Stunning climb up Ute Pass this morning

I had a great nights sleep at the hostel Jake and I were staying in, tho I was acutely aware of an internal niggle all night, a sense of dis-ease at the journey ahead. The last few days had really tested me mentally and physically and I simply was in no mood to launch in to another week of trail, wild camping and discomfort. I was also a bit alarmed at the cost of any accommodation at the next planned zero day in a town called Steamboat Springs. The first place that came up on Booking.com was $6,000 for two nights 🤣🤣. Starting the next leg without nothing to look forward to was not something I wanted to do!

I spoke to Jake in the morning and decided I wasn’t ready to hit the road today and needed time to properly recover and to plan forward, to ease my own anxiety of not being clear where I was going and when. I am also quite unsure how I’m going to go once Jake heads south from Streamboat. We have become good friends and we have found each others strengths to support the other when times are tough….plus being an American he’s a great understanding of how things work here! He’s also bloody funny and fun to be around.

After speaking to the hotel manager and twisting their arm to get a great deal, a deal was struck for one more night. Relief. I immediately felt more confident and settled. And was quickly able to locate a place to stay in Steamboat. Still stupidly expensive but after camping 4 nights I’m always happy to pay for a shower and a bed!!

After some breakfast I headed to a bike shop to get a part for Bob – I’ve a busted headset and a knackered bottom bracket so both needed some attention. Also popped in to a thrift shop and bagged a thermal Marino wool top and thermal leggings – some additional warmth at night 😊. The rest of the day was spent just relaxing in the hot tub, reading, planning and sorting Bob out. Michael, who we last saw a week ago in Horca joined us mid afternoon which was great. He’d been through some tough days too and was exhausted. We agreed to ride together to Steamboat.

At this stage I think that past Steamboat, I’ll take a road trip rather than trail. Some of the stories emerging from Divide riders are pretty challenging, and as the Divide guide states, the minimum group size should be three…..’never ride the Divide alone’. Based on some of the stories I’ve heard I fully understand why! There have been so many abandonments due to heat, water shortage and foul weather. Tomorrow starts the Tour Divide, when nutcases start in Banff and head to the border in New Mexico, unsupported, in a race! The fastest is just a shade under two weeks…two freaking weeks!! That’s insane. They are in a league of their own those competitors. I can’t comprehend how they do it, knowing that what I have already ridden they’ll do in a few days. Bonkers!!

Time to roll on;
Friday 13th 🤣. The three Amigos headed out of Silverthorne at around 8, with a campsite marked at 37miles along the shores of a huge reservoir. The first section was on a bike trail and then road for around 13 miles, which we ploughed through, all feeling better for the rest. Then the fun started with a 5 mile climb gaining 1500m in altitude. It was paved, so that was a blessing. I was feeling Perry good so found my rhythm and went on ahead, cresting the climb about 20 minutes ahead of the lads. It was damn hot so a rest was needed at the top before the descent. We headed down a sublime descent past a huge dam and mine before the tarmac turned to gravel. But wonderfully it was pretty compact so we were able to hit a good speed. Around 11 we needed food so found a camp site on the river and smashed through some food. Jake decided he’d take the plunge and went in to the freezing water….i was shivering thinking of it! We got going again but shortly after met a ‘trail angel’ with water and snacks out for us. He wanted us to stay camping at his place but a quick look around signalled to us it wasn’t a good option! We headed off to our identified camp site which was 11 miles away! We had done the bulk of the climbing so it was a very easy 11 to the site which was right on the shores of a huge reservoir. We arrived around 2:30 and sat chatting for a while trying to work out where to camp as it was very exposed to the wind. After 30 minutes we decided we’d try get to the next town, Kremmling, 14 miles further on. Whilst it was undulating and on gravel it was still fast riding. After 56 miles we rolled in to Kremmling. It was an RV park which allowed camping, but more importantly it had showers!! And toilets! And mosquitoes! Feck they were brutal.

So after a retched few days on the trail, today was glorious in every way. I felt stronger than before but I also know today played to my strengths- long climbs on tarmac and hard pack gravel. Tomorrow and the day after are brutally tough with over 5,000 ft of climbing in 27 miles. We have decided to just head out and see how far we get -it’s a rocky trail with 14% parts of climbs so we know they’ll be a lot of hike-a-biking going on! We have three days to get to Steamboat and it’s less than 60 miles but it’s gonna test us all the way. Let’s see how it goes 😊

My dear friend Corrine put this montage together to remind me of my journey from relearning to walk to riding the Divide….thank you 🙏🏻

We got going around 8:30 with the intention of getting about 35-40 miles north towards Breckenridge- we had heard this was a very snobby area – a ski resort – so we thought we’d push through that tomorrow and get a place in Silverthorne, only 20 miles north of Breckenridge. But that meant getting most of the way up the Boreas Pass, the second highest point on the Trail.

