A blog for (semi) athletic middle-aged men (and women) holding on to (the last vestiges of) their youth
by training for and competing in running, cycling, swimming and triathlon events!


Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Ride the Rockies 2017 Days 2-3: Pagosa Springs to Durango and Durango Loop



Day Three of Ride the Rockies (the fourth day of riding for Team Beef/Bar2Bar) was a 38-mile roller coaster ride. The first 14 miles were the chug chug chug up the first big climb on the coaster? You know the feeling that it will never end? Yeah, it felt like that. It took two hours.

Remember the feeling of cresting that big climb? Yeah, it felt like that. For the rest of the ride we were either flying down a steep hill or cruising over hills roller coaster style. At times we had to kick it into chug chug gear but it always led to a nice downhill.
Riding with Rocker!

Sporting a USDA CHOICE temporary tattoo on my right calf!
I loved today's route. We rolled back into Durango, stopped at Steamworks to reload the growlers before heading back to out hotel. After a nice shower we headed into town to meet the rest of the team (most of whom skipped the loop day).



Day Two was also a nice ride -- 68 miles from Pagosa Springs to Durango. The wind backed off a bit from our first two days of riding and the three climbs were mild compared to Wolf Creek Pass. We booked a hotel room in Durango and have enjoyed he luxury of sleeping in a bed, showering in private and not having to wait in line to use the bathroom!


Oh yeah, and no sprinklers going off in the middle of the night! Our campground in Pagosa Springs was strafed by sprinklers on the baseball field at 2:00 a.m. Monday morning and we woke to ice crystals on our tent and frozen towels hanging from the fence, as temps dropped below freezing during the night! We had to wait for the sun come up to that the ice and dry off our tents before packing up, which made for a late start, but we survived! 



Last night's rider party was just a couple of blocks from our hotel. It was a beautiful evening of music, beer and hanging out with friends. Maybe a few too many beers judging my the way I feel this morning! No worries, though, today is an easy 84 miles with a meager 7,792 feet of elevation gain!

Ride on!

Daren

2 comments:

  1. I would like to UNINVITE Ride the Rockies. I had to make a trip to Ridgeway this morning and they were riding double file and into the traffic, especially in those very narrow blind curves in the dips and valleys. They made for a very difficult drive, almost hitting them several times. If you can't ride your bikes any better in those horrible places., please do not come back.
    Others are expressing this same thing on Montrose Message Board on facebook.

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  2. Ellen, I'm sorry you had a negative experience. I did not encounter any behavior like you describe. We rode two abreast when the shoulder was wide enough and single file when there no no shoulder. As you were driving from Montrose to Ridgeway you were going to opposite way so should not have encountered any riders on your side of the road. At no time have I ever seen riders going into traffic. That would be suicide. In any regard, I am sorry if we inconvenienced you in any way. 🤠

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