Day 9—Durango-Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Monday, September 8

High meadow.  Photo courtesy of Dan DeRuyter

Overall, a very nice day, and yesterday's day off did us all a lot of good.  We left at the crack of dawn to avoid potential thunderstorms on the passes and rains on a busy highway with a lot of 18-wheelers.  But, as it turned out, the weather was just perfect and the scenery was beautiful.  We climbed for about 15 miles, then and a series of similar downs and ups for a total of 67 miles and 4800 feet of elevation gain.  My new bike shoes made all the difference in the world.  I was so afraid four days ago that my feet were going to sideline me for the rest of the trip.

Ron  & Barb Douglas

A much-needed rest stop

 We had a couple of construction delays along the way, which were good excuses to rest.  We even got our own private escort by the pilot car.

One of our riders, 70-year old Mary, hit a pot hole and crashed on her head within the city limits of Durango.  It split her helmet, but fortunately not her skull.  As luck would have it, two paramedics on the way to work were right behind her.  She was briefly unconscious, but soon recalled everything by the time she got to the hospital.  The ER doc released her, and with a newly purchased helmet by our guide, they caught up to us in the van by mile 20.  She and husband Wayne rode the rest of the way with us, and even went for an optional 20 miles after we got to Pagosa Springs.   They were also two of the five who made the whole 125 mile distance on Day 5.

Mary and Wayne--Role Models!

By the way, she is literally a rocket scientist, overseeing the engineering firm that got the Mars Rover safely landed on Mars.  We had a fascinating dinner conversation about the competing rocket companies and the intertwined complexities of US and Russian rocket components for sattelites and the International Space Station.  Husband Wayne, is a nuclear physicist at USC.

Pagosa Springs is a nice little town with some fantastic hot mineral (mostly sulphur) springs.  Three hotels jointly run a series of pools of varying temperatures from 80 to 112 degrees (the “Lobster Pot”).  The soak felt really good, and made my post-ride stretches much more pleasant.

The springs and our motel

Melting the stiff quads away

The springs and hotels from across the river

There must be something in the water in the general area, causing some of the men in big pickup trucks to have some adequacy below-the-waist and ego issues as several of them passed us and flipped the switch to “burn coal” and blast us with thick black exhaust as they passed us.  But other than that, a good day. 

Our plans for tomorrow are indecisive.  The storm system that hit Phoenix is expected to hit here tonight and possibly continue on tomorrow.  So far, we've hit the jackpot on weather.  Let’s hope it continues!