Adventures

Day 19: Thorny Situations

Legion on the CDT Alternate Route

Stagecoach State Park, CO (2 July 2019)The moment the deepest channel of the flowing water was entered, the current pushed me which caused the bike on my back to swing sideways as balance was regained. The strength of the thigh-high current surprised me. Just after this moment of panic, Bill began filming my progress across the river. Sadly, I did not see Bill again on the Tour Divide. I didn't know it at the time but this was a day of difficult decisions for several people tracing the course of the continental divide, by bicycle and by foot.

Early that morning, the campground was quiet when camp was broken and it was a relaxed ride back to the dam. It was strange to think that it was in the early evening of yesterday when I first arrived at the Stagecoach Reservoir dam. It was an estimated 20 miles of wasted time. Alternatively, it was over 2 hours of rest that was lost to a fight with indecision, bugs, gravel and rolling terrain. Even so, I was happy to be on my way and aware there were worse mistakes that one could make.

The climb to Lynx pass felt rough and remote. The rocky hillside rose abruptly to the right and dropped away steeply toward a stream on my left. The climb was gradual at first but turned up more steeply as the pass drew nearer. When Lynx pass was reached, at over 9,000 feet, there were signs of bikepackers ahead. The campground at the pass was 20 miles from the camp at Stagecoach Reservoir. The pass was possibly within reach yesterday but that was now forgotten.

Flowing below Lynx Pass and before a second, slightly higher pass, was Little Rock Creek. The creek flowed vigorously. When arrived at the creek Bill was on the opposite side, putting on his shoes. He told me about how his crossing. After some consideration, with my shoes on and my socks off, the bike was rocked onto my back and the attempt to cross the swiftly moving water began. The deepest channel of creek ran close to the near shore and when it was first entered, it pushed me hard to the side. Momentarily, my balance was lost but control was quickly regained. The rest of the creek was crossed more easily. It was good to catch up with Bill and I discovered he spent last night at the dam. While my feet were dried, Bill rolled on ahead and that the was last time our paths crossed.

After some climbing, the road turned downward. It was a fast, rocky and open descent. The day was just starting to get hot when a hiker was spotted. Legion was hiking the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. He described impossible conditions on the high passes in Colorado and had given up on the effort of post-holing through deep snow along the main route of the CDT. When we talked, he was on an alternate route that avoided the high passes. Years of planning went into every successful through hike of the CDT, so it was very likely he had mixed feelings about leaving the main route. He seemed encouraged to learn that the passes I crossed thus far on the Tour Divide were all passed easily.

Riding in Colorado felt like home. Most years since 1994, I've traveled from my home in Wisconsin for a week of summer riding in Colorado. The Ride Rockies, Pedal the Peaks, the Bicycle Tour of Colorado and the Colorado Rocky Mountain Bicycle Tour have given me many wonderful weeks of road cycling. In addition, other events such as the West Elk Classic, Iron Horse and Leadville 100 MTB have kept me coming back to Colorado to ride bikes. The rocky, tree covered mountains of Colorado were a very welcome change from the desert of the Great Basin in Wyoming. Road cycling in Colorado was fun and wonderful on paved roads that were graded for winter tourism and mining trucks. The week long tours not only added to the fun but included a police escort which, combined with a couple of thousand riders on the road, kept traffic under control. The hills on the Colorado highways were long but not overly steep. Long before reaching Colorado, however, I learned that the gravel roads of the Tour Divide didn't play by those rules.

Stopped to eat after the river crossing

The heat of the day was already taking a toll by the time I reached Radium Hot Springs. There was sufficient water on board to reach Kremmling as the bike rolled gently past the parking lot for a recreational area. The road followed a stream which was the focus for people enjoying the water on rafts and tubes. This created unwelcome traffic on the gravel road. After about 1,000 miles of nearly deserted gravel roads, it suddenly felt unsafe. Trucks pulling trailers, buses with tubes on top and pickup trucks were in a hurry to get past. The bike plodded slowly over a rise, while I looked longingly at the shade under cottonwood trees standing tall but on the wrong side of the road to cast a shadow my way. A pickup whizzed past and kicked up rocks which shook me from my daydream of a nap in the cool shade of cottonwood trees.

The paved climb on the highway before Kremmling was fantastic. It was many of things I adore about riding a road bike in Colorado. The hill was not steep and the pavement was smooth. The traffic was respectful but the best part of all, the scenery was amazing! The road was cut into the side of a deep canyon. Far below there was river and on the other canyon wall there was a railroad. The rock wall was too steep for all but a few trees. Just when it seemed the scene could not be improved, an Amtrack Passenger train appeared on the track below. It was a spectacular scene. The road turned and climbed steadily out of the canyon, leaving the train and the river behind.

Everything seemed to be on the edge. My water, food and attitude all waned and desperately needed replenishment. It took over 8 hours and 61 miles before Kremmling was reached. As the reality of covering only 60 miles in 8 hours sunk in, I felt spent. However, a stern warning was issued to myself against making any decision before eating. The bike was placed against the wall of the Subway Restaurant, food was ordered and I collapsed at a table in the air conditioned space. I wondered if my day was over at only 4 PM.

