Day 6 - Salida to Canon City Re-Route

June 14th, Day 6, RTR Salida to Canon City

So...good night's sleep in Salida.  Great place and I will be back to stay and explore.  Salida has fantastic views of the Collegiate Peaks and the Arkansas river is right there.

The drama!  We received the new route last night and it caused a pretty big fervor among riders.  Angst is a better word.  Some were considering ending their tour simply due to the new distance.  Others were just unhappy with the new route - added 33 miles and 35 miles of uphill.  I wasn't too happy as we had just completed 3 high mileage days of 86, 91 and 84 miles.  Now we were adding 94 miles and 4400+ feet of climb.  Friday was to be a wind down day and instead, it now was the longest and also the most feet of climb on the ride.   Day 6 Re-route map

Heading uphill at Cotopaxi

On most mornings, there is a lot of banter among the riders.  It was pretty quiet this morning, everyone seemed to have their game faces on, a grim determination to survive this day.  As we departed Salida, there was a marquee road sign alerting everyone that highway 50 was now open.  Believe me, it crossed many of our minds to stay on highway 50, unsupported, to Canon City.  However, at Cotopaxi, I didn't see a single rider head on down, but rather we all turned and geared up for the 35 mile climb.  I took a break around Hillside and looked back the way we came and had a great view of the collegiate peaks. Priceless.

We headed up toward Hillside, Westcliffe and Silver Cliff.  The day was quiet (no trucks), cool and overcast, and we were heading south, the Sangre de Cristos stretching out again, only this time from the east side.  The valley was green and the ride simply beautiful.  Also to my wonderment, my tail end was happy with the new seat location - I rarely had to stand to give my butt a break.  Amazing!

On the way to Westcliffe - Sangre de Cristos in the background

As we rolled into Westcliffe, several riders turned into the Stage Stop Ice Cream and Smoothie Shoppe in Westcliffe.  Westcliffe also sports the tallest stop sign I have seen in my life!  I was stopped with several riders and we all were laughing.  On the map, it looked like Silver Cliff was separate from Westcliffe, but it was only a mile or so to the Silver Cliff RTR rest stop at Club America.  After a PBJ and refills, I took off for the final ascent up Hardscrabble Pass.  The climb, while steadily upward, also had downhills instead of a sustained climb like Wolf Creek pass.

The downhill to Florence was a blast!  However, there were several very tight hairpin turns which had state troopers and volunteers ahead of them warning to slow.  I was right on the tail of a Suburu, so I couldn't just let it fly, but I heard later at the first aid station that 5 riders didn't stay in control and went over the guard rail.  All were ok!  After getting by the Suburu, I enjoyed the next 20+ miles of downhill.  But as we came out of the mountains, we hit a plateau and it was like an easy bake oven as we approached Florence.  The Smoothie people were another partner that traveled along with us and I had made it a daily ritual to consume a protein smoothie at the last rest stop each day to speed recovery.  The shade seemed 20 degrees cooler than the sun.  8-9 miles to Canon City!

As I left the rest stop, along the way was the fire camp for the Royal Gorge fire.  The firefighters had tents and large food tent.  I certainly take my hat off to those who fight fires for 12-14 hours a day and sleep in a tent only to get up and do it again!

Royal Gorge Fire Camp

About 6 miles out, I was riding along a guard rail - very narrow shoulder - and a woman was passing me at just a slightly higher speed when a loud "POW" just like a firearm just went off in my ear....and a warm blow of air on my leg.  The woman yelled "what the _____" and swerved.  Yup, my rear tire just blew out.  I had a spare tube, but not a spare tire...and neither did those passing who offered to help.  I was so close to a beer and now was stranded.  No sag wagon or teh Mavic car in sight.  But McGyver stopped and told me to fold a dollar bill and put it over the blow out slit...I did just that, replaced with my spare tube, and was on my way.  The beer was apparently only delayed 30 minutes.  Until my front tire went flat two miles later.  I pumped it up and it seemed to hold air and on I rode.  I pumped it up again a couple of miles later, but finally about a half mile away, the front tire just wouldn't hold air.  I made it in and the guys at the Bicycle DR tech tent fixed me up and  WD-40 washed the bike again to rid it of the ash from the Salida downpour the night before.  Bicycle DR is worth a mentioned - they were great too and are located in downtown Denver.

Margaret Tennant is also riding RTR.  Margaret has Parkinson's disease and RTR riders helped her off and on her bike at each rest stop.  She is riding with the Davis Phinney team.  Davis was a professional rider who also has Parkinsons and started the Davis Phinney foundation to help make life easier for those with Parkinsons.  Margaret made a video "Better on the Bike"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLK7OHw7J1s

After getting ready for the final day, I met Cindy, Warren, Peter, Rick and Jody at Ortegas on main street. Great mexican food - I had the chorizo burritos!

In the end, most riders I spoke with agreed that the re-route was the best ride day so far and so scenic.  The drama and angst the night before was a lot of wasted energy.  What a treat I would missed if I decided to cut the corner and stayed on US50 or we were not re-routed.  The ride is a series of problems to be solved and the re-route solved the challenge of the fires and provided a better experience than originally planned.  I am so glad I didn't miss it!

Living the dream!

-Steve