11,312 Feet

We rose early at around 5:15 to a damn cold Colorado morning. We put on the leg warmers and the arm warmers and made it down the driveway a few feet before we put the jackets on too. The climbing began at 6:45 and the layers slowly dropped away as we ascended the mountain. Long, steady, gradual climbing. Up, higher, around another turn – a curve to the left, a curve to the right, a break for a squirt of water and to clear the throat before going up again. 9,000 feet. 10,000 feet. 11,000 feet. You enter into this trance once you've found your cadence and focus on the white line for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, an hour. Bring your head up to see how far you've come. We made the top after about two hours of climbing, twelve miles into the sky. We arrived just about nine to to the triumph of having finished the highest pass of the tour. 11,312 feet.

And what better way to celebrate the highest peak of the climb than to go to the deluxe gift shop and snack bar right at the top? Jordan was dreaming of a ham and cheese croissant on the way up and wouldn't you know it, they had one. Everybody enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and Jeremy and I had soft pretzels. We perused the souvenir selection and picked up a few items before heading over to the tram. Not only does Monarch Pass have a gift shop with some tantalizing firearm choices, but it also has a cable car that goes up another 700 feet. I asked if there were any self-powered discounts but the operator wasn't having it so we paid the fee, got in the car, and went up to twelve thousand feet. We stomped around the new top for a few minutes, snapped some photos of a fantastic view, and came back down to the gift shop and lodge.

Then, nine miles of glorious mountain descent. Speed was up in the 40's. Wind was strong against us but we still flew down the other side of that mountain. Going that fast is invigorating. It almost makes you wish you had another hill to climb. Don't worry – there's plenty more of those. We got to the flats, stripped off the warmers, and started to meet heavy wind resistance. It wasn't so bad because there was still some slight downhill but then the rain came. It's been so long. We'd almost given up hope on our comrade precipitation. We put on the rain gear and did about twenty miles in difficult, dreary weather. It didn't rain so much as the drops were blown in sideways from a nearby storm. That meant some pretty stiff wind resistance. We had a food break in Parlin and our luck turned for the better.

It was twelve miles into Gunnison, nearly all downhill and sailing past the white line. Gunnison is another cool mountain town but unfortunately there wasn't too much time to explore. We did, however, make it to a bike shop called Tune Up where I completed my quest. For 2500 miles I have been looking for an 8/10 mm combo wrench and I finally found it. I'd asked in every single bike shop across the country and finally, satisfaction. We stocked up at Safeway and exited Gunnison – Jordan by way of grabbing onto a dump truck for a few blocks. Jeremy and I cursed him from a few blocks back.

We entered the Blue Mesa Reservoir to more stunning views. The water stretches off beyond the road to the left and the foothills rise to the right. We did another twelve miles before a storm flared up in the distance. Solid clouds and lightning encouraged us to go seek cover underneath a picnic shelter. We timed it just right to get rained on for about 45 seconds as we left. Pushed the final stretch and ended the 83 miles just past Sapinero, CO at the Lake Fork campground. We paid our fees to an electronic box and were told showers were three bucks. Stinky bicyclists this evening. We tooled around the parking lot before choosing camp slot 53 and tossing out our junk. The squirrels seem very aggressive. We'll see if they chew through any bags tonight. Tall pass and a long day, but we made it.

Top of the pass.

In the cable car.

Continental Divide.

I guess it has some use beyond bicycling difficulty and hot chocolate.

Blue Mesa Reservoir.

Headed toward Sapinero.