Kremmling was another decision point on the Tour Divide. A rider that stopped here was either going to loose a day or camp somewhere in South Park. I planned to avoid an overnight in South Park. The place has never been kind to me. My memory of South Park consisted of cars and trucks traveling in excess of 70 mph on a two lane road with little or no shoulder and where there was absolutely no regard for human life! Few motorists bothered to slow down and generally passed cyclists much too closely. It was wide open ranch land with the occasional anti-government survivalist encampment. Of course my view was colored by having experienced South Park as a road cyclist. Fortunately, the Tour Divide route shared only a few miles of the paved roads that were responsible for this trauma.

The alternative was to press on to Silverthorne. Anything short of that would have left South Park in the frame for an overnight. It was hot, I felt spent, it was after 4 PM, and Ute pass stood between Kremmling and Silverthorne. The 52 mile route from Kremmling to Silverthorne was almost entirely uphill. Much of it was gradual and some of it was paved, however, at least five hours of riding was indicated. After the food was eaten, it was decided to ride to Silverthorne, where a 10 PM arrival was expected. To bolster my resolve, Gatorade was taken on board which reduced the time stopped on the route.

After Kremmling, it felt good to roll over gravel again. The route passed through some gorgeous ranch land. As has happened before, there was a relaxed feeling of lightness as the shadows grew and the heat of the day subsided. My stops were short and food and fluids were consumed while rolling.

When the gravel ended, anticipation of the Ute Pass climb motivated my legs to keep pushing pedals. Like on Ride the Rockies, the pass was on a graded paved road. This should feel great but as the sun got low, the long day took a toll. The climb felt hard but the wheels kept turning and traffic was almost nonexistent. The route climbed away from ranches and into the trees on the mountainside. The road twisted past the huge Climax molybdenum mine and finally over the pass.

The glitter ball makes an appearance

The bike rocketed through the long shadows that blanketed the paved descent from Ute Pass. With sun hidden behind the mountains, I was on high alert for creatures running onto the road. Strava recorded a max speed of 40 MPH which was well below what an unladen road bike could achieve. Still, it felt wonderfully fast!

There remained 14 miles of gradual uphill from the bottom of the pass to Silverthorne. It was 8:30 PM and the sun was tucked away behind the mountains to the west. The cool air filled my shirt and felt refreshing. Miles of fenced ranch land, bounded by pine trees and rocky peaks, streamed past as the bike propelled me toward Silverthorne. There was no need for urgency. My pace was relaxed, as sky began to darken. The difference between a 10 PM and a midnight arrival seemed to be virtually nothing.

Highway 9 was a busy two lane road with a wide smooth shoulder. Despite the increasing darkness and plenty of traffic, I felt safe. The bike had a tail light powered by my pedaling and my helmet had a blinky light powered by a rechargeable battery. The center of highway was studded with a rumble strip that often cried out to alert me to passing motorists. On several occasions, the thump-thump-thump-thump of a car crossing the center line was heard twice from behind. This double thump occurred when a motorist chose to use the entire oncoming lane, out of respect for my vulnerability. It made me happy to hear it.

After a double thump, a fully occupied small blue sedan flew past in the opposite lane. When the sedan returned to the proper lane ahead, the vibration from crossing the rumble strip caused a hubcap to become dislodged. The silver disk sputtered and rolled on it's edge off the road and into some tall weeds on the side of the road ahead. I watched carefully and tracked it to where it disappeared among the weeds. The sedan stopped on the shoulder ahead while I retrieved the hubcap. The young woman was grateful to have it back and I thanked her for giving me the extra space. Everytime a motorist granted this extra space, it made the ride on the highway a bit nicer.

On the way to Ute Pass

Silverthorne was reached around 9:30 PM, thanks to a light tailwind on the highway. The kind woman behind the desk at the motel directed me to a nearby bar for dinner. After 9 PM, restaurant choices often narrow but fortunately there was an Irish Pub and restaurant nearby. It was past the dinner hour but the proprietor wanted to hear about my journey and made the entire menu open to me. I ate and we talked. We were joined by a local that was excited to talk about his own adventures bike touring. It was a wonderful time spent eating and listening to his stories as the restaurateur grew impatient, hoping to hear something different, perhaps. Just prior to pie, I was able to share the story of Adam and the mountain lion which seemed to satisfy him. At that moment it felt like sharing a day spent riding bikes on Ride the Rockies with a pair of buddies.

It was a tricky situation for me in Kremmling and the decision I made there worked out. Similarly, Legion will be living with his decision to abandon the main route of the CDT for lower ground. Bill faced the same decision as I in Kremmling and decided to call it a day. Sadly, Larry and Mark had to abandon the Tour Divide in Silverthorne. Later I would learn that Larry's swollen ankle got worse and Mark's saddle sores became unbearable. The day to Silverthorne provided a number of difficult situations for those following the continental divide that day and I felt very grateful that my own decision delivered a happy result.

Elevation Profile for Day 19

On to Day 20