Even though today’s route looked relatively easy on paper, it was still 87 miles long with one pass to climb towards the end of the day.  The road north from Alamosa is called the “Gun Barrel”.  It is dead flat and straight without a single turn for over 45 miles.  On both sides off in the distance are big mountains, but the valley itself is quite boring.  Carrie didn’t want to ride my slow pace so she took off and we only saw her at the aid stations.  I sat in front and gave Marge and my Dad a draft the entire way.  Luckily we had a tailwind that grew in intensity as the morning turned to afternoon.  There were moments when I felt like I could fall asleep on my bike.  No one was talking and I wasn’t getting any stimulation from the scenery.  I had some caffeinated Shot Blocks at one of the aid stations and that helped give me a boost.  After three plus hours we finally started the gradual ascent of Poncha Pass.  This was the easiest pass of the entire week at only 3 miles long.  And with our huge tailwind we literally got blown up the hill. 

The aid station at the top was full of celebrating cyclists.  Last climb of Ride the Rockies.  Yippie! The sun was out and everyone was enjoying the food and music at the summit.  We all rode down the pass together and came into Salida four abreast across the finish line.  Oh joyous celebration!  The final festivities were in a nice grassy park with big shade trees.  The local Thai restaurant was selling curry and Pad Thai so of course that’s where we had lunch.  There was a pretty good band playing so we relaxed in the shade eating and listening.  Feels so good to be done! 

We found our bags one last time and took a quick shower in the shower truck before heading home.  My husband Greg was going to pick me up so everyone else left in my dad’s car.  I hung out in the shade for another hour before my husband arrived.  He and I grabbed a pizza downtown before the long drive home. 

I am definitely tired but with a big smile on my face.  I feel so lucky to have gotten to ride across Colorado for seven days with my dad and sister.  Considering my sister has two little kids and I’ve got one on the way, this was a very special week.  Hopefully next year I can talk my husband into going and we can bring the baby and our own car and recruit Grandma for babysitting.   I’ll keep my fingers crossed!

Until next year!

Alison

The big days just keep coming!  Today was another 90 mile day up and over the huge Wolf Creek Pass.  We started at 6:30am under sunny skies and chilly temperatures.  The road was gradually uphill for the first 16 miles to Aid Station #1.  Then it was time for pancakes!  After carbo loading we started climbing in earnest.  Wolf Creek isn’t terribly steep, maybe 8-9% at most, but it is long.  At the first switchback there was a semi truck lying on its side, the result of coming into the turn with too much speed.  The rest of the climb was uneventful.  All of us rode our own pace up the hill and then met on top.  I felt ok, keeping my pace nice and slow to keep the baby happy.  Took some pictures and chatted with folks as they passed me.

It was chilly on the summit so we didn’t stay long.  The 20 mile descent down to the small town of South Fork was a blast!  Wide open roads with a rip-roaring tailwind.  We easily hit over 50 mph.  I had a large deer run across the road about 40ft in front of me.  If it had stopped to look at me I would have hit him.  Luckily he kept trotting and we missed each other.  Definitely got my adrenalin up.  We reached South Fork in one piece and enjoyed more grapes and animal crackers.  Filled up our bottles with Gatorade and started towards the next town of Del Norte. 

This next 15 mile stretch was what I call a “powder day” on a road bike.  We had a huge tail wind, it was slightly downhill, brand new pavement, and a shoulder that was 10 feet wide.  It was pure joy!  It never gets that good!  We reached the next aid station in under an hour.  Quick stop and then another 15 mile stretch to Monte Vista.  The wind was starting to change and we had a few sections of cross/head wind.  Not too bad and not enough to curb our enthusiasm. 

In Monte Vista the riders were treated to free baked potatoes.  This area of Colorado is potato country and the town comes out in force to support Ride the Rockies.  The best were the purple potatoes.  Because of the challenge of finding healthy food this week I decided to give up my vegan diet for the duration of the ride.  I slathered butter all over my potato and I admit it was damn delicious.  So much so that I had a second one.  Did I mention all the salt I added?  Yummy goodness!  After a long break we finally crawled back on our bikes for the last 15 mile stretch to Alamosa. 

