Day 42 - It's Cold Up Here!

Today is my Grandmother's birthday. Everyone wish Vicki a happy (now belated) birthday!

One thing I did not really think about was how the temperature changes as a result of elevation. I figured it's July and it's hot everywhere in the U.S. It gets pretty cold up around 11,000 feet. In fact, it gets below freezing even in July, just as it did on the night I slept up there. There I was, on the side of this mountain in my thin wool sweater, shorts, socks, wrapped up in my 40 degree sleeping bag, all inside a tent that is laying on top of me. Also, since the tent was completely closed, my breath was condensing on the inside of the tent. Typically, this is no problem. However, since most of the inner surface area of the tent was in direct contact with my sleeping bag or body, I was getting wet.

I slept three hours at the most. I had to urinate in the middle of the night and I laid there for nearly two hours before I felt I was warm enough to jump out of my sleeping bag and tent and go.

At around 5:30AM, I shot out of my tent and ran around the area for at least 5 minutes. I sprinted around and interspersed some jumping jacks all in an effort to warm up. I even ran while I packaged up my sleeping bag and tent. My upper body and arms were shaking quite violently. It was certainly the fastest I had ever packed up my camping gear.

With literally every piece of clothing I had brought with me, I hopped on my bike to finish the last 2.5 miles of the climb to the summit of the pass. I didn't stop until I got there. Also, it was quite effective at warming me up.

The sun was not going to reach the summit for quite some time. The pass runs north to south and is surrounded by higher ground on both the east and west sides. There would be no sunrise. It was 6:30AM at the summit of the pass, the temperature was below 40 degrees, and  I was completely alone, shivering and wet. 

I was in no shape to ride down the mountain. It was a 10 mile descent. I would be extremely cold when I reached the bottom.

I stood there, contemplating what to do. There is a restaurant at the summit that opens at 8AM.

As I was standing there, a truck pulls up and two guys that look to be in their 30's and an older guy in his 70's get out with two mountain bikes. I walk over to see what they are doing. The two younger guys are riding to Salida on the mountain bike trails. According to them, a much larger group of riders are coming up the mountain on their way to Salida in an hour or so. They started riding at 4:30AM. There is an 150 mile mountain bike ride to Salida every fourth of July.  

After the two riders took off, the older man noticed me shivering and offered to let me sit in his truck until the restaurant opened and other riders arrived. One of the guys he had driven up the mountain was his younger son. His older son was with the other group of riders and owned a bike shop in Salida. Bob, the man whose truck I was in, owned a small plastics company in Wichita and him and his wife come out to Colorado in the summers. 

Sure enough, in about an hour, at least 100 mountain bikers descended upon the summit of the pass. I spoke with a few of the riders and noticed that all the bikes were single speeds. In fact, the first rider in was one I had met in the grocery store yesterday in Salida.

The restaurant finally opened and first, I got a cup of tea (Terry and Ryan really put me on to English tea). As I warmed up I ordered a couple hot dogs. As the mountain bikers were leaving they recommended I wait a couple hours before descending. The rider I had met the previous day named Kevin, was particularly concerned with how cold I was. However, once he found out I was from Cleveland he waved his hand at me and said, "Ahh, you're used to the cold."

He was right. Cleveland has made me tough. I waited about 15 minutes then began my ride down the mountain. The sun was out now and I was sure I would be fine. My body was still shaking violently. But, for not pedaling once, that was the fastest 10 miles of my life.

10 miles...

Average speed of 29.5 mph

I stopped in Sargents after those 10 miles and had another breakfast of coffee and french toast and bacon. After that meal, the sun was out and I was much lower so, I took off all my layers of clothes and went back to just a t-shirt and shorts. 

I stopped in Gunnison or, Gunny, as the locals call it, for lunch. I went in to an outdoor supply store to see if I could find a warmer top for the cold nights I will be experiencing at elevation from here on out. I ended up talking with the salesman for quite some time. He had done triathlons and was an accomplished runner. I was telling him how just outside of Wetmore I had met a man who had run the Pike's Peak marathon 3 times. The Pike's Peak marathon, in case you don't know, is a marathon up and down the mountain. You run up 7000 feet of elevation in 13 miles and then back down. The salesman was wearing a Pike's Peak marathon shirt and had run it 4 times. Colorado has a very active population and so the people tend to be extremely fit. To an outsider, it may make you feel quite inferior. I felt as though I fit in with the mountain bikers and this salesman with my story. I bought a lightweight long sleeve shirt he recommended. 

After Gunny, it was nearly 2PM and I bought a similar dinner as the night before. I did not know where I was going to end up tonight. The ride down route 50 was spectacular.

The Gunnison River

Mesas.

Right around this area, I crossed paths with a Swedish woman who had come from San Francisco. This was the Monica who has commented on my previous post.

I knew I was getting close to some campgrounds just as the clouds started rolling in. I put on my new shirt and hoped I could get in some kind of shelter if it started to rain. I could see the rain was very close.

After I noticed this, the next campground I saw I pulled into. My tent stood no chance in a rainstorm. I sprung for a cabin and after the sleepless night and long day of riding I felt I deserved it. I turned the thermostat in the cabin to 80 degrees and slept more than 10 hours.