Anyway, as is now customary on this ride our plans evaporated when we got to the Divide trail north of Hartsel. Washboard like I’d never seen before. It’s hard to describe it to anyone who has not ridden it – it’s like sitting on a jackhammer for hours at a time, with no respite. The bike gets thrown around and all you can do as the rider is try find a line through it which won’t throw you off. Going uphill is hideous, but downhill is 10 times worse, as you have to scrub off all your speed, as to let the bike loose is a short cut to a face plant. There was absolutely no let up in it for the 29 miles to a place called Como, situated at the bottom of the Pass. To be really honest I was utterly miserable and fed up. There is no enjoyment, no respite, no way you can even look up to admire the surroundings. You are glued to every inch of the road in an effort to stay upright. By the time we reached Como I was mentally, physically and emotionally done. And cranky as all hell.

Como is an odd place- brightly coloured wooden huts, no shops, really nothing to do or see….but we found the old post office which doubled as a sort of local arty place. We were welcomed in with a free iced coffee can and a place to sit and eat our food.

One of the very clear issues for me, as well as Jake, is that we simply cannot get enough food in. My stomach has shouted at me for food to the point that when I start to eat I start to reach, as my stomach rejects the food. I wake up hungry, I’m hungry all day, I eat rice or pasta in the evening and go to bed hungry! And of course, trying to push the body through exercise when hungry is somewhat contraindicated!

We stayed at the post office for an hour trying to get food and liquids in, as well as trying to decide what to do. The campsite we had earmarked was 8.5 miles up the Boreas Pass. It was 3o’clock and thunder clouds were rolling in. I was feeling like shite. After much discussion we decided to try get to the campground, and if that couldn’t be achieved we would wild camp where we could get shelter among the trees.

The ride up to the campsite was a real challenge- the trail was rocky as all hell, with a 4% incline rising to 15 %. But mile by mile we clawed our way upwards. And in to the snow line of the Boreas Pass. Eventually we saw the sign for the campsite, then realised it was a mile off the trail, downhill, in to a small valley…..which meant only one thing…a walk out of the valley in the morning before cresting the Pass about 5 miles further up. We were both suffering from the effects of altitude- we were at 10,400, with a 1000ft to climb tomorrow.

The campsite was deserted, but it had picnic tables, a drop toilet (luxury!) and fire pits. We set about pitching tents and collecting firewood. Within the hour we had a raging fire with our evening meals cooking on the griddle. The worst of the weather was sitting just to the north of us. It was scheduled to drop to freezing tonight so the fire was delightful. As we turned in the rains came but we were grateful that we had had the evening without getting soaked.

Today was crushing. It was physically punishing but also emotionally exhausting. The scenery is breathtaking, but the trail strips all the joy of the surroundings with its punishing surface. You need suspension and 2.5+ tyres to even begin to master this trail. It is simply brutal on a gravel bike, as this is not gravel, its rocks, washboards and insufferably tough terrain. We simply have the wrong machines for this trail. So hard decisions need to be made tomorrow onwards once we get off the mountain.

Luxury in Silverthorne
I slept really well last night despite it dipping to freezing. The rains were light enough and only lasted an hour tops. I got up around 5:30 and Jake was already up and about, getting wood for a fire which was duly lit. Breakfast was the usual oats and pitta bread but at least we could boil water. I was ready before Jake so I headed back up the valley from hence we had descended last night. It actually wasn’t too bad and I was able to ride to the main trail and wait for Jake. We headed ever upwards towards the Pass with the temperature dropping each mile and the air getting thinner. I hadn’t really struggled with altitude but was starting to get headaches as we ascended above the snow line. It was a 5 mile trail to the Pass which was stunningly beautiful and not overly challenging, though increasingly cold. By 9:30 we had hit the top. Incredibly this was an old railway line during the mining boom….the remnants of times past were very visible. It was an incredible vista that greeted us 360 degrees. After a while the cold was starting to bite down so hit the descent. And what a descent. It wasn’t too rocky so we were able to gather some speed all the way to Breckenridge, a ski resort for the well heeled! It was a very posh place, so we stood out like tramps as we tried to find a coffee shop which didn’t require the donation of a body part for purchase. It’s something we don’t tend to talk about but life on the trail means the usual social graces and norms quickly get abandoned-clothes are filthy, smelly, you’re covered in dirt and dust, hygiene is a luxury! Often I sleep in all my clothes other than my cycling shorts, there’s often no toilet so a digging implement and loo roll suffices! It’s a very unhygienic life!!

We quickly left the snobs of Breckenridge and headed to Silverthorne where I had booked us a room with bunk beds for the night. The ride to Silverthorne was sublime, along a dedicated bike path through lakes and scenic trails. We glided along and the 20 miles evaporated! We got to Silverthorne at 1:30. And it had a hot tub so we wasted no time in blocking up their cleaning filters 🤣🤣.