This ended up being just as bad as the last stretch coming into Durango.  The “powder day” was gone.  All the snow had been skied off and it was all ice.  Our tailwind had turned into a nasty cross wind coming from the south.  It was super hot and the humidity was -20%.  My dad had jumped in the sag wagon at Del Norte so it was Marge, Carrie, and me.  We stuck together and pulled Marge all the way to Alamosa.  This last stretch took forever.  Dead flat highway through farm country.  And we couldn’t ride very fast because I would start cramping and Marge would get dropped.  What a pair.  We finally made it into Alamosa and found dad with a cold cup of lemonade in his hand.  Once again I was worked!  The heat and the wind really take it out of you! 

Today I had to wait in line for the shower.  I didn’t mind because I was able to stretch and do some Pilates on the grass.  The shower felt great and cooled me off.  We were all camped at the Alamosa Recreation Center.  Beautiful facility with huge green athletic fields.  Our community dinner was right here so we didn’t have to go anywhere.  We had veggie burritos and yummy salads for dinner.  Carrie and Dad also had a few slices of pizza.  We got to enjoy a wonderful bluegrass band called the Rifters.  It was some of the best bluegrass I’ve heard in a long time!  They played until 9:45pm.  So I didn’t go to bed until 10:30am.  Hard to believe this is our last night.  For such a hard ride it goes so fast!

This was the day I had been looking forward to since the route was announced in Feb.  I have done portions of this ride, but never the whole thing.  I also figured it was going to be one of the hardest days of the Tour.  We got up at 5am again and this time we left by 6:20am.  Breakfast was pretty minimal so we didn’t have to spend a lot of time waiting in line to eat.  The winds had blown all night, bringing in lots of warm air, which made our early start not so bad.  It also gave us a headwind the ENTIRE day!

We immediately started climbing up Red Mountain Pass, the first big “hill” of the day at 13 miles long.  Red Mountain is a spectacular pass with incredible views, narrow roads, and lots of exposure.  Made for some great pictures!  With very little traffic at 7am it was a very enjoyable climb.  At mile 8 we had our first aid station.  It was time for pancakes!  Every day on Ride the Rockies the “all you can eat pancakes” vendor was at the first aid station.  And boy were they yummy.  I think I had ten today!  We all regrouped at the top of Red Mountain Pass, filled our water bottles, and headed down the hill to Silverton.  What an amazing descent!!  Dad decided to take the sag wagon to the top of the next pass.  Carrie wanted to get her heart rate up so she rode ahead, and I told Marge I’d meet her at the top.  Molas Pass was the next big climb at 6 miles long.  The traffic was terrible.  Lots of big motor homes with tourists wondering what the hell all these bikers were doing on their roads.  Because of the sheer numbers of riders, the traffic was forced to go slow so I never felt in danger.  It just got annoying. 

Most of the food vendors were waiting for the riders at the top of Molas Pass.  Despite the chilly wind we hung out on top for a good 30 minutes, eating crepes and drinking Gatorade.  Dad got back on his bike and rode with Carrie down the pass.  I waited for Marge and then came down with her.  It was a great descent but not nearly long enough. 

Then it was up the third big climb of the day, Coal Bank Pass.  This was the shortest at 4 miles, but seemed tough because we had already been riding for over four hours at this point.  More food at the summit and then a high speed descent back down the valley.  Once in the valley the road opened up into a four lane highway.  We had a large shoulder and a miserable head wind to deal with.  The road was flat with some long uphill sections that seemed to take forever.  Marge sat on my wheel the entire way, which meant I got no relief from the wind.  That took its toll and by the last aid station I was cooked.  We still had another hour of flat highway into Durango.  The temps were in the high 80’s.  I knew that if I kept going I would push my body too far so I opted for the sag wagon.  If I hadn’t been pregnant I would have gone on, but now I had a great excuse!  Marge, the bad ass that she is, continued on alone for the last miserable hour of riding into Durango.  I sat in a nice air conditioned van and answered a few emails on my phone.  What a relief to be off my bike!  Impressively enough, my dad also rode all the way into town from Molas Pass.  Carrie gave him a nice draft until the last aid station and then she decided to take off and ride hard the last hour to Durango.  So Dad rode alone as well. 

