Finally, a day of rest...

Surfer Joe at lunch in Placerville. Also an nice view of Telluride.

Here are the newest notes from Mel, "Hi all, Today (Sunday), we are taking our first rest day--in Telluride. Slept in until Neil woke me up at about 8:30. I probably could have slept till noon. We had a hard day yesterday, but I'll get to that. Last I reported was in Montrose. Our ride out of Montrose was very easy. We have to plan our rides for any number of contingencies, i.e., elevation gains, passes to go over, next-day rides, supplies, etc. You just can't bank on going 60 mile-days and have all the things you'll need. Everything has to be thought out in advance so you don't get caught short without the necessities of life--like water, food, etc.--not TV. We knew we had a big jaunt to get to Telluride so we had to position ourself to be able to do that in a day. The best place we saw we could accomplish that was to launch ourselves from Ridgway. Now Ridgway was only about 30 miles from Montrose--an easy 1000 foot elevation gain that we could accomplish in half a day. That made us kind of sour because it seemed like we would be wasting half a day. There was no good place for us to stay in Ridgway, so we got to Ridgway State Park at the Dutch Charlie's campground and strategized. Should/could we push on towards Telluride? There was really no camping places (mostly private land) between Ridgway and Telluride. So we disappointedly stopped at Dutch Charlies camp and made it a very short day. Dutch Charlies was 4 hilly miles on the north (wrong) side of Ridgway. We were a bit dejected, realizing we would have to ride into town to eat and back out to the camp--giving us about a 40 mile day. The camp was very peaceful and they had nice shower and laundry facilities. It was relaxing with a view from our camp of these huge mountains and Ridgway in the valley below us. We set out for town for some dinner and discovered the most wonderful paved bike trail. We've never ridden such a beautiful bike trail--called the Marmot Run. It literally went from the reservoir at our park into town. Crossed an old railroad bridge and past a crystal clear pond, alongside a river with lots of bird life. That changed our whole outlook on the short day and made it all worth it. We packed up early and left the next morning for our big ride to Telluride. We lingered along that wonderful bike trail even knowing that we needed to get a good start. And we had to stop at Kate's Place in Ridgway (recommended to us by the bike guy from Pennsylvania) for a good breakfast. It was a happening place on a Saturday morning. Fueled up, we started up for the big day ahead. We had a beautiful (not to strenuous) ride through the Dallas Valley heading to Dallas Divide. That was a 2000 foot elevation gain in 11 miles with most of the tough part in the last 3 miles (it's always that way). It was sweaty. We generally have to walk the last mile (or two or three) on passes as it generally gets steep for us old people. Thunder heralded an approaching storm and sure enough, just before reaching the top of the divide, a rain and hail storm slammed into us. We were pelted and had to simply stop and take it on the chin. Neil found out that his rain coat which had been advertised as rain proof was only water resistant. He was soaked so I gave him an emergency blanket which the wind tore in shreds. Finally Mother (or Father--as my son Will calls him when nature turns bad) Nature let up and Neil put on some other layers to try to warm up. My poncho and coat and hand warmers kept me from faring too badly. Then we headed off down the other side of the divide for a whale of a ride. It just kept going so we wracked up a lot of downhill miles. But it seemed like when we'd get to a dry stretch of road, the rain gods would plaster us again. The autumn leaves were a riot of color in the rain. It was a beautiful ride despite everything. We stopped at the little store in Placerville at the bottom of the ride and who should we see? The legendary Surfer Joe from Minnesota. Remember earlier when I mentioned that Will from Chico told us to watch out from him? His bike and fullblown surfboard were parked in front of the Placerville store. He came out of the door, all smiles, carrot-top hair, orange shirt, eating a banana and drinking chocolate milk (the drink of choice for most bikers--Neil excluded). He had a Swedish accent because he grew up in a Swedish town. What a guy! We got his story on tape. I know I've mentioned it before, but these end of the season transcontinental bike riders are absolutely amazing people. Joe decided on a whim in the space of two days (when his girlfriend left him and he quit his job), to buy a plane ticket to San Diego and surf his way up the California coast to San Francisco and bike his way across the country. True grit. Absolutely amazing. He's 26 years old, a youth minister, and a gentle soul. He's just sleeping in the forests along the way. I asked him how difficult it was when he started to go it alone. He said the first two days were tough, but now he regales in the solitary moments. He especially likes the starry nights. He's found that weather is only a temporary inconvenience and that he just keeps on going no matter what Mother Nature throws at him. He said he started out kind of pudgy, but has lost twenty pounds. I'm waiting for that to happen in my neighborhood. My gut is getting microscopically smaller day by day. I've had people comment on it out on the road (truck driver in Beeler, Kansas). Isn't that the key reason I'm doing this ride--to lose the gut? Well, no, but it could be a good by-product if it works. But we spent about an hour in the Placerville store shooting the breeze with Surfer Joe. What a great day! We said goodbye to Joe and each of us headed off in the rain. Finally the rain stopped about five or six miles down the road. We had to climb another 1,400 feet to get to the turnoff to Telluride. Of course, we had to do our little hike near the end when the road got tough. Shoulders were very poor so it felt good to finally get to their little bike trail into town. We went to the campground in the city park. It was 6:30 when we arrived. I guess we could have camped free (a perk to the transcontinental bikers), but we got here too late to figure out where and how to do that. But the camping rates were a reasonable $12 and the camping grounds in a beautiful aspen grove. There are no LDS church meetings in Telluride. This is a play and recreate and drinking town. Lots of young people here looking for fun. After breakfast in a little park, Neil and I rode the free gondola ride up to the top of a 10,500 foot high mountain. Talk about a beautiful setting! Fall colors with barren, snowy, lofty peaks. When we rode into Telluride yesterday, a guy yelled out at me, "Hey, Long Haul Trucker!" It's like I'm riding the Ferrari of bikes! As the Penn biker says, I've got a "hot ticket" for a ride. The bike is holding up real well, but the rider is feeling his age. Using a lot of vaseline to keep the posterior from cranking up on me. I'm not getting on the saddle at all today. Tomorrow we'll set out to climb 2000 feet to the 10,200 foot Lizard Head Pass. Today Lizard Head has been hidden in a cloud. Then we should have a great long ride down the other side. We'll have to decide how far to go later today. We want to position ourselves so we begin a tough ride in Utah in Blanding--75 miles with no water to Hanksville. We hope to be in Utah by Tuesday or Wednesday. What a feeling it will be to have come through these massive Rockies--all their ups and downs and high passes--and skimpy shoulders and headwinds. Maybe I'll take one more gondola ride, then look for a little nap time. Some have asked again what Becky's blog site is with the photos and daily log. It is Neilandbecky.blogspot.com. Karen says she's looked at it and the photos are great. Take a look and see Surfer Joe. Miss you all. Mel"