Day 65: Guffey, CO to Fairplay, CO

Distance: 45.5 mi, Climbed: 2,746 ft
Completed: 2,525.4 mi, 116,942 ft

The ride today goes most of the way up Hoosier Pass but stops about ten miles short of the top. That will allow me to attack the summit tomorrow with fresh legs. Today should be a little gentler than yesterday, with less total climbing, much of it at just 1 to 2%.

The first ten miles of climbing were the steepest I would do today, but they went by easily. I crossed over 9,000 feet and was happy that I was not noticing any effects of altitude. The easy climbing gave me a chance to appreciate the scenery around me. 

Next, I had a ten-mile descent into South Park. Yes, that South Park. The TV show was named after this region of Colorado. Apparently, in Colorado, a park can refer to a massive, high-altitude plateau that is surrounded by mountains. South Park was indeed massive.  

The end of the descent was the town of Hartsel. I was excited to get to Hartsel as we had something special planned. Joanna and I are avid skiers, and we go to Vail every year to ski with our family. The adaptive program at Vail has given our daughter Leora the opportunity to ski just like her sisters and the rest of the family.  Leora just lights up on the slopes. The Vail adaptive program has meant so much to our family and Leora.

For the last ten years or so, Agata has been Leora’s ski instructor. She is amazing with Leora. She has become part of the family. We love Agata. Agata also loves to bike and used to be lead bike tours for Backroads. She was very excited by our trip. As it happens, she was traveling with her family today to Crested Butte and was going to cross over our route.  

Agata and her whole family arrived with bikes in tow about five minutes after I biked into town. She brought us fresh strawberries, local peaches, lemonade, and a bunch of bike food that is hard to get out in the middle of nowhere. It was great to see her, her husband, and her two beautiful daughters. We shopped a little at the local outdoor market, and then everyone got an ice cream at a local store. The store with the ice cream was actually a gem shop and had many interesting rocks, crystals, and gems to explore. The owner came by and told us about how he crafts the gems in the store and showed us some of the machinery he uses. It was great to see Agata and her family away from the slopes. For them to make time to see us during their family-trip weekend was incredibly sweet. Thank you.

The route today is along Route 9, and it had very little traffic all day. When I rode into Hartsel, I noticed that Route 24 crosses east to west through Hartsel and it was very busy. As I feared, when I headed north out of Hartsel, my quiet roads were gone. There was heavy traffic going 65 miles per hour right next to me with no shoulder. The ride had become less fun.

Still, I was going through a beautiful part of South Park. A stream meandered through the park which brought water to the otherwise dry soil and allowed vegetation to flourish along its banks. There were large fields with horses and bison grazing.

The traffic today was about as bad as I have had on the trip. It is Friday of the July 4th weekend, and everyone has somewhere to go and is running late. I was being passed by car after car, many coming too close for comfort. I started riding in the middle of my lane. I find if I ride on the edge of the lane, drivers think they can squeeze between me and the yellow center line and pass very closely. When I ride in the middle, they are forced to go into the oncoming lane and give me more space. But riding in the center of the lane is not a popular choice. Let’s just say I did not make many friends this afternoon.

The last ten miles were a bit grueling despite the beautiful scenery. With the heavy traffic, a bad cross wind, and a slow and steady climb, I started to feel drained. I was ready to be done. I was happy to pull into Fairplay and finish the day’s ride.

In front of our hotel, we met Anthony and Cynthia from Ontario, Canada. They are preparing for their ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro in a few weeks. They are here in Colorado acclimating to altitude and training by hiking to the top of 14,000-foot peaks. They are sleeping in a cabin at 12,000 feet to acclimate. They had come down to Fairplay at just 10,000 feet to get some supplies. We wish them luck in their big adventure!