GDMBR Day 22
Start: Snow camp, Carson National Forest
Finish: Alamosa, Colorado
Miles: 72.7 miles
Odometer: 804.5 miles
Location: https://share.garmin.com/Judice
Highlights:
I got up early and of course everything was frozen. There was frost on my tent and my shoes and water bottles were frozen. I wanted to take advantage of the freezing temperatures thinking that the sloppy muddy roads would be frozen and easy to ride over. In fact, as it turned out even the snow was frozen so I was able to ride right on out and back to lower elevations to a road that would take me to glorius highway pavement. I backtracked 17 miles before heading north on a dirt road towards civilization. On the way I saw a herd of about 20 elk, five antelope, two hawks, and a coyote. As I headed north I was surrounded by stunning snow capped mountain landscape. The sun was shining. All of last night’s misery was forgotten.
I reached a town called Antonita, NM where I sat down for a large breakfast burrito covered with green chili sauce and a stack of pancakes.. The waitress was doubtful whether I could finish it. But I did. I crossed the border into Colorado. Instead of taking the highway towards my next destination, Del Norte, CO, I let Google route me through the countryside. At first I traveled on beautiful, easy gravel roads but later the route took me through doubletrack cow pasture roads – very scenic but littered with rusty barbed. I had one I watching the ground and the other I watching the beautiful landscape. After several miles of this bumpy, rocky terrain the bolts holding my seat to my seat post decided to give up. The bolts broke off and the only thing holding my seat on the seat post was the pressure of my rear end. I realized then that the seat takes a beating on these trails and country roads. While I am no engineer, I know the value of a good rubber strap, so I used a bungee cord (actually a Voille strap) to keep the nose of the seat down while I hobbled 25 miles to the nearest town with a bike shop.
I love bike shops. More specifically, I love bike mechanics. Bike mechanics love long-distance cycle tourists and bikepackers. If you push your bicycle inside a bike shop fully loaded with gear you will get the royal treatment. And I did. Kristy’s Mountain Sports in Alamosa, CO not only fixed my bike seat but addressed a bunch of other small issues, including replacing my worn out brake pads, replacing my chain, and finally diagnosing the creak in my bottom bracket. I will need to replace my bottom bracket at some point, but because Memorial Day weekend, it would take a while for them to get the parts and I would be stuck in town for 4-5 days. So I will do that down the road. Thanks to everyone at the bike shop, and especially to bike mechanic Jupee (nickname) for the quality work and inspiring conversation.