Monday, July 22, 2013

Day 2--Tour 2013

I forgot Stats on yesterday's ride!
Miles= 54.67
Time on Bike= 6hr 41 min
And Today's Stats
Miles= 64.79
Time on Bike= 6hr 58min

Today had a nice early start because I was asleep by 8:30 last night!
I headed up out of Frisco towards Copper Mountain on the most excellent Summit County bike trail system.




The downhill traffic was very busy because there was an event going on, The Courage Classic for Children's Hospital. I knew a few people from Estes that were riding in it and sure enough, suddenly, there was Mark and Patti Donahue! It was so fun to see them and spend a few moments talking.Everybody that was zooming downhill were so kind and thoughtful of the big slow rider heading up. Giving me room and shouting back to other riders.
I think ski areas in the summer have a fascinating look of beauty and imagination for your brain.
After riding past Copper, it was meat and potatoes time. Heading up the first steep part of Fremont Pass.

Hey! It's just not an official tour until you have laundry hanging off your bags to dry in the sun!
There were a lot of stops for this rider to catch my breath and leg recovery. I played the little game of picking out a landmark to ride to for breaks. Just get to the end of that run of guard rails for the next break. There was a club of road riders from Durango that were riding up and then back. Whenever two or three would pass they really piled on the encouragement. And I was so jealous when they passed by zooming down!!
Fremont pass has always been so interesting for me because of the history and the ongoing mining.
On one side of the road you have the heavy hand of man, the ongoing clean-up of mining mistakes made in the past.
And on the other side, Surly looks upon unspeakable beauty
Best part about this pass is, it is super steep for the first 7 miles or so, but then it is flat for some rollers on the top. I love the info stops that give you history of the area. At one time, over 50,000 people lived on this mountain to take the rich ore out or worked as piggy back industry. Richest square miles at that time in the world! Billions of dollars!
Now Climax Mine corporation owns it all and whether you agree or not with the industry, (that's a discussion for a different forum!) they are taking down a mountain and making it disappear.
Anyway, back to the ride! Got my traditional top of pass picture before the plunge down to Leadville.
What a pretty view just starting the west side of the pass
Zoomed along to Leadville. If you have never visited there, it is a cool place. The History, both mining and the fact that it was the cosmopolitan center of Colorado for many years is fun to look at. I could never live there...it's at 10,000 feet folks, not much summer, A LOT of winter. Architecturally these building are precious to our history.
After a nice lunch, I just had to slog out the remaining 30 miles to Buena Vista. Actually a nice ride on a gentle decline.
Not a barn, but an old building ready to be crushed by a big snow!!
I was cruising along nicely until, about seven miles out of Buena Vista a big wind came up in my face. Oh My! Took me an hour to knock out that last bit. Left me pretty wiped out and the thought of setting up my tent in the wind and listening to it flap all night......no thanks! So I wimped out and a motel for another night.
Maybe I am just not cut out for the camping thing after a day of riding. I should make up my mind so I don't have to carry the extra weight!!
Good to get good rest because a big climb tomorrow morning!!

Thanks for reading everybody!!
Jim







1 comment:

  1. Love the pictures and the strategy for doing the climbs! Well done.

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