August 29, 2021
Rifle - Carbondale via Rifle Gap
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Alison, Bill, and Ingrid took the Amtrak overnight from Oakland, CA. It was scheduled to arrive in Glenwood Springs at noon. Alison expected it to be late. I told her not to worry about me at all until the morning. They would be busy getting off the train, getting organized, etc. I didn’t want to add any extra pressure to the day.
I planned an 8 AM departure. Jacinto jokingly suggested I go the long way around, up Rifle Gap. We were both surprised when I took up his idea. The truth is that I’ve done very little climbing all summer. I have plenty of miles. I am not sure the miles will do me good when we hit the first pass of the colors tour. I should climb now. Yes, indeed.
I had the most minimal gear possible. I did not bring the computer, a first for me. I struggled with clothing, but erred on the side of caution. Weather for this three days looks fine, but mountain weather can be fickle. I have a long layer, plus a raincoat and rain mitts. I brought an apple for each day. I have a quart size ziplock bag of bars and sleeves of electrolytes. I laughed at myself on that one, but you know how I am about having snack food. I have one lonely serving of Spiz meal replacement drink. That’s for the last morning. I will drink that for breakfast, and then have second breakfast 30 downhill miles later.
I was out the door at 8:30, not too bad, considering I hadn’t packed the night before. Jacinto’s opinion was that I should delay until about noon to get the best help from the typical west wind.
I don’t know how much my two small panniers weigh, but I certainly felt it on the climb. I decided that there were indeed advantages to having a SAG carry your gear up the pass. That’s what Jim pointed out to me when I suggested we skip the SAG. My average at the very top of the climb was 7 mph! I was slightly horrified. It’s not that steep of a climb!
A big piece in Jacinto talking me into the long route was the bodacious ten mile downhill into New Castle. I was there in no time. I stopped at a potty, sent both Jacinto and Alison text messages, and ate a half a bar.
I cycled through town. All parking spots were full. This is Sunday morning? Where were all of these people? I don’t know of any churches downtown and I don’t think there’s enough restaurants to serve this many. It will forever remain one of life’s little mysteries.
I anticipated riding on highway 6 for a few miles to Canyon Creek, where I would be forced onto the interstate. I was surprised to see a roadside DOT sign flashing that the Canyon Creek exit was closed. I debated continuing on, to see how closed, closed was. No. I’d better not. If had to turn around, that would be a lengthy detour. I got on the interstate.
At least this section was clean. Jacinto and I had discussed how regular road maintenance such as cutting the weeds appeared to be low priority since the mudslides. We speculated that pavement cleaning fell in that category.
I rode an unnecessary four miles on the interstate. When I passed under Canyon Creek, I saw several vehicles entering the interstate with no barriers, cones, etc
The second section of the interstate ride didn’t have as clean of roadway. Hopefully I didn’t pick up any wires that will make their presence known later.
I was happy to exit at West Glenwood. Vehicles had been polite and gave me space as they could, but interstate riding will never be my favorite. I’ve met a few people over the years who say they prefer interstate riding because the road is flatter. That may be true, but it is not the bucolic back road riding I prefer!
At West Glenwood I used the potty next to the Harley Motorcycle dealer and ate another half a bar. I was ready to get on the bike path and start enjoying the ride!
The first section of the Rio Grande path has multiple road crossings. Lucky me, I hit the first several just right.
It was now after noon. Alison and friends should be debarking soon. The sky was getting even more hazy. I was sad not to get a good view of Mt Sopris. It was shrouded in smoke.
I was carrying leftovers to eat at a shaded picnic table. I passed a shaded bench. No, I wanted a table. I passed a table in the sun. No, I want shade. The miles kept ticking away. If I didn’t come across a shaded table soon, I would be in Carbondale!
Finally, with five miles to town, I came across a shelter with two tables. As soon as I pulled in, the single woman who had been taking a break, jumped up to leave. She ended up chatting for 10-15 minutes. We talked about the closed bike path through the canyon and how it didn’t seem to be a priority to clear.
She left as a couple pulled up. This was a popular spot! I ate my omelet and read a text from Alison. They were on the road. I responded that I would wait for them. A male cyclist stopped and entertained me as I waited. He was riding a loop around county road 106 to the path and back home. He assured me this was the ugly section, I should be over on 106 instead. Oops. He also thought if I really wanted to traverse the canyon bike path, that we should just go for it, even if we had to walk through mud! Yea. Maybe not.
I saw a man approaching with panniers. This must be Bill? Followed by Ingrid? I flagged Bill over. We had a minute to introduce ourselves before Alison arrived. She was easy to spot with her pink panniers and moose on the back. I have to ask the moose’s name. I bet it has a name.
We sat at the picnic tables and got acquainted. Alison’s thermometer said 92 degrees. It was time to move on. We weren’t sure if we could get in the motel early, but we were going to try.
I was still sad about the poor views of Mt Sopris. I also noted the lack of traffic on the path. I don’t know if it was being a hot afternoon, or maybe the smoke, but there sure wasn’t much action for a Sunday. Alison said there was an organized ride that the riders had spent the night in Redstone, we should be seeing riders. They must have all passed through.
We got to Carbondale. I was waiting for someone to take the lead. Me? I should lead? The local? I do suppose that makes sense. I hoped I didn’t get lost and embarrass myself. Thankfully, I rode right to the motel like I knew where it was.
Alison and Ingrid went in to register. Finally I gave up and followed them. I don’t know what was taking so long, but I was happy sitting by the air conditioning. All I needed was ice water.
Friendly Susan, with whom I had chatted about bikes in the room and breakfast, was working the front desk. We were finally all checked in and agreed to meet at 5 PM for dinner.
Jacinto had gone hiking in Glenwood and drove up to meet Alison. We have ‘known’ her for many years, since she gifted us the motel version of the Sierra Cascades route in 2015. That gave me confidence that it is indeed possible to schedule a lengthy motel trip.
Jacinto took us for a drive around Carbondale’s downtown. He didn’t think it was cute, but I insisted. Our main goal was looking for outdoor dining. There were a few, but all were closed on Sunday. We ended up back where we started. The Honey Butter Diner was a block from the Comfort Inn and had outside dining in the shade.
Alison, generously and unnecessarily, offered to buy dinner. She wouldn’t even let us pay the tip!
Alison and Ingrid had satisfactory dinner salads. The rest of us ordered fried chicken dinners. The most interesting part was the roasted Brussel sprouts. We all ordered some. That’s not a typical diner item.
We sat and talked until my rear end went numb on the hard picnic table bench.
We parted ways in the lobby. I tried to talk Jacinto into sleeping over. He would have to get up at 4;30 to be to work on time. I don’t know why that didn’t appeal to him!
he had brought a change of clothes and shoes with him and had showered after his hike. I warned him not to forget his hiking shoes, they were way too heavy and I wasn’t going to carry them two days to get them back home. Instead, he forgot his smelly shirt on the back of the chair. He told me to throw it away, but I’m too frugal for that. I can carry a shirt. I might even wash it and wear it the last day, just for a change.
It has been a good day. Alison and friends were polite about my inviting myself to the start of their tour. I wish it had worked out that we could ride the whole loop together. Had we only known we were planning the same trip!
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Today's ride: 49 miles (79 km)
Total: 49 miles (79 km)
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