Safe Return Doubtful

83 miles (133 km) – Total so far: 1,499 miles (2,413 km)

Steady morning uphill gradient…

Now the going gets more serious, 9% for 3 miles

After a Breakfast Sandwich and coffee at the cafe in Rangely I was away south on highway 139. The road followed a dried up river and very gradually climbs for 35 miles. It was very quiet and pleasant riding with the desert scrub scenery of this part of Colorado. Then the road climbs much more steeply for the Douglas Pass. It’s about 400 metres climbing in 3 miles, and tough in the midday hear. I got to the top at 1:15 , a bit later than I had estimated, as those last 3 miles were pretty tough with a loaded bike. The downhill is pretty similar, and straight away I was aware of the poor quality of the road. It’s pretty important when you’re doing 30+ miles per hour. There are some pretty good views from the top. A section had suffered a landslide overnight, but it was mainly sand and small rocks left on the road. Similarly to uphill, the steepness levels off and provides a very quick last 20 miles, except for a few jumpy little hills.

I arrived at Highline State Park, about 3 miles off the road and by a lake, at 3:15 pm only to be told it was full. I know this happens to US sites at weekends, but I had emailed them a few weeks ago to check, and they responded saying they would have room. In the heat of the afternoon and after 70 miles I wasn’t best pleased. Conveniently also, this State site didn’t have internet to check the email. It was a big office with 4 people working there, so quite unlikely I think. It was another 12 miles down to the Colorado River and the Interstate and into the town of Fruita for another State site, the James M. Robb State Park. At $18 it’s a bit steep, an extra dollar for the shower, but I had little alternative, and there is a bonus, whereas Highline had no stores or restaurants anywhere near, this does.

Looking back down

On top of the Douglas Pass looking south and the road below

9% on the descent also – hard on the brakes with a loaded bike

This is slightly down, and it’s 20 mph speeds on this sort of descent

Turned me away – full for the weekend – another 13 miles to Fruita

…and the James M. Robb State Park – smelly as next to the sewers, and unimpressive

But fortunately, this was a lot more impressive

Storytime:

Most Easters when in the UK I head up to the Scottish Highlands and Islands for some hiking. Despite all the places I have been in the world I still find it incredibly appealing, particularly Skye and Assynt. This particular Easter I was working in London and headed up with Martyn (my good friend from cricket) and a couple of colleagues from work. As we were travelling from different places we arranged to get the train to Edinburgh and hire a car. We had a great week on Skye, and a bonus of a few beers in Edinburgh after dropping the car off, before the train departed, a recipe for disaster in this case.

But where does Nigel fit into this story? Martyn and I left the others in the pub and hotfooted it to the station. We rushed through the ticket barrier and boarded the train just as it was leaving, and sighed with relief. No sooner though than we were settled into our seats than the announcer read the list of stations, next stop Newcastle. Oh dear, we had got the wrong train. Scratching our heads for a while worked. The train was to stop at York, and Nigel lived there, sharing a house with Joe (as Joe mentioned in an earlier story). Perfect. We would change around a few arrangements, stay with Nigel and Joe, and get the train back to Liverpool the following day. We called ahead, but Nigel was unavailable. At that time he was in a relationship with a girl we just called Tunisia. It’s a long and separate story, but she had a huge chest, as did Miss Tunisia, who had recently done very well in the Miss World competition. Eventually we got hold of Joe, and he was able to let Nigel know. I don’t think at the time that either Joe or Nigel believed us, that we had boarded the wrong train, and Tunisia certainly didn’t believe us, as their plans for a romantic night out were put on hold