Day 2- Lizard Head Pass/Telluride

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain falling outside, and looked out onto a gray, drizzly morning. Nevertheless, we got up and went to breakfast, where eventually the rest of the New Orleans contingent joined us and we briefly considered just skipping the ride and spending the day wandering around Telluride, and seeing the finish later in the afternoon on Main St.  Suddenly, everyone decided to go ride anyway, so we rushed back to our rooms to gather our stuff, pulled our bikes from the ski storage room, and met the rest of the group at a bike shop a couple of blocks away, where we were starting the ride.

As we rode out of town, the roads were wet and before too long we were all wet too from the spray kicked up from the bike tires.  A couple of miles out of town, we turned left and began the climb up to Lizard Head Pass, where we were to have lunch and see the peloton go by.  The bottom of the climb was probably the hardest, with a short climb of several miles at about 7-8% grade.  I first stopped to peel off a layer, then a bit later the rain began and I stopped again to put on my raincoat.  Shortly thereafter I stopped and pulled on my hood underneath my helmet, as the rain was coming down pretty steadily.  The scenery was gorgeous, but the mountaintops were hidden in fog and mist.  The middle part of the climb consisted of several short climbs and descents, then another long steep slog uphill brought us to Lizard Head Pass, nearly 10,000 feet in altitude, and about a mile past that the vans were already parked.

After a short rest, a few of us continued on about ten miles down the road to Rico.  Along the way I enjoyed the first really fast descent, lasting 2-3 miles, followed by another 7 miles or so of fast riding on nearly flat roads into the miniscule town.  We turned around and reversed course, facing a slight but noticable incline first, through a lovely valley, then a steeper climb before arriving at the tents.  The rain held off for the most part, just a stray drop or two along the way.

Back at the pass, they were grilling hamburgers for lunch, and we waited around eating, chatting and trying to stay warm as the weather changed every 5 minutes or so from sun to cloud to rain and back again.  Around 2:00 the peleton came by, with Tom Danielson in the lead, and of course it was exciting as always, especially to share in the excitement of the folks who had never seen a pro bike race in person before.  They were still climbing as they came past us, so the pace was fast, but not too fast to get a few photos.

There were probably nearly as many vehicles, motorcycles and team cars as you would see at a typical stage of the Tour de France, but the crowds alongside the roads were practically nonexistent.  For example, as I rode back along the stretch from Rico back to our vans near the summit of the final climb of the day, a distance of ten miles, I saw exactly one possible spectator, a motorcyclist parked on the side of the road.  There were probably some people at the Lizard Head Summit, and it sounded as if there were great crowds down in Telluride for the finish, but along the route it was VERY quiet.   Probably a completely different experience for the riders; I wonder how they like the peace and quiet compared to France!

Immediately after the broomwagon passed, we started back down to Telluride, reversing course from this morning.  Fortunately, the rain was over, so the roads were dry and I stopped along the way to take off my raincoat, continuing to descend in only a jersey & windbreaker.  The last several miles were very fast; it was there that I reached my top speed for today of 43 mph.  The Garmin maps and data, as always, show the details of the ride.

I sailed back into Telluride around 4:00, showered and cleaned up, and then most of the New Orleans contingent rode the gondola out of Telluride up to Mountain Village, where we had  cocktails with Louise's sister-in-law at their house there, then had dinner at a spectacular restaurant called Allred's, which we entered from the gondola building.  The dining room had the most magnificent view that I think I've ever seen, which was all the better now that the sky had cleared and it had turned into a beautiful day.  Anyway, dinner was great, and we ended the day with a gondola ride back to the village.

Looking down on Telluride from the Gondola

Tomorrow we shuttle to Montrose, then ride to Crested Butte.  85 miles if I make it!