Day 3 of my 22′ Rocky Mountain tour. I forgot what it feels like to ride in not 100+ degree temps.
I woke up at 6am as ordered by my niece to get some of that sweet, sweet gym time. After the hot tub and the previous two days of riding I at least needed to do some flexibility stuff and keep that body in tip-top shape. Best perk of this particular gym? The hydromassage chair:
I liked to imagine little gremlins / gnomes were underneath this water bed of a chair, and they spray your back with a pressure washer in all the right spots. We live in the future…
After having my requisite coffee and breakfast, I packed up the bike, said farewell to my sister, brother-in-law, and now super buff niece, and headed off towards Colorado. Today was the first hint of rain, which was very welcome after Texas.
I had a pit stop at a gas station and suddenly recognized my niece creeping on me from across the aisle. They had some AC issues so pulled over and ran into me! After diagnosing a potentially bad cabin air filter or valve, we got it working again and decided they should leave it be while it was pumping cool air.
“…how do you ride a bike without AC?!” I’m a glutton for punishment, and ignorance is bliss.
Headed into the mountains and Colorado, the horizon starting to take on a somewhat not-so-good appearance.
The closer I got to Durango, the closer this thunderhead got. Lucky me, it was literally RIGHT outside town when I got there. Like, the highway turn was wet, town was not wet. Colorado weather for ya. Little did I know that this would be the first of many run-ins with Rocky Mountain Thunderstorms. Luckily this was a gentle introduction. I’d have a more severe run-in later on in my trip…
Durango is another gorgeous mountain town on Colorado’s list of…gorgeous mountain towns. A great main street, STEAM TRAINS, tourists and locals, all surrounded by mountains. My gracious hosts Frank and Natalie granted me use of their couch, which I had to convince them repeatedly was much nicer than a tent. Thank you friends.
We had some great food and drinks at Steamworks Brewing downtown, and even got to make friends with the locals.
I wondered if I could fit this guy into my side boxes with the 853 hot dogs I brought, but he was decidedly too large.
The local book store carried some academic diatribes on the local avian population.
My butt and Tender Jewels had had a lot of riding lately so Durango Day was on the schedule tomorrow. No riding, just more hiking, fooding, and beering.