What's Fred Up To Now?: Day 27 - Friday June 15; Hot Sulphur Springs, CO to Walden, CO (63 miles)

It was another chilly start with a temperature of 37 degrees at 6:30 AM. I hit the newly opened gas/convenience store and purchased a few things for breakfast and a few for the road. There were not supposed to be any services for the entire day.

The first leg of today's ride was 7.5 miles east along US40. US40 continued to have a nice 8' paved shoulder and was slightly uphill along the headwaters of the Colorado River. It continued to be very scenic and the early morning traffic did not bother me (I was too cold!).

At 7.5 miles I turned onto CO125 and climbed hard for the first 3 miles, then as RJ says, "I gave it all up" on a nice down hill. Just down the hill I met Jack from Virginia who started in Tacoma, WA and is riding home to Virginia. He said his goal for today is Estes Park where he will meet up with his brother and some friends. That's a hefty goal from Walden to Granby to Estes Park in one day but he was young and fit and will probably make it with little sweat. I wasn't real sure all day what the terrain was going to be, only that I had to climb to Willow Creek Pass at 9,600'. I was surprised that the next 17 miles were a very gentle uphill following Willow Creek upstream. I stopped at a USFS campground to rest for a bit then continued at a slightly higher grade.

I was passed by a woman in a car with a bike on the back. She slowed like she wanted to say something - but kept on going. Not long afterwards I was passed by a woman on a road bike. We exchanged brief pleasantries and she continued on. Later I was passed by two more women on road bikes and struck up a conversation. The driver of the car, these two and first woman that passed me on a bike are all from Ft. Collins and are out for a three day ride. They take turns sagging so that everyone gets to bike. They started yesterday morning in Estes Park and rode up Trail Ridge Road and down to Grand Lake where they stayed the night. Ride The Rockies went over the opposite direction yesterday and the women said it was great because there were many officials making sure the biking was safe. This morning they shuttled forward to CO125 and were riding over Willow Creek Pass to Walden then on towards Steamboat Springs. They are staying tonight at some type of cabin not far from Walden. Tomorrow they will ride to Steamboat then jump in the car for the ride back to Ft. Collins. They asked my daughter's and son-in-law's names but did not recognize either of them. We passed each other a number of times through the rest of the day.

When I was first talking to the ladies on road bikes, a group of about nine guys and one woman on road bikes passed us. They didn't have much to say as they were riding in a group trying to keep up with the leader. I saw them again in Rand where they had stopped at a gift shop that also had soft drinks. They were off shortly after I arrived. I purchased a DC and a Snickers and sat out front watching the rain clouds all around me wondering if I would get rained on before I reached Walden which was still 22 miles away.

The road from Rand was down hill most of the way to Walden but the wind kicked up out of the WNW which gave it a pretty good headwind component for me for about 13 miles until the road turned more true north. This was some tough, tough going. I hate it when you have to pedal hard to go downhill! Anyway, just before the turn in the road, I passed the four women who were eating lunch behind their vehicle. Not long afterwards they passed me with all four bikes on the vehicle. I assume they gave it up because of the wind and I don't blame them. At the time I only wished they had room for me and one more bike! The scenery was not that terrific and storm clouds were all around so there wasn't much blue sky - plus the wind! Once the road turned, the headwind sort of went away and it was mostly downhill the rest of the way to Walden except for a number of gentle rollers.

I have to say that CO125, at least today, was an excellent ride if anyone is ever out this way. In stark contrast to CO9 yesterday, the traffic was very, very light and what traffic there was was very courteous.

As I was riding into town at 1:30 PM, two of the women were riding west towards Steamboat Springs and two were in the car leaving the gas/convenience store.

I checked into a motel for tonight and am at the library posting to this blog. My legs are feeling the effects of a fairly tough day. I'll go get cleaned up and have an early dinner at one of the local restaurants.

Tomorrow will be my last day of riding. I'll ride from Walden, CO to Laramie, WY which is about 65 miles and will take me back over a 9,100' pass before descending into Laramie. It will be Saturday so the traffic should be light and I'm told by the woman at the motel that once I reach the Wyoming state line the road is very nice. I hope for no rain and a tailwind. [it didn't rain, but there definitely was no tailwind!!!]

A few photos from today follow.