Monarch Pass

August 11th

Tim:

Day 20 was a day of high and lows, lows being about 20 miles of difficult gravel roads. Marcia and I had some trouble finding each other as we were in some very remote Colorado countryside with little to no cell coverage. Highs were seeing my cousin Katie and Chad and their family, and seeing Marcia’s relatives, Nick and Kelsey. Absolutely great people doing wonderful work. We all had a great meal together, good beer, awesome company. With 115 miles traveled today, we get back on the bike maps tomorrow which will be helpful, and we will head into the Rockies. I look forward to it and to continuing.

Marcia:

Who knew there were oil wells dotting the landscape in the most remote and vast high desert areas of Colorado? Google clearly is not aware of the roads there, and neither is our garmin, Mavis. She let me down. After three tries and some careful thinking that involved stopping beside a pasture and discussing the situation with three horses and a friendly little goat, I saw the most wonderful sight of all…Tim biking toward me. A tearfully thankful reunion and lunch in our little lawn chairs on a crispy, dusty roadside next to three oil tanks, and we were off once more. A couple of antelopes popped up beside my car, and like dogs on the chase they ran beside me for a ways. Beautiful.

The landscape quickly changed to incredibly expensive homes as I drove down into the suburbs of Denver. I parked and had nice bike back to Tim on a bike trail. I loved meeting Tim’s cousin Katie and family (awesome kids..Rory, Scarlet and Henry!) and reconnecting with Nick and Kelsey. 

 

Tim:

Day 21 started out in Castle Rock, where we road to Pueblo, Colorado and started on the maps again for what I would say is phase three and the final phase of this adventure. I road through Pueblo in a nice city park and headed out into the rolling hills and high desert and into the mountains. At about mile 27 I had my first flat where I noticed my tires were quite depleted from riding on the gravel the day before. I changed the tire, Marcia came back to me and we made a plan. I started out and went another three miles and had another flat. We regrouped, drove 30 miles back into Pueblo, got new tires at a bike shop there, had lunch in a park, and then she dropped me back up where I’d left off. I ended up climbing over a pass at about 9300 feet and then down into Cotopaxi where we camped in a lovely KOA for the night along the Arkansas River. 

Marcia:

KOA’s are great. We are learning. Today Tim climbed up the first and biggest peak, Monarch Pass. I stopped every six, and then near the peak at three miles to cheer him on. He’s so strong, and we were both delighted that the elevation didn’t bother us. I did notice that between the two of us we drank 5 gallons of water over the last two days, so that’s probably why. The views are spectacular, and even though we keep saying this, it is true that our pictures don’t show it as splendidly as it actually is. 
Of course there is a gift shop up there... 

View from the top...

                                                                A well deserved rest  in the sun...

After a picnic at the top the ride down was interesting in a thrilling way for me, being terrified of heights. But I just ignored those folks tailgating me going 35mph in a 65 zone. I couldn’t look at the plunging drop-off with no guardrails as I snaked my way down to a more reasonable elevation (7700 feet) through some of the most rugged and stunning scenery I’ve ever experienced. I sang my way to the bottom. Tim surely beat me down as I was refilling water bottles and he got a head start. His top speed descending was 41.3 and mine was…well I already admitted it. I’m looking forward to a ride tomorrow on a bike path section, but I will leave the fast traveled narrow mountain roads to him.

Potato chip bags at high altitude!

Tim:

Day 21 started with a 48 mile climb with over 5000 feet of elevation gain. Marcia and I modified our plan to have more frequent rendezvous stops in order to keep me well hydrated. I took one turn at a time and was always thankful to see Marcia after coming around a bend. It took four hours to reach the summit of Monarch Pass, 11,312 feet. The exhilaration and satisfaction was very emotional for us both. We stayed at the summit for a while, shopped for souvenirs, and enjoyed our lunch with beautiful vista view. I then had a speedy descent where I did not pedal for over 10 miles. I had 34 miles of rolling terrain with a stiff headwind to finish in Gunnison, Co. I ended up at 92 miles for the day with my average speed overall at 15.7. We celebrated with a great bottle of wine at the campsite. We are looking forward to enjoying the meteor shower promised for tonight.

                                                  Yup...it's legal to grow this in Colorado.