It's not all downhill to Utah - Day 39: Poncha Springs to Gunnison (62 miles)

After 7 straight days of riding through the mountains in Colorado, we are feeling totally shagged. Our legs, bodies and minds are super exhausted. A tired grumpiness is starting to seep into the Cranking Odyssey. It feels like we could sleep for a week. Getting up early before day break so we can pack and be ready to ride early is getting harder and harder, as all we feel like doing is sleeping.

Looking straight up the Monarch Pass

Today felt like our hardest climb yet. 18 miles, gaining approx 3,650 feet of elevation at a pretty constant 6% gradient between Poncha Springs and the top of Monarch Pass.

Not happy Jan!

Our ACA maps say this is one of the most scenic drives in Colorado. Yes it was scenic, but on the bike today it just felt so hard and so long. It felt like our tires were sticking to the road, as if with every pedal stroke we were going nowhere. Just out of Poncha Springs, parts of the road looked like it was headed on a slight downhill but we were riding so slowly. This was just part of the deception of the climb. In fact the road was still heading uphill. Our minds were playing tricks on us.

Mining on Monarch Pass

Monarch Pass looked so unassuming. It just went on and on and on, heading first pass the changing colours of the aspens, then as we got higher and higher the tall pines kicked in, then finally the treeline ended. Despite the pass taking its toll on our legs and minds, it still only took us 3hrs and 15mins to reach the summit including a couple short breaks along the way. And we had yet another awesome, fun descent down the other side with magnificent views.

Views on the ascent

Glad we made it to the top

View from Monarch Crest

Monarch Mountain Ski Resort

The tram that takes you to the peak to enjoy the views

The descent down the other side

Thankfully this is our last mountain pass in Colorado and the last time we will cross the Continental Divide this trip (our 12th crossing all in all). Hopefully, the next couple of days will bring some easier riding to give our weary legs a break. In 39 days we have only taken 2 full days off the bike and I think it's all starting to catch up with us now.

We were hoping we wouldn't have any more significant climbing to do this trip, but contrary to what Steve says, it's not all downhill to Utah. We checked the elevation profiles for Utah and the majority of the ride in our last State will be climbing between 5,000 feet to over 10,000 feet, twice over. It seems America is incapable of building flat roads over here!

Hwy 50 towards Gunnison

We rewarded ourselves in a couple of ways today to try and perk ourselves up.

1. A yummy and slightly expensive dinner at Twisted Fork in Gunnison, another pretty cool historic ranching/mining and college town, and the gateway to the great ski resort town of Crested Butte.
2. Steve had his beloved PBR with dinner, whilst I endulged in strawberry margaritas.
3. We are spending another night in a hotel so that hopefully we can get a much needed good nights sleep in a comfy bed and make it easier to get an early start in the morning.

We can't wait to lose even more elevation (even though it means we just have to climb back up again) so that we get some warmer weather and more pleasant camping conditions so we can go back to sleeping in our tent.

We're also looking forward to getting to Telluride in 2 days time, stoked that we will be making what seemed like such a far-fetched goal at the beginning of this trip - the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival.

CRANKING ODYSSEY STATS

Total Odyssey miles: 2,237

Overall Fastest Speed: Steve (46 miles per hour) Mandy (36.3 miles per hour)

Bludge Days: 2

Bonks: nil

Dog chases: 3

Dummy Spits: Steve (4) Day 10 - because it rained; Day 16 - because the rocks in the river were slippery; Day 29 - because it takes me so long to get ready in the morning; Day 36 - because I was blogging and Steve was dieing of starvation

Mandy (2.5) 0.5 Day 14 - those freakin' wreckless Idaho drivers!; Day 26 - because my bike computer had a meltdown; Day 28 - because Steve wouldn't help hold my bike up in the wind after watching it nearly fall over 3 times whilst I tried to put my clothes away in the panniers because it looked like rain ahead

Flats: Katie (4)

Wrong turns: 8

Beer of the day: PBR

Lesson of the day: the mountain plains of Colorado are almost as windy as those in Wyoming

No. of days with no shower: 13

No. of days in a hotel: 12

Starting weight: Steve (90kg) Mandy (51.5kg)

Day 30 Rawlins weigh in: Steve (183 pds / 83kg). Mandy (110 pds / 50kg)

Posted with Blogsy