He said: Good news, bad news. Alot of downhill today. 8 miles out, flat tire #2. Luckily there was a sizable breakdown lane so I could flip my bike over, take off the rear tire, put a new tube in, pump it up with my hand pump, and back in business. 8.1 miles out, flat tire #3. Same breakdown lane, same procedure. But this time, I inspect the tire to see what caused the problem. Small piece of metal through the tire, kind of like a heavy duty staple, pulled it out. Now I have to find the hole in either tube since I used my spare tube. Find the hole in one, patch it, pump it up with my hand pump, and the nozzle breaks off the tube. Tear the tube apart, take the next tube, can't find the hole as the hand pump doesn't exert enough pressure as I'm pumping to locate the hole. SAG angel to the rescue! Used tube from worn out tire in place, pumped up, back on the road. If you think about what a marketing campaign would be like to try and lure people to different areas either to live or vacation, if you pictured natures splendor, that's what I was riding through today. Alot of the early day along the Blue River, a beautiful, clean river. Then a detour off the main route which took us up above Green Mountain Reservoir with Green Mountain nearby. Then back down over the dam at the end of the reservoir and out to the original route. Along the Colorado River and through a canyon and back out still along the Colorado River. Plenty of access for sportsmen, whether it's fishing, sailing, canoeing etc. Most access points have bathrooms and campsites. This is for Craig, saw at least 100 fly fishermen in the rivers today and south where we had come from there had been a fly fishing competition that ended yesterday. Saw 4 mule deer above the lake, and some pretty neat looking birds. We started at 9500' and came down to 7600'. Now we have to go over the Continental Divide again at 9500'. Was hoping to make it over today, but it was still 23 miles away uphill with rain fast approaching, so called it a day at 67 miles in Granby, Co.
She said: The altitude is something you really have to respect around here-you can really feel the difference. I was glad to make the 2000' descent today, I think Paul was too. It feels better to know we will get a good nights sleep tonite. The last few nights were a bit restless, just trying to breathe. I guess it takes some time to adapt. Anyway-Paul took off this morning with plans to meet a few hours down the road. Got a call fairly early that he was having some tire problems, so off I went. The weather was looking a bit iffy all day, so we didn't stay far away from each other. The scenery was just beautiful today. Saw the headwaters of the Colorado River and followed it for a good part of the day. There were many cyclists riding, fishermen fishing, and boaters boating. With dark clouds overhead and black ones not far up ahead, we decided to call it a day in Granby, Co. as we were at least 28 miles from the next town with a big pass to go over. The train tracks followed the river and our route a good portion of the day. The tracks are across the street from where we are staying tonite and so far 2 trains have gone by-a passenger train, and a coal train. Hopefully they won't be running through the night.
The Trans-Am brings you off the main road and around this reservoir.
You can see SR-40 across the water.
Some of the scenery we saw today.
At the top of the dam.......
and from across the bridge.
The river flowing through the canyon. Hey Craig, if you click on this picture to enlarge it, you can see the fly fishermen.
Riding through the canyon.
You guys are going through some attractive land out there. You are also picking up on one of the reasons I love fishing ---it's the other stuff you see while you're doing it --- like different birds, mink, deer etc. Colorado is definitely on my list of places to go. A bunch of the regulars at my flyshop went out there a couple of years ago and they said it took all of two weeks to acclimate to the altitude and even then they weren't as comfortable as residents. Speaking of flyshops, there is a product for patching leaks in waders that you smear on and then expose to the sunlight to cure. It only takes a couple of minutes and it might work on your tire tubes too. Y'know, if you don't feel like carrying "new" spare tubes.
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