding efficiently. Conversely, if you ride faster than feels comfortable, you will fatigue quickly and may never make it to the top. So, Di and I said we would ride behind Jen and Ben and they could choose to ride as fast as they wanted. As for Di and I, we would ride our typical slow but steady pace somewhere between four and five miles per hour. Yes, that is pretty slow, but we know from past experience that it is better to get to the top slowly with enough energy remaining to continue on comfortably than to get up there quickly but completely out of steam.
Jen and Ben started the climb and steadily increased the distance between them and Di and me. The climb had a lot of turns and switchbacks, so it wasn't long before Jen and Ben were out of sight. The sun was beating on us though it wasn't too hot and Di and I kept plodding along. Around the mile and a half point Di and I saw that we were catching up to Ben. We wondered if he had slowed to make sure we were okay, but we also noticed that Jen was nowhere in sight. We were nonplussed. Ben stopped riding and when we caught up to him we asked him what was going on. He said he was having difficulty riding and needed to take a break. The climb to Monarch Pass is at a grade between five and six percent, which is difficult. And at ten miles it is very long, which adds to the difficulty. The climb culminates at an elevation of 11, 312 feet, which is an altitude that affects the breathing of many riders. On top of all that, this was the first day of riding with a fully loaded touring bike for Jen and Ben. Therefore, it was not too surprising that Ben was finding the climb a little tough. What was surprising is Jen was seemingly unaffected by the climb and had ridden strongly and had quickly gotten far ahead of us.
Di and I stopped with Ben for a while because we also needed a little break. After a few minutes we resumed riding and found Jen waiting for us about a half mile up the road.
Jen waiting for us by the side of the road and a cliff
View from the road
Ben said his legs were tired from those first couple of miles of climbing and that didn't bode well for the rest of the climb. After all, we still had eight miles to go. The rest of us offered to take some of the load off Ben's bike, but he wouldn't hear of it and said he was ready to go on.
Resting a couple of miles into the Monarch Pass climb
We kept riding and the climb stretched inexorably before us. Jen remained the stronger rider and was always leading the way. Jen would often stop and wait for the rest of us to catch up to her. One such stop was around the halfway point, and as the rest of us made our way to Jen we all saw that Ben had stopped riding his bike. He walked his bike up the hill for a few minutes, then got back on and rode the short distance to where we had stopped. Ben said his legs had no more energy left. We had just under five miles of climbing left, so this was a big problem. Riding uphill when your legs have turned to jelly is purely a mental effort; you have to will yourself to do it. We all rested for a bit and afterwards Ben said he wanted to go forward and complete the climb. Jen and I offered to take a few things off Ben's bike and Ben agreed it made sense to lighten his load a bit. We also decided to take a rest break after every mile. Di and I had used this strategy when we were climbing to Jacob's Lake and it had helped us finished that climb. Riding for just one mile seems so attainable, even if you are riding uphill, that you never get demoralized by the distance remaining. We set off again with our new plan in place. Jen rode in front and was in charge of finding a safe place for us to stop after every mile of riding. Di was behind Jen and rode more slowly. Ben sometimes rode behind Di and sometimes he rode behind me, but he always rode strongly enough to stay in contact with the group. Jen would stop us after every mile and we would rest and drink up. Before we resumed Jen would announce how many miles remained. First it was four miles, then three, and so on. After Jen announced there were just two miles remain, Ben starting riding noticeably better. Perhaps he had acclimated a bit to the effort, or maybe he knew now that he would certainly be able to climb those last two miles, but whatever the reason, Ben was beginning to bounce back. Even though Ben was beginning to ride more strongly, we kept to the plan of riding just one mile and then taking a short break. We continued in this manner until at last we arrived at the top of Monarch Pass.
We made it!
We were all tired from the effort of the climb and were extremely happy to have it behind us. We all told Ben that we were very impressed with how he willed himself to continue riding up the mountain even though he felt physically depleted. Ben is a strong rider, so his difficulties on the climb were an aberration for him, but every cyclist knows that sooner or later they have a bad day. Its amazing to complete a tough climb on a bad day.
There is a restaurant at the top of Monarch Pass, so we went inside to rest, drink, and have a few snacks. It had taken close to four hours to climb the ten miles to the top of the pass and we still had 26 miles to go, so at 5:30pm we decided it was time to move on.
Leaving Monarch Pass (there's snow in them thar hills!)
Di and me happy to leave Monarch Pass
We were looking forward to the descent from Monarch Pass because it is pretty much all downhill right into Salida. Unfortunately, there was a very strong headwind, so even though it was easy going, we didn't go as fast as we would have liked.
Is that sign referring to Ben?
The sun was beginning to set on the surrounding mountains and it made for a very beautiful ride.
Sun setting on soft hills of Colorado
We arrived in Salida a little before 8pm. We rode down Main Street as saw there was a art festival in progress. On the one hand, having a festival in town is fun and we were looking forward to attending. On the other hand, the festival was responsible for every local hotel to be fully booked. We called a number of hotels before we finally found one on the outskirts of town that had vacancies. We rode to the hotel and decided that we were too tired to go out to dinner. Jen looked up the menu for a local pizza place that delivered and called in our order. We went to our rooms, showered, and when the food was delivered we each ate in our own rooms. Di and I ordered pizza and I fell asleep less than five minutes after eating my last piece. I found out the next morning that everybody else did the same.
Tomorrow we ride to Canon City, which is over 58 miles from Salida.
Day 42: Salida to Canon City
We all met at 7am downstairs of the Baymont Hotel for breakfast. We were still tired from yesterday's ride, so we were relieved that today's ride would be a lot easier.
Apparently, we were thirsty
Di and me outside the hotel
The riding was very easy and was mostly downhill. We were riding through the valleys with mountains surrounding us on all sides, so the scenery was magnificent.
Jen, Ben, and Di taking a break
After 26 miles, we stopped in the small town of Cotopaxi to have some lunch. Jen made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Di, me and herself, and Ben got a grilled cheese sandwich. As is usual of late, we also bought a large bag of potato chips. I don't know why, but I always want to have potato chips for lunch now.
Having our lunch in Cotopaxi (we all like to say Cotopaxi)
We resumed riding and for the next 20 miles we continued to ride in the canyon valleys besides the Arkansas River.
Riding in the canyon
Mountains all around us
Jen is all smiles while riding
We saw a lot of people rafting down the river and it was very satisfying to be moving faster than them. It was hot, though, so we were a little jealous of the rafters.
Our road followed the Arkansas River
A pair of obviously cool riders
A pair of less so obviously cool riders
We had only one climb , a blip, as Jen and Ben called it, that we started ascending with about 14 miles to go. The climb was three miles long and when we were halfway through Di said, "This is no blip!" We took a break at a store at the top of the climb and we all had fun referring to the climb as the not-a-blip.
The rest of the ride into Canon City was all downhill, so it was smooth sailing all the way into town. We checked into the Colorado Motel, which was the only place in town that had any rooms available. Five minutes after stopping at the Colorado Motel, Ben's front tire blew up. He had noticed a bulge in the tire earlier in the day and it was great luck to have the tire hold up until the ride was over. He must have good bicycle karma.
We walked downtown to Michael's Restaurant and we each had a wonderful meal. And the beer we each had only made everything better!
Having a good time at dinner
Tomorrow is a rest day in Canon City and I must say we are all looking forward to that.
