GDMBR Day 28
Start: Salida, CO
Finish: Hand Hotel & B&B, Fairplay, Co
Miles: 65.9 miles
Odometer: 1,046.5 miles
Ascent: 5,700 feet
Descent: 2,800 feet
Location: https://share.garmin.com/Judice
Highlights:
Today was hard. I felt my spirits experiencing hairline fractures. The climb out of Salida through San Isabel National Forest was beautiful with views of the snowcapped mountains encircling the area. I took loads of photographs. Despite sunshine and virtually no wind, the riding conditions deteriorated quickly as I descended in the valley with the snow melt creating the dreaded peanut butter mud glue on the road. At one point my front wheel slid right and I flew off the bike on the left sliding in the mud in that slip and slide rotating 360° kind of way. I was completely covered with mud from head to tail on all sides. That wasn’t the worst part of it, though. That sticky mud adhered to the side walls of my tires (and everything else) so that the wheels would rotate. What a mess! And there was miles and miles of this stuff. Ultimately I had to ride through the somewhat grassy/ snow patchy cow pastures where the grass itself created some traction. I tried to dodge the sloppy, defrosting cow patties but that was difficult. Finally, as I descended to lower drier elevations, the mud was replaced with some of the worse washboards on the route. After a few hours, I finally made it to pavement and experienced tears of joy.
I came to a very small town called Hartsell, CO and the Highline Café and Saloon. I walked in they are completely covered with mud and they were very sympathetic. I drank a beer and ate the best and largest smothered burrito I’ve ever had in my life made from local beef and buffalo meat. A young fella touring on his adventure motorcycle from New York City walked in and sat down next to me. He was very excited about my trip since he raced this route back in 2013 in the formal Tour Divide Race. We swapped stories. He’s touring around the West for three weeks and then heading back to work in New York. He picked up my lunch tab which was very generous. Despite the huge ball of food in my stomach I rode another 18 miles uphill on pavement to Fairplay, CO where I checked into the old Hand Hotel just as a hailstorm began.
After a hot shower I went next-door to the old western saloon and had another beer and began talking with a gentleman who look like a cross between an old hippie and Wyatt Earp. Turns out he’s the former longtime mayor of the town. He told me how the town has changed over the years with the influx of people looking to escape city life. He likes the way things used to be.
Today I had the good fortune of seeing two large herds of elk each with upwards of 30 elk.
Observations:
As I am riding through this valley out of the mountains I start to see very small cabins and RVs dotting the landscape. They are just sitting out there in the distance in these open fields. The closer I got to civilization the more I saw of these little “outposts”. At the saloon I inquired about them. Apparently some years ago the major landowner subdivided and sold large parcels of land. People planted their trailers and RVs out there and use them for various purposes such as second homes or cabins. There are also a number of shipping containers on some of the properties. I wondered if some of these properties were survivalists big out camps.