Well, it’s not easy being me, as no one in particular said ever. Charged with the heavy responsibility of having to head off on the long-road periodically to service my legion fans on buff3ysbicyclingblog.info, I find myself back in Colorado resuming the ride south through the USA. And for reasons best known to someone of more perfect mind, I’m doing this during the northern Winter.
I’m heading south through Colorado and then towards New Orleans in Louisiana and there is a little bit of pedaling at altitude to be done before I get through the Rockies and down below 1,000m then on to the delta.
The road starts at the curiously named ‘Luxury Inn’ in Silverthorne situated just to the west of Denver then heads south through the remainder of the Rocky Mountains, now with the addition of snow and wind chill.
Not a lot of road-shoulder to work with up on the 3,500m Hoosier Pass
South of the ski resort town of Brechenridge, the 3,500m Hoosier Pass turns into a bit of a nightmare when a snow storm rolls through and the temperature plummets. I am far from having the touring leg condition back and it is a very cold and miserable ride (then push) up and somewhere near the top the water-bottles are frozen, the hands are numb and the vision starts to blur. Just beyond the peak is the tiny hamlet of Alma where the owner of the general store phones a friend who runs an AirBnB around the corner. This is heaven-send as this particular cyclist was never going to make it the 10km down to the little town of Fairplay.
Magnificent coffee and breakfast in the town of Fairplay just beyond the 3,500m Hoosier Pass. Lovely lovely coffee and delicious ‘high country special’ (mass of eggs, sausage and hash-browns).
When riding into Salida (pronounced Sa-lie-da for some odd reason) you can smell the pot oozing out of the funky little cafes. I drop into the 142 Bar which is an equally funky beer-sampling place where you tap your card and pull your own glasses from a wall of 25 craft beers. I guzzle up to the limit and head for a cheap motel. The alpacas just outside town look pretty chilled out as well.
This town is referred to as the southern point of the Rockies in a brochure and there is an enticing road that leads south-east that will get me off the 2,000m high road and down through Pueblo and into the plains of Kansas and Texas, so that is clearly the road for me.
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