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The Pendulum

It’s all fun and games until..

The pendulum of emotions 


Day 7 August 19


For the numbers people:

50 miles

2682 ft elevation climbed

5 hours riding


The hot breakfast was awesome!  We got to sit at a real table and real chairs with real silverware and real food.  Well.. you get the idea. We felt spoiled. Since we were first shift breakfast, the next shift started rolling in as we were finishing. As we got talking, it turned out that they were filming another episode of “House hunters”. A very nice crew who were out from New York.  They were appreciative of our story. The producer asked a good question after we explained our trip, “Why would you do that?”  

It’s a valid question and one that a sane person should ask. I suppose that tees up our answer, “it’s crazy but we come home with so many stories!”

The morning was crisp. We rode for awhile in our puffy jackets. After a good climb, the jackets came off. 

I suppose we are spoiled by some of the great dirt roads travelled because today the road had lots of washboard sections. Washboard hammers your bike which in turn hammers your butt which isn’t really happy after sitting on the little seat for over a week. In addition to the washboard , a strong headwind joined us. It’s demoralizing pedaling down hill when we should’ve been coasting. 

Today we again ride out into jaw dropping valleys.  Ten miles wide with grass growing as far as the eye can see and  the Rockies framing the background. We knew it was going to be a fifty mile day and we would have to again ride over another 10,000 ft pass before heading to Salida. The numbers don’t really tell the story but it is a start. 

We started talking as we rode, “Why would you do this?”

Bernhard compared it to a big emotional pendulum that swings sometimes as fast as every fifteen minutes. You see something beautiful and the pendulum swings up to happiest, you climb a big hill, it swings to misery. I can’t even begin to describe all the other things that make the pendulum swing.  For example on this trip, every time we reach a super high summit, we should be joyous but we have to leave quickly as the skies turn dark, the wind blows hard, the temperature drops, and the rain begins. It’s no fun dodging lightning. 

Our destination, Salida CO was in the valley nearly 3000ft below our 10,000 foot summit. Now that’s a lot of coasting down hill!!!  Even though we put on our rain gear, the clouds took mercy and only played with us by sending a few fat drops. 

Jeff and Dale flew right past our hotel and posted up at a brew house to see if there was any other housing options closer to the downtown. The research obviously created an insatiable thirst. By the time we caught up with them it was all smiles!!  All smiles. Yes the pendulum always swings to the happy side when we stop for the day but tonight, we get to sleep in a real bed!!


Comments

  1. GFreemanAugust 21, 2024 at 7:44 AM

    Why would you do that... indeed! Same reason you would climb Whitney in one day... well done JBO! Enjoy the river rafting in Salida!

    ReplyDelete

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