Epic Bike Ride Day 19 June 15

Thoughts from Kelly: I slept in till after 8 again today, but Mark woke up with me so we were on the road shortly after 10.  We had a visit from Mitch as we were getting breakfast ready.  He said he was planning on riding to Sargents, so we decided that was a good goal for us, too.  Luckily, Mark only had to climb the first part of the day, and the rest was through some rolling hills on a great dirt road.  We have noticed that (so far-knock on wood) the mountain roads in Colorado have been very nice.  I love you New Mexico, but some of those roads were in pretty bad shape.  Once we hit a paved highway, I drove ahead to check out the area, and where we should sleep for the night.  The first business I saw was Tomichi Creek Trading post. I knew it was a great place to stop, because I saw a bike packers bike in front.  I went in and started talking to Sonia about her ride.  She is a very inspirational woman! Once Mark arrived, we met a couple of other riders who had great stories and advice for the next couple of sections of the ride.  We were very excited to shower and get some laundry done, and have a nice meal.  Mitch was here too, and joined us for awhile.  Today was a good day, not that the rest haven’t been, but I really liked today.

Thoughts from Mark:  Mitch rode by as we were getting ready, and we had a nice chat to start the day.  He seems like a very nice guy, and all three of us really had a good time getting to know each other.  Once we hit the road, the first 6 miles had a climb of over 1,800 feet.  We have to stop camping in the valleys!  Once the major climbing was over, the rest of the day had some rolling hills, some pretty good descents, and we eventually hit pavement for the last 13 miles into Sargents.  At one point near Dome Lake, we ran into two guys who were on a bike packing trip to Gunnison.  They asked lots of questions about our ride, and wished us luck.

Once in Sargents, Kelly had already reserved a spot for us to camp in an amazing gas station/RV park/restaurant/store/laundry facility/shower area.  We did all of the things:  shower, eat a great meal, laundry, and update this journal.  Mitch was camping here, too, so we got a chance to talk with him for a bit, as well as two southbound riders - Kevin and Richard, as well as another northbound rider - Sonia from Switzerland.  Most of the riders we have talked to seem to really enjoy hearing about our setup in the truck, and with Kelly acting as my support vehicle.  I thought they would all have thought this was “cheating,” as I don’t have to carry a tent, and all of the food/water on my bike, but everyone seems cool with it.

Miles for the day:  56.76         Feet climbed today: 3,412

Total miles ridden:  845.66     Total feet climbed:  57,057

Mark LinderComment