Today's Mileage: 65
Total Mileage: 1884
We started our day bright and early in order to have the cool part of the morning for the 9-mile ascent up Monarch Pass. This would be the high point (elevation-wise, anyway) of our trip at 11,312 feet.
It was a steady grade to the top, and while the climb was challenging, it was fun and beautiful. I guess all the "training" on mountains in Nevada paid off, because I made it up with little pain and no complaining. The mountains were beautiful.
At the top, we took turns standing on both sides of the Continental Divide. From this point on, all rivers would flow towards the Atlantic... and the significance of this as it relates to my leaving California wasn't lost on me. I hope it will give me the positive juju I need to keep riding towards the Atlantic.
The descent into Salida was fun, though I had to take it slow because my back tire was damaged. By the time we got into town, it was raining and my tire had lost a bunch of tread and was making flapping noises. The bike shop guys scolded me mercilessly for riding down off the pass on such a destroyed tire, but luckily they informed me that the Armadillo tires I had bought for the trip came with a warranty, and I got a new one for free. They were shocked that such a good tire could have gotten that way after only 1800 miles.
We went to have lunch and celebrate and an excellent pizza place/microbrewery. Afterwards, we went to meet up with Todd, the guy who had carried our gear over the mountain.
Because it was still raining, with thunder and lightning, we spent an hour hanging out at Todd's place. He was an interesting guy, and showed us lots of cool jewelry and other art he had made. He also cleaned our jewelry for us, which was good because my earrings were pretty badly tarnished. Thanks for everything, Todd!
We set out from Salida in a little bit of rain, and our shoes and socks were instantly soaked. By the time we got into the Arkansas River canyon, the sun was coming out and we had a beautiful evening ride into Cotopaxi.
We camped out and ate what we could from the mini-mart before collapsing into a restful sleep by the river.
1 comment:
See... everyone NEEDS to carry an extra tire!!!
I just now removed the Wal-Mart cheapies off my bike to put the knobbies back on for this weekends Mammoth trip. Amazing how well they held up. Did a much better job than the Michelin tires they replaced. Hopefully, you're still carrying the spare from there as well, or some other replacement.
Ride safe
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