Alamosa - South Fork, CO - Big Mountains, Small Towns.

June 26, 2022

Alamosa - South Fork, CO

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I did not hear the pitter patter of rain when I woke up this morning. Things were looking good already. Oren and I were at breakfast when they opened. We are still in the land of green chili. I had some on my eggs. Jacinto wandered over just as we were finishing. I told Oren I could be ready in ten minutes. We were on the road by 7 AM. The forecast was for rain starting at noon, although looking at the sky, it appeared it could rain any second.

Today's route was straight west. Highway 285 splits off at Monte Vista. We stayed west, on Highway 160. I was in front and pedaled like it was going to be the torrential downpours that were in the forecast. I averaged 14.2 mph to Monte Vista. That is a good speed for me! I stopped at the skate park potty. There was no one skating at this hour. The door to the potty was locked. I debated my social correctness, and then went around behind the potty to the bushes. I was quickly back on the road. Who should I see ahead of me, outside of town, but Oren! He was closer than I thought and had passed me. He was equally surprised, as he thought I was way off the front.

We rode together the rest of the day. The shoulder was ~eight feet wide. Pavement was occasionally new, but even the old parts were never in bad condition. It was 50 degrees when we left. We had a light headwind, which switched to a light tailwind.

The road to Monte Vista was very flat. Then we had a few small undulating climbs. I knew we would cross paths with Great Divide riders at Del Norte. Indeed, at a store on the right, I saw 4-6 appropriately outfitted mountain bikes to the left. I waved to the riders. On the right we saw more mountain bikes. They were parked at a little trailer, and were sitting under a canopy, eating. There was a sign out front saying Big Iron Bike Tours. I looked fondly at Boogie's Diner as we rode passed. They were busy. I would have loved second breakfast there. But, the little sliver of blue sky I had been looking at had disappeared. I was more afraid of the rain, than I was hungry.

We kept pedaling. Both Monte Vista and Del Norte were well kept and prosperous looking. I stopped for several photos, and lagged behind Oren. Jacinto had sent a Strava link - I could see he was catching up to me.

I had told Oren I wanted to stop at the very nice rest area before Del Norte. There was no rest area. Am I going crazy? I cared enough to call Jacinto and ask him where was the rest area - it was before Monte Vista he said. Sure enough, there it was!

Oren pulled over at the entrance. I think that was my signal he didn't really need to stop. I don't know who takes care of this rest area, but the grounds are amazing. Flowers everywhere, nicely trimmed grass that is all grass, not trod down.

Jacinto pulled in. We agreed we were lucky with the weather, but now we needed to kill some time before going to the motel. Jacinto and I remembered a Subway at the intersection of the road to Creede. It turned out to be a Blimpee. I think that was rejected because they don't have bowls, just sandwiches? I had gotten behind, taking photos, so I didn't hear the conversation. Instead, we ended up at Chavalo's Mexican Food. Two men were just exiting. They stopped to ask about our trip. One man was hiking the entire Continental Divide Trail. The other man had come out to join him, but was having altitude issues, so they had come down out of the mountains. Weather also played a part. They said the trail was so muddy that they couldn't get a foothold.

The restaurant was busy with the Sunday church crowd. Our food was good. I thought I would take half of mine to go, but I ate it all! When we exited the building, Jacinto told me my tire looked low. Sure it does, you are a funny guy. No, really, it looks like. I gave it a squeeze. Darned if he wasn't telling the truth!

It was a half mile to the motel. I rode on in. We went inside and were able to check in. Jacinto and I didn't go to our room, instead we went back out to change the flat. Oren came and retrieved us, saying we had to come and look at his room. He has a suite with a jacuzzi tub! His room is huge, sofa and all. That's the life!

We went back outside. I found one wire right away. Then I found a second one. I started to work, patching the tube. Jacinto checked the inside of the tire for me and found a third wire! This makes me wonder if my front tire has wires also. We agreed that this section of road had been fairly clean. Could these wires be left over from the interstate riding into Raton? That was a long time ago.

I run Schwalbe Marathon Racers. The rear tire was new for this trip. We were trying to get the third wire out, when Oren came to check on us. He asked if I had anything sharp, like a knife. Indeed, I do. He and Jacinto kept digging away at the tire. They could both BARELY feel the wire. They checked inside, then outside, then inside again. Finally Oren managed to extract the pesky wire. He had a tire boot. In the meanwhile, I decided to go ahead and put our spare tire on. We could save this for later, and boot the bad spot if we use it. Oren put a piece of duct tape on it, at my urging. My objective was wanting to keep the tube from bulging through the small hole. I don't know if the pea size area where the casing has been roughed up would be a problem or not. There isn't actually a hole all the way through, but it is possible to see the rubber, instead of casing, in a tiny area now. In any case, that tire is now the spare.

We got the bike reassembled. Jacinto semi accused me of taking his pump, but that was my pump! He likes this one better as there is a line in the numbers that shows the exact pressure. His pump shows numbers, but has no line. I'm surprised he didn't swap me right there. In the meanwhile, he was so happy with the pump, that he checked his tires and Oren's also.

We got in our room, finally. For some reason we are in a handicap room. Other than that, it's regular size. We've done the get to town stuff.

I called our lodging for tomorrow, and gave Jennifer the spiel about bicycle riders trying to beat the weather, could we get in our room early. She said we could check in at noon. Her tone of voice was pleasant, I asked about nearby restaurants, and said we would eat before coming over. Then I added we were traveling with a friend, implying he would also like to check in early. That sent her over the edge. She told me that check in time was 3 PM, if he didn't like that, he could cancel and go somewhere else. Her tone of voice didn't change, but her words sure went to the extreme. Jennifer went on to say that it's summer, they are busy, short handed, etc. I agreed with her, adding that is why I called, just on the off chance we could get in early. It was so odd - she could have gone straight to the 'we are short handed' part, without the heavy statement about canceling. Now I'm sort of dreading going in. I sure didn't ask if they have breakfast in the morning!

We have a short ride to Creede tomorrow. The forecast looks friendly. It is a very narrow road, squashed in a canyon with the Rio Grande River. I'm happy we didn't have to climb it on a high traffic Sunday. It's a beautiful canyon, just busy. The next day we get back into the meat of things, with a big climb up Spring Creek and Slumgullion passes.

Oren is in full rain preparedness mode. Happily, it was for naught.

This is totally the truth. The southern part of Colorado has wicked wind. It is difficult to predict. Today our challenge was rain.

Are these sand hill cranes? They were all along the Main Street in Monte Vista.

I swear this truck used to have a high school anatomy class type skeleton in it.

A beautiful sculpture outside of South Fork.

In case you are interested in a new type of cycling.

See the leading edge of the barns, to the right? That roof style was popular in this area.

That third wire in my tire was barely poking through. It took some operating to remove. We finally got the wire out, but decided the casing might be compromised. We decided to install the spare tire and keep this one as a spare.

Oren won the motel lottery tonight. He has a big suite, with a sofa, and a jacuzzi !

Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 852 miles (1,371 km)

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marilyn swettDon and I went to college in Alamosa, and have since ridden in the valley a number of times on the tandem. I remember in college, a girlfriend and I rode our bikes to Monte Vista. We were so tired that we ended up calling the dorm mother to come pick us up. She was NOT happy about doing that! Even though I'm much older, I'm a stronger rider now than back in those days and probably could easily make the round trip.
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