Time again for the annual Bicycle Tour of Colorado! This year Dave could not ride since he was still recovering from his shoulder surgeries. He decided to come along and drive city to city. He was able to hike and do some other fun things each afternoon while I rode.
We met up with Bob and Parry this year too. Bob did not ride, but Parry did.
This year's tour was a bit shorter than those in the past. In total it was 359 miles and only had 5 mountain passes (if you count Molas Divide as a pass).
We started in Montrose and it was hot. HOT. Super hot. :/ Day one was a short 36 miles to Ouray, slightly uphill into a mean headwind (my kryptonite).
That day took a big toll on many riders primarily due to the heat and the wind. I know I felt it. I got to Ouray and Dave had our camps set up. He found one of the very few places with a tiny bit of shade.
In Ouray, we connected with Roger Schimmel who lives nearby. It was good seeing him.
We met at the Ouray Brewery.
Notice the tree. It was a valuable piece of real estate!
Day two was a big day - three passes and 70 miles. It was so hot that the prior day seemed like winter. No shade. Absolutely brutal. I saw people barfing and stumbling.
For the first time in my life, I threw in the towel on Molas Divide. I've done this ride before a couple of time successfully so I knew I could do it. I also knew that completing it this day would probably give me cooked-brain brain damage. No regrets in stopping early. I felt crudy enough as it was given the baking in the sun. :/
There was construction on Red Mountain Pass which meant that we all had to stop (and bake) on occasion.
Here is Molas Divide at the rest area....Dave parked across the street and went hiking.
When he returned, he found me hiding in the sliver of shade his car provided! I might have been jabbering incoherently. :)
The ride that day stopped in Durango, were we managed to eke out a tiny bit of shade to hide it. If I recall correctly, it topped 100 this afternoon. Bleck.
All the other folks were baking in the sun.
Parry and I during dinner in the school where we stayed.
The third day went from Durango to Cortez. It was another short day of 46 miles. It was cool to go past the entrance to Mesa Verde as Dave and I had just visited there a few months before. Though it was hot, it wasn't as bad as it'd been so it turned out to be an enjoyable ride. I think it was the first time on the trip that it was more fun than pain/suffering.
After a night in Cortez, the fourth day was 72 miles over Lizard Head Pass. This day offered more of Colorado's schizophrenic weather. It started off hot again. Ugh. About two mile before hitting the pass, it started hailing, lightning, storming and raining. It rained so hard I could barely see. No option but to just keep going and not stopping (because moving = some heat). I managed to finally get down the pass without crashing in the rain and found the tent in Telluride...
I found the tent just in time to begin shivering uncontrollably! Hello hypothermia! It took a while to get my body temp back up enough that I exited the sleeping bag.
We headed over to the local brewery. Then had dinner under the big tent.
Dave had established a tent set-up that was envied by many! He happily brought a tarp to give us a little bit of shade. It was a brilliant idea.
An obligatory photo of tent city.
A view from our awesome tarp!
The rest of the tour was short and uninspiring. Day six was 50 miles of pretty much flatness to Naturita (to bake in the sun) and day seven was longer (85) miles but mostly repeated a lot of day one.
We decided to bag it and head home. Work was circulating that it was the last year of the BTC. Attendance was down to 450 which makes me wonder how they could even turn a profit. Plus, the route this year was not that inspiring. They certainly cannot be criticized for horrible vomit-inducing heat, but I sure hope it if happens again, we'll get more tolerable weather.
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