Sunday, July 12: Kind of a goofy day today for sure, when we had planned on one thing and then ended up doing quite another. 

Had kind of a restless night of sleep last night, pretty much because the painkiller meds I’d gotten in the hospital had warn off by night time, and I kind of had a tender leg all night long. When I moved around in the bed I felt that sore leg each and every time. So my sleep quality was on the low side, and when I got up at like 6 AM, I was sore and stiff on the right side. Made the prospect of hiking 14 miles with a 5K elevation gain sound very gnarly. And by the time everyone was up I conceded that I could do the hike but doing anything else for the day….like riding 40 or 50 miles afterwards, that was not in the cards. 

Bill and I packed for the hike, with me pretty much just keeping the same gear in my medium backpack that I had yesterday, save for the bike repair tools. I added a long sleeve polypro top and a long sleeve fleece top to the mix. Also got out some backpacking socks and relaced my hiking shoes. Did a quick banana, yogurt & and almond butter sandwich for breakfast and we were out the door with Judy driving us the 17 miles to the trailhead. We had to take several dirt/gravel roads to get to the trailhead, and since I’d never did on-the-spot recon on this section, I was a bit concerned that one or several of those gravel roads would be undrivable in the van. Then what?

So first road was great, like a dirt superhighway, and the second road was really good, and then came the third road, the access road to the Rio Alto Trailhead - X.8 Rd. It had a cattle crossing grate and on the other side was this rutted out dirt road. The sign at the cattle grate warned of bad road conditions. Just what I was worried about had happened. So the trailhead was 4 miles up this access road. Now we were just getting ready for me to drive the van through this sketchy section with Bill kind of directing me while standing out on the road, and I thought, “hell, Judy won’t have this luxury.” And that’s all it took. I threw the van in park and we had to kick this one around. What to do? Do we hike an additional 8 miles, with me already nursing a bad leg? Or do we ride our bikes to the trailhead, then hide them in the trees and lock them together? 

I decided to get on the bike and recon the road all the way to the trailhead, then call them one way or another to tell them that the rest of the road was doable in the van, or that it was not and I was either riding back or having Bill ride out on the bike to meet me. I took off riding in my hiking shoes and wearing a thick polypro hiking top and hiking shorts. But heck, I had to get that ride in today or tomorrow to connect everything to Hermit Pass, so at least I was getting something accomplished. Took off and this thing just did a false flat climb right from the get-go. The first 3 miles were dbl track and definitely doable in the van, though at a slow speed because of all the loose rocks. But then it really kind of went to poop - and it felt WAY more than 4 miles - for the last 1-2 miles. The road surface was all dirt and there were ruts about 2 feet deep in there such that she’d have to straddle the ruts. Not good. That right there convinced me that the van coming out there, that wasn’t happening.

But I did want to ride this thing all the way to the trailhead to get that riding portion done and scope out the start of the hike. Got there, called Bill and told him the van was out. By that time we were getting into late morning, about 8:30 not the ideal start time for a hike up as high as we were planning on going. And if I had Bill ride out here on his 29er in his hiking gear, that would be another 40 minutes, which would put us at a 9 AM start time. No good! I told Bill I’d ride back and we’d discuss what to do for the day. By the time I got back I had an hour invested in that 4….errr 5 mile long road. So I had 8-10 ride miles in already. 

While I was riding back Bill was doing some thinking on the issue, and when I got back he suggested we rent a jeep for tomorrow or see if we could pay an outfitter to shuttle us out there. I was definitely on board with that suggestion. So that was it. Hike Rio Alto tomorrow. For today? Had to get the ride from the trailhead to Marshall Pass road done. We’d just switch out Monday’s segment for today, and today’s segment for Monday. So I changed into a cycling kit I had in the van, and put my shoes on, then suggested that Bill or Judy ride with me on the gravel roads back to Rt 285. Judy wanted breakfast and Bill had to go back to the motel for his cycling kit, so I ended up riding this alone. They would meet me back at the junction of AA Rd with Rt 285. 

