... wasn't easy.
Yesterday afternoon I had arrived at the base of Eldora. There were all sorts of warning signs, indicating that I shouldn't enter the ski area ...
... of course, I ignored them.
But I didn't want to pitch tent halfway up the slopes and then have the employees find me the next morning and call the cops, so I rode up and up and up and up to the west edge of the resort and, going a mere couple hundred yards further, I pitched my first encampment on incredibly rocky terrain, on a slope.
I shouldn't say "rode": I pushed my bike a lot over the rocky service road.
Not the best camping site I've ever chosen, but with the sun already set, it was now or never.
Very calm, peaceful night. First quarter moon lit up the site, no wind until a slight breeze picked up after the moon set. I ate 1/2 of my hoagie and sealed up in the tent for the night. I did not put on the rain fly. My nose got a little cold, but I was able to see the stars through the netting at the top of the tent.
All in all, a good night.
Dawn broke with clear skies and no wind. Very lucky weather start to the trip!
This morning I snorfed the rest of the sandwich and left at around 7:30 (some of you might be getting my satellite messages which I hope Matt and I have sorted out). Essentially, I pushed my bike uphill for 3 miles. Ugh! The super rocky terrain and the weight of the bike just made it impossible for me to ride to get to the railroad grade at the top of Rollins Pass. I was glad no one was there to see me because I would push 20-30 feet, take a breather for a minute, repeat until I finally reached the railroad grade. As I looked back, I could see the Eldora boundary about 3 miles away.
For the record, elevation was greater than 11,000 feet ... yah, that explains all of the pushing.
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Riding the abandoned railroad grade was a pleasure then it was nearly all downhill into the Fraser valley. I was flying! But there were a couple of dips in and out of creek drainages that nearly killed me. Down: good. Back up: pushing 20-30 feet, one minute breather, repeat over and over and over.
I finally cleared the last uphill ridge and then coasted into Fraser ... with 16 ounces of water to spare!
I'm at the Fraser Library with 15 minutes left on my computer pass because, although I tried last night, I failed to turn off my phone and it is totally depleted, not even booting up. Hopefully I can revive it and reply to emails you have sent to me.
Given the hellacious climbing I've already done, I'm going to call it a day and do a little R&R at Vance's mother-in-law's place. Then it will be a big climb west to join the actual Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. I may not be able to get out any updates until I get into Steamboat Springs, 2-3 days from now. Check for satellite updates ...
T+1
JK
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