Riding High in Colorado
Day 10- Durango, CO to Pagosa Springs, CO (58 miles and 2,800 feet of climbing)
We had another “late” start today leaving after sunrise. I biked for 14 miles before calling it quits. My hip hurt a little bit, and I didn’t really feel like biking uphill all day. It was 14 miles more than I ever thought that I’d bike in the Rockies when we were first preparing for this trip. We have officially left the desert behind us and it’s nice seeing mountains and green for a change. The temperature was a cool 88 degrees when we finished. It is nice to not endure 110 degree temperatures any more.
Mom, Maude and I drove a bit further down the route so she could skip the downhill portion. Dad looks forward to the descents, so he rode up a big hill and was rewarded with a long descent. Mom and Dad started the next uphill and 21 miles later they met Maude and I at McDonalds. It was one of our shortest but highest days. We never got below 6000 feet of elevation, the highest point Dad biked to was 7700 feet. After all this time riding at higher altitudes we’re hoping our bodies have made more red blood cells that will make the riding in Kansas that much easier.
We loaded up and drove over the highest point of the entire ride at over 10,000 feet. I was a bit nervous to bring Maude up so high, but she barley even noticed. Tonight we are staying at a drive in movie theater hotel. We can see two screens from our room and there is a speaker in the room for audio (see picture below for the view of one of the screens). If we stay up late enough we’ll get to see either Mission Impossible or Indiana Jones. Unfortunately we usually go to sleep before sunset so I doubt we’ll be able to see the film.
