Mega-Up

WED 7/7 -- Canon City (Royal Gorge) to Fairplay CO (67)
The toughest ride of the entire tour, we were told at the map meeting
the night before. Starting from about 6,000 ft., we're going to spend
the whole day climbing (well, not the whole day; we actually went down
for a few miles first) up to Fairplay, at just a hair under 10,000 ft.
Everyone was a little apprehensive, me included, as we started out in
the morning cold. (Cold! That's a first on this trip!)

I'm telling you, people -- piece of cake. Yeah, we had one tough climb
early on, which lasted maybe 4-5 miles, but after that we spent the
whole day in beautiful high ranch country, with mountains all around,
and big snow-capped peaks in the distance. My, my, my but Colorado is
a relief after the mind-numbing boredom of Kansas. We still climbed
almost all day -- the main (and lovely) exception being the few miles
after crossing Current Creek Pass (9,404') -- but it wasn't all that
noticeable, and certainly not difficult. Really.

There was no civilization on the route for the first 50 miles, so when
a cafe materialized in Hartsel (pop [??-small]), I jumped on it
(blueberry; pretty tasty; coffee was kinda weak, though).

The major excitement of the day was weather-related. A few miles after
Hartsel I rounded a bend and saw that the bright sunshine I was in was
local -- there was a big bank of huge black clouds to the west that
not only looked ominous but were also making noise. I thought maybe
the tailwind (yes!) I was in would push the mess on ahead of me, but
no such luck. About 7 or 8 miles from the end it started to rain --
not too bad at first, but pretty soon I heard a tapping on my helmet
and realized it was hailing. Now, some people might like to ride in
hailstorms, but, truth to tell, I'm not one of them. I saw a couple of
small buildings next to a huge propane tank at some sort of industrial
site up ahead, and ducked off the road to seek shelter. I parked my
bike under the tank and checked the buildings. No luck -- padlocked.
But there was a big propane truck parked right by the tank and ...
Yes! Unlocked! I sat in the cab for 20 minutes or so until the worst
of it had past, and then, after leaving a thank-you note on the
driver's seat, headed on into town, got into my motel room, turned on
the heat (!), and had a long, hot, extremely rejuvenating shower. And
a beer. Life is good.

(Sent from my iPhone)