Windy! It was only a 36 mile ride with about 2,000 feet of elevation gain, but for what seemed like it would be sort of a throw-away day it was pretty hard work!
Had a good nights sleep until 5:30 am when some yahoo decided to talk to a buddy on a 2-way radio at top volume. Really??? It was almost time to get up anyway. It stayed pretty warm last night., and was comfortable riding temperature right off the bat this morning.
We packed up and all headed to Starvin’ Arvin’s for breakfast. Everyone except John, who had locked his bike to the chain link fence and couldn’t find the key!! When we left him he was looking for a file or a hacksaw! Had a great breakfast. All you can eat pancakes. All I could eat was half of what they brought me – holy cow! It was a memorable place. We had a 10-year-old waitress – a cute little girl who apparently loves to come help her gramma out! She did a great job, which was good because Gramma was a little frazzled with the influx of bikers. Gramma filled out water bottles and Phils fell over and doused him.
Finally on the road. At mile 8 there was an optional 16 mile out and back which most everyone did. Bryan rode with me until that cut off and then I was on my own, which was fine because I could just puddle along at my own pace. Fighting the wind was a bit of a bummer, but I just took it easy and didn’t worry about it. I was still full of pancakes by the rest stop at 12 miles, so I only took a minute there and then went on. Paused in Ridgeway, and then headed on to Ouray.
I had to stop a lot and take pictures. The closer I got to Ouray the bigger the mountains were looming. Beautiful, but a bit ominous! Got into camp before Greg since he did the extra credit loop, so I got the tent set up and camp set. The view from our campsite is incredible! Mexican food for late lunch/early dinner, then to the hot springs.
Tomorrow is going to be a really big day and it starts early. Mandatory 6 am start. The plan is to eat Bars in the morning and then stop in Silverton for a real breakfast. We have 3 passes to do tomorrow!
a warning!
coming into Ouray – we will be in those mountains tomorrow
Campsite in Ouray
Biking Colorado 