Western Express Day #5 Ridgway, CO to Telluride, CO
Western Express Day #5
June 5, 2021
Ridgway, CO to Telluride, CO - 40 Miles
Start 9:18 AM, Finish 2:30 PM
Ride Time: 4:36
Ascent: 3501'
Descent: 1783'
Tour Total Miles: 300
I slept incredibly well last night at Warm Showers hosts John and Mallory‘s in Ridgway. First thing last evening I took a shower and then I finished yesterday‘s blog post. I went to bed early. A window was open with a nice cool breeze, and I woke up a little after 6AM. I was still on Eastern time and I’ve been getting up early in Colorado to get through obstacles. I shaved and rubbed aloe into my sunburnt, crusty, peeling face. All of my devices were charged. I filled my water bottles, switched into my alternate short-sleeve jersey and cycling shorts, clean underwear and socks. I was back at level one. John and Mallory cooked me a breakfast comprised of scrambled duck eggs, toast, and a large mug of tea. They had a beautiful house filled with artwork. In addition to being the mayor of Ridgeway, John is a computer tech and glass artist. He’s created beautiful stain glass, fused, and slumped art objects that are hung throughout their house. Many of his pieces utilize traditional quilt patterns. Mallory is a schoolteacher and was happy to be done with the semester. They’ve toured in Europe and would like to tour the Erie Canal in upstate New York. Mallory is originally from Greenwich CT and John from Boulder. They have a daughter who lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. They mentioned a fellow westbounder who had stayed with them the night before, but who wasn’t taking the traditional Western Express route.
I began the ride heading west on State Highway 62, and the climb for Dallas Divide began almost immediately. There was a beautiful snowcapped range to the south. Halfway up the pass I met eastbound touring cyclist, Arjun from Los Angeles. Sometimes cyclists don’t like to stop on their downhills and I was glad that Arjun did. He was doing the Western Express from San Francisco to Salida, at which point he’d take the Great Parks route to Boulder. He would be starting graduate school in Boulder in the fall. Arjun didn’t know about the US 50 closure and I filled him in. He mentioned that the mountains in Nevada weren’t so bad.
It was a hot climb up Dallas Divide with gorgeous views. I stopped several times to drink water. I finally reached the top of the 8970’ pass and entered San Miguel County. Cruising down the the other side I passed a female day cyclist who was climbing the pass. I was following Leopard Creek to the left on my way down towards Placerville. I spotted several more day cyclists making their way up Dallas Divide. I had a nice wide shoulder and there was noticeable motor traffic.
Back down off the ridge I found myself in a gorgeous sienna-colored craggy rock wall canyon. I took a left on State Highway 145 and was now climbing back up out of the valley with the San Miguel river to my right. I rode into Placerville, population 66, and stopped at M&M Mercantile for a Red Gatorade Zero. I sat out front on a massive split log bench under the portico. Before heading up the second 1800’ climb to my destination, I lathered myself with sunscreen.
I had an 18 inch wide shoulder with a steep 75’ drop to the right and no guard rail. The red canyon walls were breathtaking. The next town I entered was a Sawpit, population 40 and elevation 7554’. There was considerable traffic on Highway 145. The climbing went on forever, and it was a steep grade. I was headed towards 10,222’ Lizards Pass, which I would summit tomorrow. I was doing most of the climbing for this pass today. Telluride stands at 8750’ elevation and I wondered if it would be cold tonight in my tent.
I entered Uncompahgre National Forest and stopped at the overlook. It was becoming cloudy and the forecast called for rain for the next two hours. At the fork I headed straight for Telluride. I had come here back in 1987 for the Harmonic Convergence music festival. I had spent the summer hitchhiking around the US and had dug crystals in the Ozarks, which I sold at the festival. Today as I approached the town I followed a bike path. I heard thunder claps and then felt large rain drops, so I stopped to put on my rain jacket. A guy passed me on the trail and shouted, “You’re almost there!”.
I headed to Strong House brewpub where I ordered several pints of Irish red ale, along with a bratwurst. I edited this report while I waited out the rain. After the brewpub I cycled over to the city park where I had reserved a camping spot. I set up my tent and cleaned my chain, before cycling back into beautiful Telluride.
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