Bicycle Tour of Colorado - Day 1 – Pagosa Springs to Creede - 65mi

Climb out of Pagosa over Wolf Creek Pass (10,850') was a real bitch. I’m riding a 32 front/12-26 rear cluster, but this climb seemed much longer/harder than Vail Pass which I had done on a 42 front/12-23 rear cluster back in 2002. Of course back in 2002 I was fairly fit, and in the middle of Ironman training. This year, not so much – I’ve just spend about 6 weeks off the bike trying to recover from what appears to have been a hip flexor strain. The descent down the back side felt quite hairy – I’m not accustomed to 45mph descents, and my front wheel seemed to shimmy a little when I’d brake. Was very cashed out by the time we finally rolled into Creede. All the grassy spots were taken, so we ended up in the gravelly outfield, using rocks for tent stakes. John and Jen had taken off to get coffee w/out telling anyone – Julie was concerned, and I was miffed because we hauled all John’s stuff to the campsite to save him a spot while he was out jacking around. Giant blueberry cheesecake icecream wafflecone. Well deserved nap. Ride on the vintage firetruck shuttle. Silver mining museum. Way tired. LONG line for the shower trailer. Windy.