As for the next few days, well the plan is to get to Steamboat where Jake is heading south and I’ll head north. I’m not too far from the Wyoming border 😊. There are road options for me to take if I wanted a break from the tooth filling removal service of the Divide!

Thanks everyone for your continued support and encouragement-it REALLY helps!

Today we awoke to another glorious summer morning in Salida after a pretty good nights sleep. My body clearly has me dialled in to awake at 05:30 no matter what situation or where I am. Today we a bit of a ‘gulp’ day. We knew we had one of the toughest starts on the Divide….a climb out of Salida on track from 7000ft to around 11,000 in 14 miles. We had heard the trail was dry so that was a bonus. After a good breakfast Jake and I headed off at 8:30. Michael was in Salida but wasn’t going up the climb until this arvo. We presumed he’d catch us up. The destination was Hartsel which was 48 miles of trail away and over 5000ft elevation gain ….with most of that in the first 14 miles, but with two big climbs after the big climb 🤣.

The climb out of Salida lived up to Chris’s verdict having traversed it yesterday – brutal. It averaged 5% with steps of up to 14%. Right from the start Jake was in difficulty, so I knew it’ll be a long ascent. He was walking within the first 3k. I had been helped by Jake last week when I met my match on the climbs so I rode 1 mile, stopped, waited, checked in and rode another mile. It was slow’! I actually enjoyed the climb, managing to tap out a rhythm all the way to the top. The scenery was achingly beautiful-mountains and forestry, snow capped peaks and great sunshine! I got to the top at 11:40, with Jake cresting it at 12. There was an old cabin marked on the map about a mile up the road so we headed there for lunch. The cabin was an amazing old hunters wood cabin, as you can see in the video. We munched down our food then realised a massive black cloud had gathered over the mountain. We had a tough decision to make -stay in a sheltered hut or risk riding on and getting soaked. There would be no turning back if we went on. Hartsel was 33 miles away with two more climbs ahead, albeit not as tough or long as the one we had just completed. We made the decision to keep going and if the rains came we’d camp up. There was bugger all of a downhill as a reward and we were quickly back crawling up another bitch of a climb as the rains came. Our fear was that the trail would turn to mud. And to really annoy us the worse of the weather came when we were rightly exposed with not a tree to be seen!! Rain coats on we pushed on, one climb at a time, and as we progressed the rain subsided, and we were treated to glorious views of the snow capped Rockies in the distance. I struggled for a while in the afternoon as I had not eaten enough. I got my second wind around 15 miles to go as the road descended. But as always with the trail when you think you’ll be able to push on the trail says ‘buddy, nah’ and the most hideous of washboarding started. I made a decision to gun it over the ridges -going slow seemed to be worse for me and Bob. So I chucked it in the big gear and threw caution to the wind, hitting 64kph over the washboard as I stuck my middle finger to it 🤣. It was pretty sketchy in places but eventually I got to the concrete road to Hartsel. Jack followed about 10 minutes later having had the same ‘sod it’ approach to the washboard! We had made it to Hartsel. The only place to camp was behind the ‘saloon’ bar in town which was basically a dumping ground for the bars waste! But it was free and they had wifi and a servo next door with groceries! We threw up the tents then grabbed snacks at the servo. We had clocked 49 miles with 22 miles of climbing. I was stuffed. After cooking up some rice I hit the sack with loud thunder claps and lightening for company, tho the wet stuff mostly stayed away. It’s a pretty run down small town, with the pub being the centre of it, so it was quite noisy with rowdy drinkers – not ideal but hey, we got here!! And with all that is happening in the US with deployment of Marines….Marines….to respond to issues in LA, there seemed to be much for the locals to be shouting about…which they did for hours! The US is a scary place to be right now.

The stunning scenery up the climb

Meeting up with Chris (far right) was great!

Jake and I had an undisturbed night – when stealth camping there’s always a chance you’ll get woken up by some undesirable. We both slept with our knifes and Mace at the ready! As it was by 05:30 it was daylight and we set about decamping and boiling up water for coffee and porridge ….same every morning!! By 8 we were on the road towards Salida…but first we went to a small cafe serving breakfast so we had more food and coffee for the long road ahead. We knew we had one big pass to climb over so got the early miles in before a stop at a tiny hamlet at the foothills of the pass. Once girded with coke and enough sugar crap to sink a ship we hit the climb. It was 15 miles to the top so we declared we’d stop every 5 miles to break it down. As it was it was a steady climb not really pitching up more than 4%. It was just long. But mile by mile we wrestled it in to submission, cresting the summit after an hour and a half. What a relief that was! Now for the decent. A whopping 7 miles to a picnic area. We cleared that in 15 minutes. It was glorious, as it was dry….the last decent like that was in the sleet in to Horca. Jake located a sublime picnic area next to a stream, where we had lunch whilst putting our feet in the freezing river….such a relaxing feeling! We then headed in to Salida ….still downhill! We popped in to a 2nd hand outdoor shop as we needed new thermal liners for the sleeping bags, but alas there was none there. And when I came out….my back tyre was dead flat. I somewhat lost the plot. That’s 7 punctures in a few days. I had done my research and bought what were reputed to be the leaders in gravel tyres! Wrong! I had lost all faith in them. Jake headed off to his camp site while I sulked all the way to my hostel, riding a flat back tyre the final 2k. 

