Dolores, CO

What a difference a day makes. After yesterday’s rain, today was sunny although cool to start in the high 40’s. The 16 mile ride up to Lizard Head Pass had to be the most scenic portion of the trip so far with great views of the surrounding mountains. We took our time to enjoy the views of mountains with snow caps, forests, green fields, sheep in pastures, flowers and small mining towns, including a 50 mile descent along the Dolores River valley to the town of Dolores for a very pleasant 66 mile day. The valley up high was narrow with high tree lined mountain sides. By Dolores there were much shorter red cliff hills as it opened up to the open spaces of western Colorado. There were a fair number of other road bikers on the road today, we assume coming from Cortez and Dolores. Cortez is the largest town in the area, about 10 miles from Dolores.

The big social event of the day was we were able to meet up with our close family friend Tucker and his friend Allison. They met us in Dolores around 1:30. We all went to the bike shop in Cortez as Bob wanted to get his bike checked over since the next shop is 400 + miles away in western Utah. (The rear hub probably has a bad bearing and the shop did not have the part so we will have to ride on it until the next stop). Tucker and Allison bought some food for a picnic in the town park. After picking up the bike, we went to the Anasazi Heritage Center for a hike to a pueblo ruin with a great view of the area, in all directions including Mesa Verde, back up towards Lizard Head Pass, west to Utah, etc. We then enjoyed pizza at the Dolores Brew Pub. Thanks to Tucker and Allison for spending part of their day with us.

We have to tell the story of one of our fellow riders. He is riding solo and unsupported, and is following the same route we are. He is from Korea and doesn’t speak much English. We first saw him wobbling up Monarch Pass as Bob passed him. We have since seen him in every stop over town as he is keeping pace, albeit at a slower pace. To our surprise he showed up at the bike store 10 miles off route. Apparently, he had a tire problem and some people picked him up off the road and took him to the store. It will be interesting to see if we continue to cross paths.

We finished last evening with a free gondola ride to the mountain above Telluride(it goes on over to Mountain Village where there are lots of big new houses) for the sunset. And then Sally went up again this morning after sending Bob on his way.