So I managed to tear myself away from Telluride, the magical wonderland of all and any outdoor activity, great people, restaurants and places to hang out.
I left the house of the hugely hospitable Deane (thankyou Deane) and her flatmates at 7.30am and headed to find some breakfast.
First stop after food was the gondola/cable car for a ride over the ridge to 'Mountain Village' again.
There was fresh rain and snow overnight so the mountain tops looked whiter than previously. One face looked positively silver in the morning sun. There were still some low clouds too, so it was nice to glide up and into them.
From Mountain Village the brilliant start to the day continued. A fast downhill stretch that went on for about 10-15 miles.
After this there was a climb for about an hour and a half pushing back up roughly 2,000 ft to 8,900 ft.
On the climb I forgot I was riding through mountains - It became rolling green fields and tall trees.
Towards the top, on the horizon, directly ahead I saw what I thought was my next obstacle appearing - another giant snow topped mountain. As the road slowly climbed up to its max, the rolling fields either side dropped away and I was greeted by 3 or 4 even bigger peaks. Each appeared to the right of the last one, taller again, like giant stepping stones. Within about 2 minutes of climbing the horizon ahead and everything to my right had became overwhelmed by these peaks that were previously shielded by these green hill.
I had goose-bumps because it felt like they were literally rising up in minutes.
About 5 minutes later I was at this summit of this pass. From here the fastest descent I have ridden started and it seemed to go on for ages. I hit 47 mph!!! And was cruising at a minimum of 40mph for what felt like 10 minutes. There wasn't much wind whipping things up so I was confident I wouldn't get knocked off.
It was a great day in all. 70.8 miles covered in 6 hours including a quick lunch stop in Ridgeway. My legs felt pretty good at the end of it too.
I saw 2 Marmots today, in quick succession. They are like busses. Wait your whole life to see one and then 2 come along at once. Funny looking animals. I loved them. Some people hate them. ;)
I left the house of the hugely hospitable Deane (thankyou Deane) and her flatmates at 7.30am and headed to find some breakfast.
First stop after food was the gondola/cable car for a ride over the ridge to 'Mountain Village' again.
There was fresh rain and snow overnight so the mountain tops looked whiter than previously. One face looked positively silver in the morning sun. There were still some low clouds too, so it was nice to glide up and into them.
From Mountain Village the brilliant start to the day continued. A fast downhill stretch that went on for about 10-15 miles.
After this there was a climb for about an hour and a half pushing back up roughly 2,000 ft to 8,900 ft.
On the climb I forgot I was riding through mountains - It became rolling green fields and tall trees.
Towards the top, on the horizon, directly ahead I saw what I thought was my next obstacle appearing - another giant snow topped mountain. As the road slowly climbed up to its max, the rolling fields either side dropped away and I was greeted by 3 or 4 even bigger peaks. Each appeared to the right of the last one, taller again, like giant stepping stones. Within about 2 minutes of climbing the horizon ahead and everything to my right had became overwhelmed by these peaks that were previously shielded by these green hill.
I had goose-bumps because it felt like they were literally rising up in minutes.
About 5 minutes later I was at this summit of this pass. From here the fastest descent I have ridden started and it seemed to go on for ages. I hit 47 mph!!! And was cruising at a minimum of 40mph for what felt like 10 minutes. There wasn't much wind whipping things up so I was confident I wouldn't get knocked off.
It was a great day in all. 70.8 miles covered in 6 hours including a quick lunch stop in Ridgeway. My legs felt pretty good at the end of it too.
I saw 2 Marmots today, in quick succession. They are like busses. Wait your whole life to see one and then 2 come along at once. Funny looking animals. I loved them. Some people hate them. ;)
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