DAY 41-71 Miles
A difficult day with a fantasy finish.
Last night I slept on a gravel parking lot and tonight in a fluffy king size bed...but I'll get to the bed part later! Yes, still in Colorado, still long climbs, still magnificent scenery from the top and still daily downpours. It must've rained three hours last night as it kind of kept waking me up, which isn't hard to do laying on gravel. It could've been much worse. I didn't have to setup my tent in the rain which was a major blessing; and I wasn't the guy 30 feet away racing the Colorado Bike Race sleeping in the outhouse because he lost his tent poles three days ago. Poor guy, although this morning he said "it didn't even smell bad"!
I started a bit behind on sleep which is a bad idea since I wanted to make it here to Del Norte for the night. The mileage was ambitious enough but the 3100 feet of elevation gain throughout the day didn't help any, except some of the scenery! Add that to the never-before-and-felt-great-one-hour-lunch-spot and you have a VERY LONG day on your butt. I'm not sure why But I never really stop for lunch except when I'm in a town. I just constantly munch and keep pedaling, but today, oh I came across this beauty spot in the shade, under some trees, next to ,yes, a babbling brook! no, you wouldn't have been able to resist either. I even slept a bit!!! That NEVER happens. Bill be tired and stuff!
I was about twenty miles north of Del Norte' when the sky turned black and I was out of water. Good timing as the map showed a little town, well, a gas pump, 0.6 miles off route, perfect. It was closed. but after sufficient asking I got someone to come to the door and show me how to work the well pump for water. Which, at that moment, was really a great thing. Then the sky did it's usuall black and thunder and scream and crack and pour thing. But Billy Boy was under a canopy!! Let it pour!! I don't care!!
An hour or so I waited and it finally turned to barely a drizzle. I felt like I was likely wearing out my welcome at the place that was closed anyway. I put the jacket and hood back on under the helmet, donned the gloves and was back at it. you know what's coming right?! I don't think I'd gone a mile...NO WAY MAN!!!!
So by the time I got to town I was a soggy, muddy, sand pie. The map lists two places for lodging. #1 was full (they only had two rooms) and#2 never answered the "push button if no one is here" after 15 minutes of that! I went to the local grocery store to get dinner for the night and was going to camp at the city park when I was re-united with Chip! I hadn't seem in in almost two weeks and he said he was staying at a B&B three blocks away. And the rest is history. I am working my angels into extreme overtime!! Nearly every time it looks disastrous I get rescued.
Aleina & Becky run this lovely B&B here in Del Norte' and if you are ever here or near you should seriously look them up. Very kind people who gave me a serious discount for the ride. Their number is 719-657-9324 and can be reached at
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. Their website is www.honeybramble.com.
I hope they have a strong vacuum cleaner as I was in their room for two nights! At the PO I had to get a new box as the previous one had been shipped to death. No amount of tape could've saved it, God knows I tried!
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