Day 2

The main feature of day two was a climb up legendary Wolf Creek Pass. This would take us back over the Great Divide and down into the town of Pagosa Springs. Compared to yesterday's 105 miles, this day would be only 60 miles.

It took us longer than usual to get started in the morning. Breakfast was in the community center. Both of us were still feeling the effects of yesterday's brutal ride and JT still felt like crap. But we decided to ride.

The first 20 miles was a gentle downhill run along the Rio Grande into the town of South Fork and the first rest stop. About a mile before the stop I heard a bang and my back wheel started to wobble. Fortunately I was riding a strong touring rim so I was able to continue without stopping. I had the wheel fixed at the rest stop and we rolled out. But just a couple hundred yards down the road there was another bang and I lost a front spoke! We pedaled back to the rest stop and the same guy fixed the other wheel.

We finally got away from South Fork and began riding toward Wolf Creek Pass on US160. In the beginning the road followed the South Fork of the Rio Grande and hardly climbed at all. Just before the start of the serious climbing we reached the second rest stop. I thought about bailing out at this point, but after a long rest and ample food I decided to continue.

After a short section of moderate climbing we came upon a construction site where we were forced to wait for about 20 minutes. Once we cleared that obstacle the climbing continued, but it wasn't too steep. JT started to pull away from me when the road got steeper. With visions of the previous day's nightmare, I flagged down the first sag wagon I saw. I was unable to get a message to JT as we passsed him, so I just waited at the top of the climb and ate my lunch. The climb must have been miserable since the road was being re-paved and the last couple of miles were basically gravel, including a short stretch under a snow shed.

The weather was starting to close in by the time JT reached the top of the climb. Apparently it is very common for thunderstorms to roll in across the mountain passes in the late afternoon. This is why most experienced cyclists out here start ridiculously early in the morning. We were very lucky the day before on Slumgullion Pass. That would have been truly hellish in bad weather.

By the time we started down, it had started raining. The first three miles were gravel. I rode for a while with a guy who did the ride on a mountain bike--for the only time all week, he was in his element. I was able to open up a big gap over JT, who is much more cautious descending. Still, the hill was very steep and my hands ached from squeezing the brakes. I was nearly clipped by an RV--the scourge of the western cyclist. As the elevation got lower, the rain weakened and then ceased. Finally the pavement resumed. Several riders were stopped at an overlook on a hairpin, so I stopped and took this picture.

The last 14 miles into Pagosa Springs were very fast, in spite of a slight headwind. For the first few miles I rode with another guy until he pulled off and told me he would catch up. He never did. It looked like we would be getting more rain so I hammered all the way into town. I found a gap between the tents of the early arrivals and dragged our gear over. JT rolled in shortly thereafter and we got our tents set up just in time before it rained.

We walked into town and ate at a Mexican place and then got some ice cream somewhere else. It really started raining hard after that and we walked back to the campground. I fell asleep to the sounds of rain on my tent, and the sounds of the local intelligensia driving back and forth past the campground yelling "wake up!" Needless to say, after the hospitality of Creede, Pagosa Springs was somewhat disappointing.