So after completing the trailhead road ride - X.8 Rd - I went R, north on 64 Rd for a few miles, and then L, west on AA Rd for a whole bunch of miles. Met Bill just before I junctioned with 285, where Judy was waiting for me. So she’d ride the second section, about 16 miles to the town of Villa Grove. Now let me digress here for a minute. What I’d decided to do last night, having had my right leg sutured up a couple inches above the inside knee, is to alter the itinerary a bit to make the cycling for Monday’s ride, which I was doing today, to make it easier on me. The original route would have taken me around a small mt range with a pass, The Gate, which is on 4WD track just west, and parallel to Rt 285. That small portion was pretty much a day of riding for 30+ miles due to the difficulty factor. 

I’d decided, since I’d seen the great gravel berm on Rt 285, that I’d do that instead in order to not stress out that sutured wound with more gnarly bike hiking and bumpy descending. Saw the great gravel berm yesterday on our way down here from the hospital. And that’s when it occurred to me that I could make my life a tad easier for a day and still stay on gravel. So, with that being said, I just needed to go up Rt 285 north on this wonderful gravel berm for 35 miles to the junction with CR 200 - Marshall Pass Rd - rather than risk the 4WD stuff so soon after the injury. 

Well, luck was on my side because there was a wind out of the south, and I do mean a wind. It was just marvelous, pushing me on the gravel berm at a comfortable 13-14 mph. Judy rode on the great asphalt berm while I rode on the great gravel berm. No sandburs, no hassles, and with that tailwind, it was just glorious. Judy and I crushed it for just over an hour. Did a food/hydration stop in Villa Grove, and Bill got on the bike at that point and Judy drove. I told Bill to just go, because with him riding asphalt berm and me in the gravel, hell he’d be feeling like a slug. So Bill got it rolling on 285 for the 22 miles up to the 9010 ft Poncha Pass. From there it’s a descent for 3 miles on 285 to the junction with CR 200, Marshall Pass Rd, which we’ll ride on Wed. 

I rolled out about 10 minutes later, and again, with that southerly tailwind in good gravel, I was just flying up this 22 mile false flat climb to the pass. I mean I did this thing in about 1:15 hrs! That had to be the easiest pass yet. Quite a difference when you’re doing a false flat as opposed to a steep kicker. Made the pass and then descended on the gravel berm for 3 miles to CR 200. The descent was actually harder than the climb due to the water erosion in the gravel causing this washboard surface. Had to activate both front and rear shocks to take the sting out of that jarring on my wound. 

Made the junction and met Judy at 200, but no Bill. What the what? Where the hell was he? So we figured that he did one of 3 things. The least problematic was him riding down 200 west to the actual junction where Marshall Pass road splits off. The more problematic was Bill missing the 200 junction and riding that descent all the way back down to Salida, and having to climb back up to 200. The worst case scenario was Bill thinking we were going all the way on Marshall Pass Rd, some 31 miles of riding with a 12K pass to cross. That third one, doing Marshall Pass Rd, that would be a BIG BOO BOO! 

So we waited for 30 minutes, with Judy kind of suggesting we go the the Marshall Pass junction to see if Bill’s waiting there. I resisted saying that if we did that and Bill had missed the junction and ridden further down 285, we could miss him coming back through. Conversely if we went down 285 we could miss him coming back at us on 200. Too much of a chance for even more mishaps, so I wanted to stay put. Another 15 minutes went by and I finally capitulated and went with the idea of driving further down 200 to the Marshall Pass cutoff. Got there and no Bill? So back to the junction again, with the idea that we’d drive down 285 south and look for him. Well, just as we got there we saw Bill waiting. He did indeed miss the junction and rode down the mt, and then had to climb back up again. 

Did dinner this eve at a little restaurant  and we’re just chilling again in the same little motel in Sagauche as last night. Bill and I love the place due to it’s quaintness and Judy does not like it because of it’s….quaintness. Bill’s idea for the jeep rental paid off, as we’re picking up a little 4WD jeep at half price for tomorrow at 7 AM to drive to the trailhead. So we’ll complete this dag gone collection of segments tomorrow - I hope with no more issues!

Got in 62 miles for the day. Soooooo….. if all goes well tomorrow I’m at the junction of Rt 285 and CR 200, just south of Poncha Pass. If we get rained out tomorrow…..well, I just don’t want to think about leaving another unconnected segment as we had to do in Illinois. Until tomorrow…………Pete