Day 18: Sargents

As the rising sun kissed me I packed all my stuff together what was not so easy for a tall guy like me in a house with a very low ceiling designed for kids. My singlespeed friend slept right over there under a shelter with some tables and benches.

At 6:00 am the café next to the restaurant opened for breakfast. What a lucky hit!

One hour later and with some pancakes inside, I proceeded my journey toward Salida. The more I was getting southward the more it became warmer from day to day. The weather was really nice, but I was concerned that I will be stucked in an afternoon thunderstorm at Marshal Pass later on. The ride toward Salida was a steady up and down on dusty dirt roads like every day. Since the second day I had a bloody nasal mucous membrane (for all Germans: Nasenschleimhaut). And during the day and especially in the morning I got things out of my nose that I better don’t wanna talk about. I am not a doctor, but I explained it with the tons of dust I was breathing most time of the day. How dusty it really was I saw always on the display of my GPS. About every 15 minutes I had to wipe away the thick dust layer from the display. Most of the people who came across or passed me by with their trucks on these special roads did it very carefully. Some even stopped and were waiting until I passed them by. But for others it seemed to be a great fun covering the unprotected Michael in a huge cloud of dusk. A special talent for that had those truck drivers with its cattle trailers. And very often just five minutes after I put on a layer of sun cream! Thank you guys!

I came across another guy with a full loaded bike who was doing the Colorado Trail. Because it was also an option for me in future days I asked him a lot of questions.

The final climb before Salida was very steep and bumpy. To save my power for Marshal Pass later on I got off my bike and pushed until the top. The downhill to Salida was pure fun, twisty and fast. The only thing I had to do in Salida was a quick resupply. But the local Safeway had a Starbucks inside and the quick resupply turned into a more relaxed one.

I came into town with used up stocks and left it again in the early afternoon heat with 16 lbs (7Kg) more weight. On the ascent out of Poncha Springs, on this hot paved highway 285, I was just about to die. In walking pace I crawled up the road. Fortunately some clouds came in and covered the sun and unfortunately 10 minutes later it started to rain. I took cover under the roof of an old house next to the road. Within 20 minutes the rain shower passed away and I turned onto the gravel road toward Marshal Pass into a valley. In a blink of an eye as I passed the information panel I recognized the rail road history of Marshal Pass. What luck! The climb was fairly flat but long. I heard the familiar roaring and the clouds became darker. Close to the pass I left the trees flanked road and crossed a wider plain area with ranch land. As I was balancing by myself about putting my rain gear on or not, slight rain covered the dry road. I took cover under one of the rare fir trees and put my rain jacket on. The sky cleared a little bit up and I set aside putting my rain pants on too. Just 30 seconds later the wind turned into a storm and tried to pressing me from the road. The sudden hail pattered horizontal onto my naked legs. It was a very painful massage. Just a few minutes later the show was over again and I tried as fast as possible to come over the pass and into the downhill on the other side where the weather seemed to be still OK. At the top I took the mandatory photo (sign with bike but without rider).
On the Divide it is not for granted that a long uphill will be rewarded with an also long downhill. But Marshal Pass did!
Today I was absolutely adjusted to camp anywhere on the way toward Del Norte. Sargents with its small RV-Park was completely out of my mind, maybe a consequence of the hot sun today or to many Starbucks along the route.

I got there at 7:30 pm and rent one of the smaller cabins with two bunk beds inside. I met James Hodges and we agreed to split the cabin, because it was the last one. We had dinner together and shared some stories. Later on Billy Rice joined us. His seat post broke today at Marshal Pass but he had already a new one sent by Absolute Bikes in Salida. He was just preparing for a night ride. I met him on day two where he was still heading northbound. And now he caught me up again, very frustrating. 

The shower and a towel were not complimentary and relatively expensive. But at least I had to shower my legs. Its colour was black from the black ash at the downhill from Marshal Pass. There were an additional shower in the restroom and I simply took some paper towels to dry me up.  

Usually I am always faithful to myself and didn’t share any room with someone I didn’t know and just in case I had my ear plugs. What I never experienced before was that even ear plugs have a limited sound protection. Half the night I woke up from time to time due to an inhuman snoring. Yes, I got my lesson for the future!