I booked in to my dorm based hostel, showered then went to the local bike shop to hit up two new tyres. That blew my budget! But there’s no worse feeling in not trusting your tyres. Once back at the hostel I threw the tyres on and ditched the crap Vittoria tyres…even tho they were practically new, only a 1000 miles.

The hostel is right in town so I had a quick walk about -quite a funky place. Tomorrow I’ll go explore! Had some pasta and tuna – same as every night, but having blown my weeks budget on tyres and accommodation it’s gonna be bread and jam for a week!!

Zero day (again!)

I had a pretty good sleep bar some snorer in the dorm and a bed that would make a Marshmellow feel like concrete. despite my best efforts I was awake around 5:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep! So I grabbed some coffee and arranged to meet up with Jake and wonderfully, Chris, the guy I had started out with 4 weeks ago. He was in Salida the past two days and was heading off today. We grabbed coffee and shared war stories of the mountains and weather. Chris headed off around 10, and so Jake and I pottered around the old town of Salida, which has a wonderfully chilled vibe with loads of adventure shops to burn a hole in any hiker or biker! The afternoon was spent exactly how zero days should be…..doing absolutely nothing! But at some point we had to think about tomorrow’s return to the gravel, rocks and mountains. The next stage will be to Hartsel, around 50 miles direct north. Only problem is….remember that glorious downhill yesterday…Salida is in a valley so….we have a monster of a climb outta here. It’s apparently the toughest climb of the Divide as it’s 14 miles, all gravel and rocks, ranging from 4% to a whopping 12%. That’ll be a three hour haul, and it starts immediately- no run in, straight on the climb from the hostel. After that it settles down for the trail to Hartsel with 20k of crappy washboarding as a finale. Not sure if we will do it in one day or two – what will be will be. We are preparing for 2 with water and food (there’s no water the entire 50 miles). Gonna be a blast 

And the BEST bit of the day……my Niamh called me and we were able to chat for a good hour. She’s home from school with Covid 😥. So good to see her laughing smiling face. Get well soon Niamh’s-noos’

Eventually we got going around 11, with the plan of camping at a UFO ‘platform’ gig around 25 miles away. With that in mind we just poddled along with no sense of urgency, whiling away the miles with periodic stops at scattered convenience stores. We arrived at the UFO place at around 1 and we both hated it right at the start. It was basically a junk yard of whacky UFO things and the camp site was exposed with no shelter…and they wanted $20! So we searched on line for the next campsite which was 30 miles up the road towards Salida. So we said ‘let’s go’…..we had a tailwind so it was a two hour gig around worse. Oh dear…..I do wonder when we will ever learn that plans on the Divide are as useless as a chocolate teapot. Not one mile in and out of nowhere the wind spun 180 and bang….for 15 miles an hour to 5 in less than 100 metres! And I got another bloody puncture! And…..it started to pour down with the mountains in front simply disappearing behind angry black thunderclouds. We had seen this movie before! Jake was really struggling with the wind so eventually when we came across a Family Dollar store (like an Aldi) we rode in and crashed for a bit. I fixed my puncture….again…and Jake went off to scout out the tiny hamlet we were in- Moffet.

As he returned I had struck up a conversation with a local who was asking about our (hairbrain) cycle. He turned out to come from Cork 🤣🤣. We had decided we could not ride on as the wind was simply too dangerous. Patrick, the local resident, indicated we might be able to camp in the park, so we went with him to ask the local ‘mayor’ who responded ‘they look much better than the usual lot that sleep in the park!’ Jack and I wandered over to the park where there was a veranda which had…wifi and power 🤣🤣. We had a very leisurely evening in our little bit of Moffett. As it was a pavilion we just put up our inner tents and crashed in a corner of the shelter for the night. And then I got a call from my lovely friends Corrine and Phil as they drove their camper van through Australia. Such a lovely surprise. In all we cleared 40 miles, bringing Salida within 45 miles tomorrow but with a large mountain pass to traverse before we can nestle in the town for a few days. I’ve booked in to a cyclist hostel for 2 nights. Getting soft…Jake is wild camping, but I’m figuring the days are tough enough, I want some minuscule semblance of comfort in the evening 😊.