Tour de Colorado - Sunday II

Before embarking on an ambitious project such as following the US Pro Cycling Challenge around Colorado it’s essential to spend hours researching the details, considering logistics, planning routes and making advance reservations.  We didn’t do any of that, obviously, but it would have been a good idea nonetheless.

Instead we bundled dog and dog into the back of the truck, threw a few clothes into a bag, hooked up Lucille the travel trailer and hit the road.  Sounds simple enough so it’s hard to explain why it was almost noon before we finally pulled out of the driveway but hey ho, what’re ya gonna do?

It only took us another 30 minutes to get gas (there are only a few summer weekends remaining so the whole world was in line at the pumps.)  As if that didn’t put a big enough strain on my limited patience, they were out of ice which meant we’d to stop at another gas station to avoid my cooler o’beer warming up.

But eventually, we were on our way.  Bowling along at a rare lick which didn’t really slow until after Buena Vista (pronounced Byoona, not Bwayna – write that down) when we began to really go up.  And up and up and oh mah lawrd did we go up.  All the way up Independence Pass which tops out at over 12,095 feet.  Narrow and windy with big cliffy type drops without the comfort of a guard rail and up and further up and the only thing more exhausting than hauling a travel trailer up and over a pass that height would be to do the exact same thing on a bike.

Which is what the cyclists will be doing on Tuesday.  OK, they’ll be going the other way but I promise you, it’s no more of a pick-a-nick in that direction.

Before that though, they get to have an easy day tomorrow to start the tour.  A mere 64 miles on a circuit around Aspen and Snowmass.  And only 8,000 feet of climbing, which is dead easy to type. 

We’ll be there with cowbells on.