Odds and ends from yesterday. Jerry and Sue got four brand spanking new
tires on the van in Frisco. We went out
with Sue’s cousin Ken and his wife Kate to a Mexican place in Breckinridge
called Lucha. They live in Grand
Junction. Good healthy food. Walked around Breckinridge which is a cool
skiing/tourist trap town. Really
different. Somebody did a great job
planning out this little haven around the Blue River which runs through the
city. Sue’s cousin actually did the Transamerica
Trail back in 1976, the first year of its existence.
Left in the morning about 6:15. We slept at an altitude of over 9,500
feet. Pretty chilly in the morning. My hands and Jerry’s hands were numb even
with gloves on as we were riding. We
climbed to the highest point of the trip over Hoosier Pass, 11, 542 feet. Little cold on top but no snow. Climb wasn’t as bad as some we have had. We went downhill and ended up in a town
called Fairplay for coffee and a muffin. We were at the Java Moose. Jack went next door to check out the Colorado
Dirt Shirt. Then it was onto a city called Guffey. If there is a bicycler’s heaven, we were
there. We had a great road and a
tailwind for 20-30 miles. Scenery was
just wide open spaces. When we stopped
to take a short break, you look around and realize you are in the middle of
nowhere and there is no one around. Kind
of cool. You can hear the quiet. We probably saw 4-5 cars the entire
time. Doesn’t get any better than that.
We stopped for lunch just short of Guffey. Guffey was about a mile from the crossroads
where we ate lunch. We ate at a real
estate office that was not open. Sat on
the steps and on their chairs. Jerry
rode up to Guffey to make sure Sue was not there because that was our original
destination. We voicemailed her to go to
plan b which was further because the morning ride was not as bad as we thought
it might be. As a result, Jerry rode 2
extra miles for a total of 101 and Jack and I rode 99. Anyway, Sue was not there and we continued
on. At the real estate office, two young
riders pulled up ready to make the turn to Guffey to spend the night. They were doing the same trail only from the
East. They started May 17. They were brothers, 16 and 21 years of
age. Unsupported. Amazing.
The older one was riding for a cause, the hospital that he was at when
he was 16. His story was pretty
amazing. He contracted a disease which
escapes me now. But he had to learn how
to talk again. Now he is in college and
doing great. So he is trying to raise
money for the hospital.
As we headed for our destination which doesn’t have a
name, we hit a headwind. Brutal for 21
miles. Some was downhill but that can be
just as hard going downhill with a headwind.
One bad move and you could lose control of the bike. Made it to a RV Park. We are 49 miles from Pueblo, Colorado, the
halfway point. Rained a little and
stormed. Saw a great rainbow. Jerry and I got into the pool for a little
while before the storm. We even got
showers. But you only got 7 minutes. Easy for me but now for others. And they call me the princess.
Wildlife today. A
coyote, antelope, prairie dog, buffalo (only Sue and Jack saw these), and of
course the cows and horsies.
Jeff, Jerry, Jack, and Sue
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