Day 1: Kickoff!

 I’m on the road!

The bike and I arrived in one piece into Denver a week ago, and I had a wonderful time in Salida with family friends Nancy and Cliff. I planned to ride from Salida to Cañon City via Highway 50, but every person we spoke to said to avoid it on a bike because of a lack of a shoulder and very limited sight-lines in parts. Instead I was driven down it and dropped off in Cañon City (thank you Paula!) 

Nerves at the start line, with train horns blasting nearby

The riding was hard — it ended up being almost 32 miles and 4050ft climbing to get to Guffey. Looking at the upcoming route, it seems like this will be the most strenuous day of climbing in the whole Colorado Rockies! Definitely threw myself into the deep end with this one.

Climbing away from Cañon City

Afternoon thunderstorm about 30 miles away (according to my counting after a lightning strike). Felt a few raindrops but luckily didn’t need to duck under a tree

The main problem I faced (other than having to inch up steep roads all day) was the lack of water stops — I had 2.5L and used a sachet of electrolytes but still ended up needing to ration my water. There’s no services once past the dinosaur bones center, which is only 9 miles in. I’ll be carrying more tomorrow.

Arrived in Guffey

When I got into Guffey, a teacher walking a group back from a field trip had me come meet the kids! She had done the TransAmerica trail decades ago. My favorite question was: “How do you get on a seat so high?”

The famed Guffey Garage hostel was unavailable as the owner was out of town, so I ended up staying at Guffey’s mountain lodge, sharing a dinner with fantastic hosts Beth and Wilbur, and two Mexican guys and a cowboy from Wyoming as my fellow guests.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to make Alma, the highest incorporated town in the US at 10,500ft.

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