Redstone-Rifle: A long downhill run. Ah!

July 17, 2009

Our day today was Day One in reverse. Except as we approached Rifle most of us took the direct route - Hwy 6. This made our mileage different from Day One. Jacinto, of course, had to take the more difficult route home. He got an extra 15 miles going over Harvey Gap and Rifle Gap. He was quite surprised no one wanted to join him.

I had get down the road itis today. I took no photos except for at the cafe in the morning. Hopefully Moni can help me out with some photos.

Jacinto managed to stir himself to join the group for breakfast. Everyone made a point of asking if he would be there - made him feel wanted so he rolled out of bed. We had eaten dinner at the same restaurant the first time through town. Jacinto must have had an entire pot of coffee that evening, the waitress definitely remembered him. We all got quite a kick out of that.

After breakfast Jacinto refused to start riding, said it was way too cold. He would stay in the room and read the newspaper and catch up later. I was somewhat miffed. I thought we would ride the entire distance together today. Instead we probably wouldn't see each other at all, it would be a fast downhill run.

Jacinto was present, but barely awake at 7 AM for a group breakfast. After breakfast he stayed at the cabin reading the newspaper - said 48 degrees was too cold to ride, he would wait and catch up later.

This waitress recognized Jacinto from our first trip through. He was memorable for how many cups of coffee he drank.

I took off, feeling sorry for myself. It was the last day of a great trip. I tried to tell myself all of the good things: we had a great group of people who got along well together, the weather had been fantastic, the route equally fantastic, traffic light and considerate. It was a shame our trip was over - and Jacinto wouldn't ride with me.

I soon came upon Moni and Fred taking photos. I should have stopped with them next to the stream. The light was shining just right for a nice shot. No - I kept going. Then I saw Ken stopped to take off his jacket. Did I stop with Ken? I should have - Ken and I didn't ride together too much during the trip. He was a speedy rider that didn't stop often. No - I didn't stop with Ken either. The run to Carbondale was very fast this direction. It made me appreciate the uphill climb just a few short days ago. It must have been a good climb to be zipping along this quickly. I didn't even stop in Carbondale to use the bathroom - just kept going. Geez, what an attitude.

Fred's photo of Ken. Ken was hard to get a photo of. He was always off the front - or making a surprise comeback from behind.

Ken soon caught up with me and we rode along the Rio Grande Trail together. I gave up my grumpiness and enjoyed the ride. Ken is a very fun guy, once he slows down and rides with someone. He's the strong, silent, type. We stopped at the end of the trail to use the bathroom. The permanent restrooms were closed, we had to use the very full, very disguisting one down by the river. As we ate our left over burritos, I asked Ken if he wanted to stop for a real lunch in New Castle. Ken still had leftover food that he had been carrying to cook in camp each night. I didn't really think I'd be hungry in New Castle, only seven miles down the road. But I also didn't know if there would be food at home to eat. The Chinese food restaurant in New Castle is cheap and serves lots of food. What more could a cyclist want? Ken held his position, saying he'd stop with me, but really needed to eat the food he'd been carrying all of these days. But you know what happened, when we got to New Castle and went inside - Ken couldn't resist ordering. : )

Jacinto showed up not much after we ordered. While we were finishing eating, Moni and Fred stopped by. They had bought some snacks at the neighboring City Market.

Jacinto tried to talk us into taking the scenic/climbing route over Harvey Gap and Rifle Gap back to Rifle. He said the day was still young, we had plenty of time. Why would anyone want to take the flat/easy route when you could climb? He seemed quite surprised that he had no takers on the scenic route. Off he went. Ken, Moni, Fred, and I all stayed on flat Hwy 6. Ken was off the front and gone in no time. Moni, Fred, and I stayed together to town.

I don't like coming home from a trip. It's not the coming home part. It's the getting back to real life I don't like. We had to work tonight. My mind geared back up into working mode. How busy would we be at the movie theatre? Was there enough change money? Who was working? Questions like that. Touring is much more fun - ride, eat, shower, sleep. What's not to like about that life? the simple things are the best. I wonder how soon I can go on another tour.

Fred's photo of us right before Redstone.

We ate a group meal on our last evening together. We started outside and finished inside after the sun went down.

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 631 miles (1,015 km)

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