This morning is somewhat overcast and perfect for climbing the last 2 miles over McClure Pass. Needless to say, the final climb was fine and I have again set a new high elevation standard.
This high point will not last for long but it is the standard for today!
The downhill was fun too as you can imagine. It was a fairly quick ride into Carbondale with one quick distraction. I was told of a hot spring along the Crystal River which was the exact river I was following to Carbondale. How fortunate.
The springs were great. Several pools to choose from with different temperatures in each one.
After the nice soak, I continued the rapid descent to Carbondale. I was even able get onto a bike path for the last 6 miles into Carbondale. In Carbondale, I had several things to accomplish. First was find lunch. That was easy. Next was to figure out how far I was going to ride past Carbondale towards Aspen. There are several campgrounds past Aspen that set me up perfectly for the climb up Independence Pass, but they are just too far to ride there today. So I needed to find an intermittent place to stay today. I stopped at the Forest Ranger Station to inquire about camping and there really was nothing that was a reasonable ride and on pavement. Next I looked for private campgrounds and RV Parks. Nothing. Next was looking for a motel that was reasonably priced. Nothing. This was looking really bad!
Finally, I decided that I needed to ride to Glenwood Springs, in the opposite direction that I needed to go in. But it was only 10 miles and downhill. Then the plan would be to put my bike on the bus in the morning and go back up to Carbondale and start riding from there again. I can make it to Aspen easy enough for lunch and then go on to the campgrounds toward the pass afterwards. Problem solved. And the first part went perfect except for the afternoon rainstorm that I ended up riding through before Glenwood Springs. So a motel room is was for today. Now everything is dry except for the laundry I did in the motel room sink. So far so good for the alternative plan.
For tomorrow, I hope the rest of my plan works out. Stay tuned.
Greg,
When we lived in Estes Park my parents would drive us over Trail Ridge road 12,000 ft in elevation, every September to spend our birthdays at the resort in Glenwood Springs….glad your getting a soak!
Just read Greg C’s post on day 44… a “bike speedo”… hmmmm
putting your bike on the bus? who is this and what have you done with Greg?
The photo of you in the hot springs reminds me of the hot pots near Gardner back in college days – after a long night of drinking, we would pile into a car (really not the safest strategy) and drive out and drink some more. (again not the safest strategy). Then sooner or later we would come home and hope that someone could stay awake long enough to drive home.
The way I look at this is that I got 10 bonus miles by riding down to Glenwood Springs yesterday. It was off route and today is going to be a hard enough day without riding those 10 miles back uphill to Carbondale. My conscience is clear.