We awoke before dawn--not as early as most of the riders--but it still counts as before dawn. JT didn't feel any better in the morning, but he was ready to ride. We made our final choices of what gear we would take and what we would leave in the car. I decided to leave my floor pump, which turned out to be a good choice as there were pumps available every morning. Suddenly, the sprinklers around the camping field began to go off. We hastily broke camp and loaded our gear into one of the equipment trucks. This sprinkler thing was a recurring problem throughout the ride. I was amazed that lawn watering was allowed in the midst of a severe drought. In the east, restrictions on lawn watering are always one of the first restrictions imposed, while farms and businesses are allowed to go unregulated unless things get really bad. In the west, it seems the lawn is the most important thing. I guess maybe it won't grow back if it dies.

After a nutritious but bland breakfast in a cafeteria crowded with riders, we rolled out of town. The ride started with an easy ten-mile run down US50 along the Gunnison River and into the Curecanti National Recreation Area. In those ten miles we went from a moderate climate to a desert.

The route turned left at the Blue Mesa Resevoir on to Colorado Route 149. We would be on this road until the next day. The road started out running along the Blue Mesa Resevoir, but then suddenly turned left and started up a grade. This hill was the toughest and longest climb I had ever done--a distinction that it held for about two hours. But just as the climb started my rear tire went flat. I was not the first of the 1600 riders to have a flat, but I may have been the second. Large groups of cyclists streamed by while I patched the tube and pumped up the tire. I got a few of those, "You poor bastard" looks.

Finally we started climbing. At what I thought was the halfway point of the climb the tire went down again. This time a threw the tube away and used a new one. That one held for the rest of the day.
 

We resumed our climb. Every time I thought we must be nearing the top, the road turned and kept going up. All I could see was sky ahead of me, but there was always more hill. It wasn't steep (probably only 4% grade) but it went on and on. It turned out to be 9 miles long. There was a much-needed rest stop at the top. Some guy was getting medical attention. JT asked about feeling lousy and was told to keep hydrating, he probably had a touch of altitude sickness.

There was a long descent after the rest stop and then another climb. At the top we joined a small group huddled under the shade of the only tree near the road. Then another descent and another rest stop. JT wanted to rest longer but I was worried about finishing the day so rode on ahead.

The run into Lake City was actually a climb of about 1000 feet, but it seemed like it was downhill. Unbeknownst to me, there was a considerable tailwind halping me along. In Lake City I stopped for an apple and more fluids at a store. As I rode through town I saw lots of cyclists at various eating establishments. It didn't look like they were planning to climb Slumgullion Pass. The sag wagons would be full tonight!

Then began the hardest climb ever. The grade was about 8% and it went on for about 8 miles with no let up. JT caught up with me on the lower slopes, but eventually I lost him (this was the only major climb where I beat him to the top). Soon I hooked up with two other guys and we adopted a strategy of riding for 1/2 mile at about 4 mph and then resting until our heart rates went back down. After climbing forever, we passed a sign that told us it was still 4 miles to the pass--Uggh! Some people were walking and we would pass each other several times before we got cleanly ahead of them. Using this strategy it took about 2 hours to reach the top, where they were getting ready to tear down the rest stop. It was about 5pm and we grabbed as much food as we could and moved out.

There was a 6 mile descent before the start of the 2 mile climb to Spring Creek Pass. The descent was ass-poundingly bumpy as there were large gaps in the pavement every 10 yards or so. This rough treatment may have contibuted to the spoke-breakage problems I experienced later. At the time I was just happy to be going downhill.

At the bottom of the hill a sag wagon pulled along side and a woman told me that JT was in the wagon. I asked if there was room for me. She said "No" and they zoomed off. Actually I didn't feel too badly at the time, but it wouldn't have killed me to bail out.

I had outdistanced the other two guys on the descent but they quickly caught up on the climb and we resumed our 1/2 mile-at-a-time strategy. This climb was just as steep but not nearly as long and soon we were on the continental divide at another rest stop. This stop was designated as the "lunch stop."  JT and I had purchased the lunch option and I really needed the food so I wolfed down the meal and moved out as soon as I could. There was still about 25 miles to go but it looked like it might all be downhill or flat.

The descent (also ass-pounding) was about 9 miles long. In the middle there was one more climb that required a rest stop, but it was less than a mile. Still, those same two guys caught up with me for the break. Finally over that last climb and into a big valley. I was hoping that I could coast all the way into Creede, but with about 10 miles to go the road turned left and directly into a headwind. Suddenly I was very tired. I struggled along the mostly flat valley until I rounded a bend and there was Creede. I had been riding alone almost the entire way since Spring Creek Gap, but now I caught up with a small knot of riders who were, like me, very happy to be done. It was about 7pm.

I saw JT as I pulled off the road. He looked about as ragged as I was. At this point I was saved by the Fruit Smoothy guy. I sucked down two of them and started to feel vaguely human again. Then I went to my tent (which JT had already set up) and got my stuff together. I hit the showers and later, feeling slightly more human, we took a bus up into town for dinner, which was in Creede's underground community center (in an old mine). I can't say enough about the people of Creede. They really rolled out the red carpet for the tour and made us feel welcome.

There is not much open space in Creede and our campground was on the town baseball diamond. By the time JT got there, the infield and outfield were full, so we ended up in the gravelly area beyond the outfield grass. But the weather was nice and sleeping would not be a problem. Neither of us was sure we would be able to ride the next day. I thought I might ride to the first rest stop and then bag it. JT wasn't sure he would ride at all.