Today was my initiation into the heat. It didn’t get what I call bad but very noticeable compared to what has been to date a very cool ride. Pulling out of the parking lot at 8:45am or so, it was already 64 degrees. By the time I came rolling into Denver 87. Like I said, not bad, but it was a big change compared with all the other days I have ridden. I suspect more to come.
I rolled into Dinosaur Monument Park right on schedule and it didn’t take long to walk through their display of fossils. It was kind of neat how the built a building partially on top of an old dig site. That particular site is no longer researched, but the Park itself is still an active dig.
Rolling out of Dinosaur the mission was just to roll to Denver and try to find a somewhat scenic path. Highway through Steamboat Springs was my choice. The best description I can give you is this. Your basically out there by yourself. I went 110 miles before I passed a car going in the same direction as myself. Not to many opposite direction. Some very long straight a ways. I went from arid conditions to very green conditions. Temperature were pretty much level throughout the day, they just continued to rise until the reached the peak of 87. The only except was the 3 times I crested above 10,000 and then the temps fell back toward 65.
Winning picture in my opinion is of lookout. I was traveling around 75 mph, leaned up and over the windshield and shot straight down the nose of the craft to make sure he was doing his job. He was.
Once arriving in Denver, I made contact with Debbie to arrange for dinner meet. When I checked into the Hampton Inn tonight, they mentioned they were serving a complimentary dinner starting at 7pm. So Debbie arrived about 30 minutes prior, we chatted, and then we walked toward the dinner area. I ask, what time you start serving? We finished at 7pm. Oops a daisy. Oh well, we walked across the street and had Mexican instead. We chatted about all the kids in the old neighborhood, our spouses, kids, parents, and a little bit of everything. It was as if the 38 years since we spoke as kids never happened.
So tomorrow, I pick Debbie up around 8:45, then meet her boss Travis at Waffle Brothers, and then head to Mount Evans. I almost did a complete run to Mount Evans today by total accident. There was a major backup on Interstate 70 just west of Idaho Springs. I told my Garmin to eliminate Interstates and give me a route to my Hotel in Denver. The back roads it selected took me just outside the entrance of Mount Evans and an elevation of 11,118 feet. I was almost there. It was a good warm-up for tomorrows run and the only curvy roads I saw the entire day.
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