Climbing to Boreas Pass

First rain I encountered was leaving Breckenridge. It was actually easier to make the climb in the light rain rather than in hot sun.  I chanced to be riding the same day and time as the Breck 100, an endurance race similar to the Leadville 100 in early August.  The Breck 100 mountain bike riders took a single track route up to Boreas Pass but on their return from Como (the 80 mile mark) they rode uphill against my downhill descent.  I first saw them

Notice the Breck 100 racer climbing across the grass to the right of the water tank

climbing near the historic Baker’s Tank and then got the climber’s royal treatment at the 11,482′ Boreas Pass aid station.  Bananas, gel and watermelon were all free to me as though I had a number plate on my handler bars.  The long 10-mile descent went quickly as there was a continuous stream of racers coming up the same road.

Boreas Pass where aid station volunteer fed and photographed me

It’s hard to include yourself in a photo

First day started out wonderfully, it was so easy I couldn’t believe that I was actually riding the Continental Divide Trail. But by 2 PM it got tougher for two reasons: first it started to rain and second the terrain got a little steeper.

I hoped to get past 50 and maybe even 60 miles today, but with the rain I went ahead and rode in the rain and that got me all the way to Kremmling, Colorado. First day mileage was 82 miles in 10 hours.

From Ute Pass you can just barely see the Colorado River headwaters

One of the many highlights was seeing the headwaters of the Colorado River from up high. I must’ve crossed the Colorado three or four times, I lost track. And I didn’t realize that they have rafting out of Kremmling on the Colorado.

The old Cannondale super – V is holding up but it sure squeaks, it makes a lot of noises.

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Stanna shuttled me up to Steamboat where I plan to start my Great Divide ride. Rather than ride the Colorado Trail this week I got an interest in riding a segment of the Great Divide trail across Colorado, thanks to two recent Warmshowers.org riders we hosted.

We chanced on having two California teachers finish their GD ride in Durango and after talking to them, I thought this route might suit me better. I won’t be able to send photos with my blog entries as I haven’t gotten that sorted out yet. (the developer didn’t get back to me with a solution to my software issues)

So hopefully I can get a few missives out along the way, when I find wireless.

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We’ve had back to back Warmshower’s guests this week all of which have been fun for us to host.  In June we’ve probably had 4 cross-country cyclists and 5 since we’ve returned from Thailand.  This week’s batch started with a freshly graduated college student who made it to Durango in 7 days from Redlands, California on a diagonal quest across the states to catch summer music festivals and the Ragbri along the way.  He was “so taken” with Durango that he couldn’t get it all in and stayed two days with us and another with a fellow Durango WS host before loading his bike on the Narrow Gauge train.

Currently we’ve got two California teachers who have just completed their 3 leg of the Continential Divide trail.  I originally thought they’d completed the Colorado Trail (CT) which I have planned to ride in July and was eager to learn about their experience.  I’m just as pleased to know more about the “famed” Continential Divide Trail (CDT) as that could be more to my liking for a July bikepacking ride.  I rode a shake-down of the last 80 miles of the CT last summer in preparation for the whole ride this summer.  It was great but much more difficult than I’d imagined.  I’d figured I could knock off 40 plus miles a day but was lucky to manage 30 and had to re-think my time for the entire length of the CT, which I’ve allowed for this summer.

However now that I’ve heard more about the CDT, which has less single track and “hike-a-biking” I’m more interested in trying this route instead.  Colorado mileage is similar, and could be even longer depending on how much of the 2,745 miles from Canada to Mexico you want to attempt.  Our WS guests managed Steamboat past Del Norte over 500 miles in less than 8 days.  This sounds more reasonable for my 2012 across Colorado goals, and leaves me more time for hikes in the San Juans.  So I’ve ordered the Adventure Cycling maps for the Colorado segments of the Great Divide Trail and we’ll see what happens.

Meanwhile I’m training again on the mountain bike on some of the 2,000 miles of local single track in Durango.