Ride the West: Mind Over Matter: Montrose to Gunnison, Colorado

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Montrose to Gunnison, Colorado
65 miles
5,164' climbing
5 hours, 33 minutes
3,464 calories
11.7 mph average
40.3 mph maximum speed

Woke up this morning feeling not as miserable as last night. Hydration, Advill, hitting the sack by 8:30 despite the heavy Mexican Quesadilla and two tacos last night. probably helped. Part of the routine on rising is to check the tires. Son of a gun. Rear tire was flat. Those dang wires wend their way through the tire and eventually puncture inner tube. A small leak may go unnoticed at the end of a ride but by morning the damage becomes evident.

My optimism took a hit but I drew a breath, and got to work. I went through a mental checklist of what I needed to do before I started. Shift rear derailleur to smallest gear, open rear breaks, get out tire levers, tweezers, spare inner tube. Remove wheel. Remember to pinch tire bead to center of wheel to allow more play in tire to make it easier to lever it off the rim. Lever the tire off the rim, remove tube. Feel along the inside of tire for cause of puncture. Remove wire with tweezers, curse the infidel wire and dispose properly. Recheck inside of tire for possible second or third wire.

Blow some air into inner tube. With one side of the tire already on the rim, place valve stem through hole in rim and work the inner tube up inside the tire watching not to twist or pinch tube. Once done, start rolling the other side of tire over rim. When it gets to point where it's tough to get the last bit over the rim, begin to pull tire from opposite end to draw as much slack as possible towards last bit that needs to go onto rim. Roll hard and success is when tire finally sits completely on rim. Pump about 20 PSI into tube then check for any bulging or evidence of tube pinched between rim and tire. Add another 20 PSI and gently bounce tire around its circumference. Finally inflate to desired PSI (mine is 100 with these tires).

The mental checklist helped immensely. Got tire changed in about 10 minutes. I struggled in getting it back on the bike still not confident I wouldn't bend or snap something. I brought tire and bike down to breakfast and American Jerry popped it on in 6 seconds.

Breakfast was sparse. The night manager had quit so the day manager was still on and was scrambling to get the food out. I had a bagle with Peanut Butter, half serving of scrambled eggs and a cup of coffee. I didn't feel well prepared for the ride at all and seriously considered hanging up my bike shoes for the day.

But I know that not even trying is worse than trying and failing so somehow I just threw my leg over the top tube of my bike and started pedaling on to US 50 with Matt and St. Pete John. We held together for the first 6.2 miles where the announced optional 14 mile round trip up to the Black Canyon commenced. The three of us opted out. It was going to be a tough enough day without adding another 1,000' feet of climbing. Over the next 12 miles of climbing up to Cerro Summit (7,998'), we each began our solo rides. Matt led the way, John's distance to Matt slowly increased as my distance from John greatly increased.

Along the way I started to stop and take pictures. The birdsongs were everywhere. Elk were spotted in the high hills, views became more and more dramatic. Aussie Jerry and I started leapfrogging each other as we both stopped to smell the roses. We both stopped at a locally run roadside market of sort. Hummingbird feeders by the doors were well attended and the dainty darters seemed unfazed by our presence. Popped in for a look around and picked up a PayDay bar (fuel I sorely needed). Other cyclists were there ahead of me, had their pie and were gone but I dared not eat anything that heavy knowing there's still a 9 mile climb ahead.

The climb was gentle 6% grade but relentless. I went 'inside myself' is the only way I can describe how I managed feeling as spent as I was. Playing songs in my head to match my pedal cadence is a technique I use. I change lyrics to match phases of my life. Crazy lyrics for different elementary grades, different High School and college periods, family events, just anything to keep me moving. Hitting Cerro was just such a great success for me. I tried and managed to get a cell connection and spent 45 minutes catching up on some arrangements I needed to make unrelated to this cycling adventure.

We descended down Cerro about 5 miles and had to climb up yet another 1,500' to the next peak (8,600') part of a collapsed caldera. Back to the crazy lyrics. At the final peak, I knew I was going to make it. A tiny bit of climbing more but along a series of hair pin turns and switchbacks with the Rockies as backdrop. Little tricky with some line painting that either just completed or was still in process in some parts along the way. Had to pull over and stop to let traffic pass a few times as roads were narrow in spots.

What I thought was going to be a day of complete failure, turned out to be the highlight day of the tour so far. Note to self: Just try. You may surprise yourself.

Ride tomorrow is daunting.

Dinner tonight was Italian plentiful and company with John, Matt, Doug and Joe was exceptional.

Turning in