68.39 miles (Total: 2377.09) Avg Speed: 10.4mph Max Speed: 37mph
After some gentle stuff yesterday the real climbing would begin today, starting the morning at around 6000ft and finish at 10,000ft. We rolled out of the campsite after a light breakfast, Terry making me some oats and a cup of tea as usual, cheers cobba. The grades got steep pretty quick but I simply geared down low and spinned my way up. Terry in Pueblo had talked to a cycling coach from the USA Olympic Team. After explaining my recent spoke issues the guy asked if I like to stand alot whilst I ride, which I do regularly! Apparently this is a major cause of broken spokes especially when carrying a load. So now I’m ‘spinning for spokes sake’ in my lowest gears over any uphills. It has slowed me down a touch but I don’t mind if it solves the problem.
Leaving campsite
Looking back down the climb.
There were a few nasty pinches early on but for the most part I found them easier than the Appalachians in Virginia as expected. The hard thing to stomach in Virginia was that any climbing you did was almost immediately lost with big downhill and you had to start all over again. Getting into the Rockies you gain elevation but don’t lose any, it just levels out at parts than goes up some more. The landscape was fast becoming grand and epic, the air was thinning but it was fresher than anything I remember inhaling before. At 22 miles we took a detour to the small town of Guffey, a known TransAm cycle stop. A 70 year old dutch couple were in the Bull Moose Restaurant we went to for lunch, they had started a few weeks before us and taking fairly short days, their in no hurry for anybody.
Guffey
This afternoon we rolled inbetween two storms either side of us but somehow managed in avoiding them both, they seem to crop up in the afternoon so it may be an idea to start riding a little earlier. Over a few more ridges an I finally got my first glimpse of some snow capped peaks. I couldn’t take my eyes of them for the rest of the riding down to Hartsel. This was a whacky area of Colorado, joint with the next town of Fairplay where we would be staying it made up the area known as South Park, as in the setting for the TV show. Accomodation for the night was the Hand Hotel, an old building that had been restored with a really cosy finish. I was expecting a fairly rural town but what we found was a busy tourist town with plenty of bars and a few restaurants. Tomorrow is July 4th so everybody was in jolly mood, me and Terry headed over to the steakhouse where I got the the steak salad, perfect. At 10,000ft I thought I felt slightly nauseous but it was probably all in my head. One thing I did notice however is that just running up the hotel stairs had me panting for breath, Hoosier pass tomorrow will take us a further 1,500ft higher and its the highest point on the Transamerica Trail. Bring it on.
Yes, thats a dog driving.
After yesterday’s gentle warm-up, the real climbing arrived today — starting around six thousand feet and finishing at ten. We rolled out of camp on a light breakfast, Terry brewing me oats and tea the way he did most mornings now, cheers cobber. The gradients turned steep fast, but I found I could just gear down low and spin my way up rather than fight it. Back in Pueblo, Terry had gotten talking to a cycling coach who’d worked with the U.S. Olympic team, and when he mentioned my run of broken spokes, the coach asked one question: did I like to stand a lot while riding? I did, constantly. Apparently that’s exactly what shears spokes, especially under load. So from here on I was spinning for the spokes’ sake, staying seated in my lowest gears up every climb. It cost me a little speed, but I wasn’t about to argue with a fix.
Leaving campsite.
Looking back down the climb.
There were a few nasty pinches early on, but for the most part this was easier going than the Appalachians back in Virginia, just as I’d expected. What made Virginia so hard to stomach wasn’t the climbing itself but the way you’d lose every bit of it on the descent and have to start over from scratch. Here in the Rockies, height gained tends to stay gained — the road levels out for a while, then climbs some more. The landscape had turned properly grand, almost overwhelming, the air thinning out but somehow fresher than anything I could remember breathing. Twenty-two miles in, we detoured into Guffey, a small, well-known stop on the TransAm. A Dutch couple in their seventies were having lunch at the Bull Moose Restaurant, a few weeks ahead of us on the trail and riding short, unhurried days, apparently in no rush for anybody or anything.
Guffey.
The afternoon threaded us between two storms, one on either side, and somehow we dodged both — they seem to build up specifically in the afternoons out here, which argues for starting earlier tomorrow. A few more ridges on, I finally caught my first sight of snow-capped peaks and couldn’t stop looking at them the rest of the way down into Hartsel. This turned out to be a genuinely odd corner of Colorado, paired with the next town over, Fairplay, where we’d be spending the night — together the two make up the area actually called South Park, yes, that South Park. We stayed at the Hand Hotel, an old building restored into something properly cosy, and where I’d braced for somewhere rural we instead found a lively little tourist town with more bars and restaurants than expected. With the Fourth of July arriving tomorrow, everyone was in a good mood; Terry and I found a steakhouse where I had the steak salad, which hit exactly right. At ten thousand feet I felt vaguely nauseous, though it was probably nothing more than altitude playing games with my head — the one clear sign was getting properly out of breath just running up the hotel stairs. Hoosier Pass tomorrow would put another fifteen hundred feet on top of that, the highest point on the whole Transamerica Trail. Bring it on.
Yes, that’s a dog driving.
2 comments from 2010
South Park and a dog driving a car! Epic pictures lad, keep it up.
Hiya rye,dog driving a car ,you see this a lot in blue hall.Take it easy.