Stats Sunday, August 22 – Durango Mountain to Ouray. Day distance 44.6; ride time 3 h 46 m (5 h); ave speed 11.84; total climb 4468; total distance 1335.4
It was dewy this morning. So it took a little longer to get packed up waiting for the sun to hit our campsite and dry things out.
Tim drove back to Durango to get his cable fixed.
Mick, Roger, and I set out for the first of three passes - Coal Bank. More traffic was on the road than we thought. But most cars were respectful. Except for the rude driver of a pickup pulling a horse trailer. He honked at us while we were single file when he was perhaps a football field back of us. Then he whizzed by us with no shoulder with his left tires barely crossing the yellow line.
Coal Bank Pass was not a hard climb. And the skies were partly to mostly cloudy. Cool temps. No heat.
We checked in with Tim via cell phone. It would be another 40 minutes before he would be done. So we decided to head down and startup Molas Pass. We did not descend that far so the climb again was not that intense.
This may be a bit premature to say, but, these passes are not sucking the energy out of Mickey and me as we experienced in Nevada and Utah. There’s no heat. We are not hauling gear. It’s not that we are going up any faster. We’re going about the same pace. But the energy output is not as great. Roger and Tim have nothing to compare it to.
Molas Pass arrived soon. Great views. We checked in with Tim. He was just leaving Durango. We decided to descend to Silverton. Tim could meet us there.
Just outside of Silverton the train was chugging up from Durango. Someday I would like to bring my family back to this area and ride the train. Silverton is filled with tourist and mountain supply stores.
Tim met us and we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Italian bread and cheese, and banana bread out of the van.
One more pass to go, the highest on today’s ride, Red Mountain Pass. We had heard that no guard rails were on this section. Little or no shoulders were available. And the drops were steep. The reports were correct.
It was cold and windy at the top of Red Mountain Pass. Everybody started down but I took my time. The road was filled with corners. Later in Ouray I saw a tee shirt that read something like this: “I Survived Red Mtn. Pass – 8% and 155 Curves.” It didn’t seem like an 8% grade. I didn’t count the curves and switchbacks. But there were a lot.
Yesterday I commented to my three friends: “Fifteen years ago I only dreamed of cycling the Rockies, and now WE’RE DOING IT!!” I was living in Texas at the time. Fifteen years ago if someone said, “You ought to cross the country cycling,” I would have thought “that’s crazy!” Some reading this blog think it’s crazy. No, this is not for everybody. But it is for those (like me) who enjoy cycling, enjoy being outside, and like a challenge.
Someone asked us a few days ago how long we trained for this. I thought to myself, I’ve been training for 25 years. No, I didn’t think of “this” 25 years ago. But, I’ve been riding for 25 years. Actually longer.
Point: what we do today may provide opportunities years later. Little things we do daily, weekly, prepare one for life’s potential experiences. What may seem to be unreal or crazy today may become a reality later.
In part, I'm doing this cross county bicycle tour because I began cycling more than 25 years ago. But on the other hand, there are experiences that I can't engage in today because of what I did not do 25 years ago. I did not learn a foreign language (such as Spanish, German, French) when I was young. Therefore, I am not able to engage in an intellectually meaningful conversation with one from another country or to serve in ministry to those who speak another language other than English.
About 7 miles from Ouray my mouth dropped open. The scenery was spectacular as the road continued to descend. Dramatic rock walled both sides of the canyon. The road was narrow. No shoulder. No guard rail. Cars crept along. The view reminded me of the first time I descended into Yosemite Valley from the backcountry at Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls. Spectacular!!
Yeah, this is crazy!! Crazy memorable!! The scenery, the challenge, friends. Crazy good!!
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