By the time we all found each other in Durango on the campus of Mesa State College we were exhausted.  It had been another nine hour day!  Today also happened to be my official presentation to Ride the Rockies so after getting my tent partially set up and doing a quick change of clothes, I had to hustle off to the Student Union to give my speech.  Not exactly what I wanted to do so soon after finishing but oh well. 

My presentation was on the Women’s Tour de France.  There was a small but attentive group of riders in the audience.  I think most people were collapsed in bed after such a hard day.  After my talk we went straight to dinner, which was easy because it was right below us in the cafeteria.  We definitely took advantage of the “all you can eat” sign at the entrance.  After dinner I took a short bus ride into town to buy some Comfrey salve for my very raw bum.  When I got back it was 9pm and time for bed.  Yippee!  What a day!

With only 67 miles listed in the ride guide today seemed like it should be fairly easy.  Oh how wrong I was.  The first 20 miles or so were across the backroads of Delta through all the cornfields.  This part of Colorado is famous for its sweet corn.  Unfortunately the roads aren’t great and we spent over an hour riding some miserable roads.  Being the fourth day of riding for me, my bum and crotch were already pretty sore and the rough roads were not helping.  It was downright agonizing!

We finally hit the aid station in Montrose and fueled up with energy bars, grapes, and animal crackers.  Dad was not having fun today and decided to take the sag wagon.  I think he was exhausted.  I was so impressed that he did the entire ride yesterday.  He said it was the hardest thing he’s ever done on a bike.  Carrie, Marge, and I rode together to Ridgeway.  Much better roads but a lot more traffic because we were on the main route into Ouray.  We had a wide shoulder most of the way but it still wasn’t fun having semi trucks roaring past you for hours on end. 

Once we got close to Ridgeway the view improved dramatically with Sneffels on one side and Uncompaghre on the other (both over 14,000ft).  The aid station was a much needed break from the monotony of the gradually uphill ride.  The last 10 miles into Ouray were the hardest.  The road got steeper and the temperature went up.  At one point I started to overheat and had to stop in the shade and pull off my jersey.  My temperature regulation has been all out of whack since I got pregnant. This was really the first time in four days that I felt too hot.

I was almost as tired when we pulled into Ouray after 67 miles as I was the day before riding Grand Mesa.   They had all the campers piled into the grassy athletic field next to the famous hot springs pool.  Because dad had jumped in the sag wagon, he got to spend most of the day in Ouray.  He got us a good tent spot, close to the bathroom and food. 

Riders have two choices for accommodations on Ride the Rockies.  You can either camp for free or spend the extra money to stay in local hotels.  This is my 4^th year and we have always camped.  Hotels get so expensive.  Camping usually isn’t too bad.  They always have us stay at the local high school or college campus.  You can pretty much pitch your tent wherever you find room.  For riders arriving late in the afternoon that can be a challenge.  Tent space becomes extremely tight.  Luckily we are always on nice green grassy lawns, which is heaven for camping.  The high school is opened up and we have full access to the bathrooms, gymnasium, locker rooms, hallways etc.  The locker room showers tend to run out of hot water by mid-day so most of us take showers in the shower trucks.  If you’ve never experienced a shower truck it is quite amazing.  The shower truck is a huge semi turned into 16 indoor showers.  They hook the truck up to the local water supply and the large hot water heaters at the back provide a continuous supply of hot water for the entire day.  Outside the truck they set up carpet, chairs, and a large sink to brush teeth, hair, put on makeup etc.  It is quite an elaborate set up.  The best part is you are always guaranteed hot water.  The worst part is the line can be huge.  The number of men on Ride the Rockies far surpasses the number of women, so the lines for the men’s shower are enormous compared to the women.  Same for the bathrooms and port-a-potties.  I think all us women enjoyed watching the men have to wait in line for a change. Haha!

After getting settled and showered, we walked into Ouray to the community dinner.  I had lasagna and a yummy salad.  They had live music and a beer garden as well.  It was a fun evening and felt good to relax.  Everyone was in bed early again because tomorrow was another huge day.