Pagosa Springs to Taos, NM 144 miles
Today was billed as the epic ride of the trip and indeed it was. We were on our bikes at the break of dawn and rode for an hour before we saw the sun. It was particularly nice to see the sun since the temperature was a cool 37 degrees. The first 71 miles was a continuation of the day before, rolling hills through the mountain valleys that were filled with aspen trees in full color. At the 71 mile mark, we started our 9 mile ascent at an average grade of 6-7% over the summit of the San Juan mountain range. Since it was sunny and in the low 70's, I just wore my short sleeve biking jersey and shorts. By the time I reached the summit(10,500'), it was very heavy overcast and rain looked like a strong possibility and the temperature was 41 degrees. Minutes later it started to rain and then hail with the wind blowing in my face. I had no choice but to press on and hope that hypothermia did not set in. I was totally soaked and I could feel my body temperature rapidly dropping. What seemed like eternity, but it was probably only 20-25 minutes before the support vehicle showed up with my extra gear. By the time I changed clothes, the rain had stopped and I continued on. 144 miles and 10 hours later I pulled into Taos, NM. Average speed: 16.1 mph.
Today was billed as the epic ride of the trip and indeed it was. We were on our bikes at the break of dawn and rode for an hour before we saw the sun. It was particularly nice to see the sun since the temperature was a cool 37 degrees. The first 71 miles was a continuation of the day before, rolling hills through the mountain valleys that were filled with aspen trees in full color. At the 71 mile mark, we started our 9 mile ascent at an average grade of 6-7% over the summit of the San Juan mountain range. Since it was sunny and in the low 70's, I just wore my short sleeve biking jersey and shorts. By the time I reached the summit(10,500'), it was very heavy overcast and rain looked like a strong possibility and the temperature was 41 degrees. Minutes later it started to rain and then hail with the wind blowing in my face. I had no choice but to press on and hope that hypothermia did not set in. I was totally soaked and I could feel my body temperature rapidly dropping. What seemed like eternity, but it was probably only 20-25 minutes before the support vehicle showed up with my extra gear. By the time I changed clothes, the rain had stopped and I continued on. 144 miles and 10 hours later I pulled into Taos, NM. Average speed: 16.1 mph.