august 8, 2023

took a short ride from “informal camp 3”, ending up at the brush mountain lodge. the lodge is legendary on the divide for kirsten’s over-the-top hospitality and wood-fired pizza.

after we got there, other riders trickled in and soon there were nine, with 5 southbound and the rest headed north.

there was banter and bravado and stories of woe and whimsy. there was a heated debate about dietary selection by a vegan rider who challenged kirsten about pizza options.

it’s pretty simple in my mind: when you are a guest and food is served on a donation basis, don’t bitch.

problem solved.

i will eat anything. i don’t need specialty items. i need calories and carbs and protein and fat.

just like in the book.

the climb out of brush mountain was great and then the divide chunk reappeared and while the uphill involved some hike-a-bike, the downhill off of hahn’s peak was as punishing as that off of union pass, way back in montana.

embedded rock, loose cobble, sand and a meandering roadway with terrible riding lines for the 2 + mile descent.

same story, different descent.

i pretty much bomb downhills, and though the group left 20-minutes before me, i passed them on the chunk.

old man tempting fate.

logistics are a bit splintered now. originally, steamboat springs was tagged as a target for our journey…bike shops, restaurants, and really expensive “every thing else” for a budget already blown out of the water. but given our two day exhalation in pinedale last week, another rest day seemed overly, ahhh…restful and to me, unnecessary, necessary bike repairs notwithstanding.

the decision to lay-over was not a mutually-derived decision and so, some would rest and some would ride.

i rode…all the way to stagecoach state park, which is about 22 miles south of steamboat. got there at 19:00, registered as a “bike”, set up my tent, ate and entered a deep and restful slumber.

little did i know that i was about to test the mettle of the colorado parks system.

rest in peace: shawn perich, the guy who gave me the nickname “owlman” in 1988. 😔