Epic Bike Ride Day 21 June 17
Thoughts from Mark: I started the day off by climbing (and climbing) out of the valley where Salida is located. In the first 5 or 6 miles of the ride, I climbed over 1,500 feet, and it seemed to never end. There were even (at least) two sections of this climb that were 13% grade! At the risk of a very small and probably insignificant humble brag, I can feel myself getting stronger. I was able to (very slowly) ride the entire segment, and didn’t even have to hike-a-bike any of it. The new shoes, pedals, tires, and seat seemed to help quite a bit, and I now feel like all of the power my legs are putting into the bike is being directly transferred to the bike, if that makes sense?
Once I finished the climb, the descent was fairly steep, too, and I had to brake pretty hard to avoid flying off of the switch-backs, and down the side of the mountain. As we came to a flatter spot, we saw two riders heading South, and stopped to talk to them. They had started in Colorado (I can’t remember exactly where), and were heading all the way to Antelope Wells. We exchanged some stories, and conditions of the various climbs/road conditions. Then the bombshell went off. One of the riders, Coach Olson, is a teacher at Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, AZ. For those who don’t know, this is Kelly’s high school! Coach Olson started teaching there one year after Kelly graduated, and is due to retire very soon. He was floored by this coincidence, as was Kelly! They chatted for a while about this teacher and that, and it was great to see such a weird/wonderful connection. His buddy, also named Mark, was also a very neat guy, and both of them happily took some Cokes we had in the truck. One of the best parts of this trip has been surprising people with a very small treat (Coke, pudding, water, oranges, soup, etc.). All of the riders and hikers we have been able to help have been SOOO appreciative.
After leaving Mark and Coach Olson, we endured some of the most washboarded (is that a word?) roads of the entire ride so far. There was one section of 22 miles that had washboard issues on probably 95% of the road. It was absolute torture riding this section, despite the fact that we had a tailwind (for probably the first or second time of the entire ride). Physically, it felt like I was in a ten round fight with Mike Tyson in his prime. Mentally, I just wanted to throw my bike into the deepest, darkest ocean. Somehow (very slowly) I was able to make it to Hartsel, and we had a bite to eat.
I then made the dumb decision to try to get some more miles in, and began riding again. A short distance later, I saw a small animal scurry across the road, very low to the ground. He/she was running and moving like a woodchuck, but as I got nearer, I was able to look directly at it, and it was a badger! After turning off of this main highway, we got back onto washboard road, and the suffering started again. I noticed a truck pulled over on the side of the road, with a man standing next to it. I stopped and asked if he needed help, and he said the tow truck was on the way. We chatted for a bit, and he seemed very interested in the ride. I gave him a card (we have made cards with our website and info on them), and wished him good luck. I rode on for a few more miles of torture, until we came to an area where one property clearly ended, and there was an open field. I thought this was a great place to camp, but Kelly was concerned, as she had seen a couple of signs posted prohibiting camping. I waited there while she drove ahead, scouting the area. While she was gone, the man with the broken down truck went by, with the truck on a flatbed tow truck. He gave a big wave, and smiled. About ten minutes later, I received an email notification that he had donated $100 to the ride, and left a very nice comment on our website!
Kelly came back, and said she couldn’t find a spot she was comfortable with to camp, so we decided to drive along the route to see if we could find one. The next few miles were a continuation of the washboard, and we were only able to drive at 15mph. We eventually began the climb toward Boreas Pass. We were able to find a spot where the road widened enough for multiple cars, and decided to camp there. It was an extra 20 miles from where we stopped riding, and I will try to make up those miles, because I don’t want anyone to feel like they aren’t getting their money’s worth…HA!
Thoughts from Kelly: Today started out fairly well, more climbing for Mark, beautiful mountain scenery, then the landscape changed to these barren rolling hills for miles and miles. We then started seeing RV’s every few acres, some were really nice, but some were in rough shape, with trash all around them. Oh, and it was very, very windy! I had a heck of a time making sandwiches on the side of the road! Anyway, all these random RV’s was a bit eerie feeling to me and as we got closer to Hartsel the amount of RV’s increased, then some houses started to appear. Hartsel had a yummy diner/saloon we ate at, gassed up the truck, and on we went, hoping to come upon some dispersed camping areas. By the time nightfall was getting close, we were still in the barren rolling hills, but with lots of houses and neighborhoods all around. I did not feel comfortable camping in this area and Mark was exhausted, so grumpily (both of us) we drove to the mountains and found an ok spot. I went to bed pretty upset because I had upset Mark about not wanting to camp at the first spot. Hopefully, we will wake up feeling more chipper!
Miles for the day: 57.68 Feet climbed today: 4,944
Total miles ridden: 949.52 Total feet climbed: 65,134