9th June 2018 Saturday – Climb every mountain, even the ones you don’t need to

Hello Everybody!

Route: Montrose to Rico no Sunshine Campground

For the non-mathematicians out there:

Distance: 28 miles (Total 2,415)	Average speed: 11.8 mph
Calories: 741	Cycling time: 2h 32min
Average cadence: 75 rpm	Climb: 1,932ft, Descent: 1,470ft
Heart (yes I have one): Max 137 Aver 111	Aver Temp: 28C, Max temp 37C
Temperament: What an idiot

Distance: 57 miles (Total 2,472)	Average speed: 8.9 mph
Calories: 2,086	Cycling time: 6h 21min
Average cadence: 73 rpm	Climb: 5,046ft, Descent: 2,077ft
Heart (yes I have one): Max 141 Aver 116	Aver Temp: 31C, Max temp 37C
Temperament: One of those days to test you

[EDITOR NOTE: Before you read the following paragraphs please take the following actions. Find a drawing pin, put it in one of your shoes, put on said shoe, then read the blog for 9^th June 2018. These actions will ensure that you do not injure yourself by laughing too much at how stupid some people (i.e. Swinhoe) can be. Enjoy and try to imagine just how Swinhoe felt this day]

Hello everybody, not sure what ED was going on about but I set off nice and early today. I’d stayed in a nice Airbnb just off the route and had found a good breakfast place, called Stavin Marvin, so I called in there to get ready for a fairly hardish day. Breakfast done, I set off down the main highway and after 10 miles or so, I realised I had passed the right turn off. So I went back down the highway on the other side of the road of course. When I got to the turn there was a fence in the way but I managed to get Blossom over it after taking all of the bags off her. Then I put the bags back on and we had a short flat mile and then it kicked up to 4-8% for about 7 miles.

Around the 7 mile mark, a fellow cyclist came past and asked where I was going and once I’d answered he said something that I found to be a little disquieting. I think it was the words “dead end” “private road” “unpaved” and “there are some wacko people there”. Yes, I had done another Brownsville only I had not checked the route properly. Anyway, after a short cry, I went back down the hill (great descent BTW) and then back onto the main highway, without having to get over the fence this time though. Still wasting about 16 miles, 7 miles of which were uphill is a great test of character I kept telling myself.

So a fairly “easy” day of 77 miles had just turned into 92 miles with an extra hill. The main highway was OK but the wind was a little headwindy but I made OK progress. I was not sure if I would make Rico but I was going to give it a try.

My first main stop was Ridgeway where I had my lunch, well late lunch. It was a very lovely place in a short of wide valley area, although to get out I was climbing again – 2,000 feet in 6 miles so not that hard. I did meet a nice man and his family and they asked me to join them for lunch. He was a bike nut so we got on fine. After this climb, the road slowly descended and then started to slowly rise. I turned off the main highway at Placerville, which had a really good general store although the woman behind the counter was chewing on a wasp I think. I ended up in a T-shirt, cap, apparel store where I chatted to the two owners and had my rootbeer, ice cream and other goodies before the up bits. In order to get to Rico, I would need to climb 2 fairly lumpy bits at the end and then a 13-mile descent into Rico.

Time was getting short and at around 6.30pm I was just outside of Telluride (the main tourist resort). I met a man who had gone up and down the road a few times and I discovered that he was a support vehicle for a charity ride that was taking part in the area – I know that they came through Ridgeway earlier in the day. Anyway, one woman had taken a 25-mile detour at Ridgeway and this guy was waiting for her. He told me all about Telluride and said I could join them for evening meal etc but Telluride was 3.5 miles away and downhill – i.e. the following morning would be extra up and extra long. At this point, I was fairly certain to make Rico I would be riding in the dark, so I weighed up my options and decided to carry on up the hill and find a campsite as I knew there were about 3 between me and Rico. Once I got to the top of this hill I realised that I had just climbed the first of the 2 end climbs although it seemed as if the hill stopped short. Given my luck (OK stupidity) for today I thanked the cycling god (small g just in case) and carried on until I found Sunshine campsite @ $20 a bargain.

I set up camp or at least tried to but this bloke came past and said hello and then offered me what looked just like a cycling energy drink, yes it was beer. He was called Jack – I’m not sure how I remembered his name, other than because of Hurricane Harrison and my father. His wife, Mary, passed by later and offered me another energy drink and I said OK again. I walked back to their Merican caravan and Mary then gave me a pail of warm water. I had mentioned my habit of “showering” using nothing but cold water, cycling bottles and lots of shrieking and jumping about. This, in my world, was sheer luxury.

The tent was now up and standing although I did place the outer skin the wrong way round, due to energy drink misuse, so getting into the tent was a little tricky. However, given the day I had, I really did not give a flipping, flop flip of a dickery hickery dock.

All I had to do now was sleep and then finish off the last part today’s route tomorrow. This made tomorrow a very nice 92 miles instead of 72 miles. Sweet dreams Alan.

Love, Tears and Kisses, Al & Frank

PHOTOS OF THE CLIMB THAT NEVER HAPPENED