Total Miles: 1365.92
Time: 4:43
Average Speed: 14.6 mph
Max Speed: 46.8 mph
Flats Today: 2
Total Flats: 7
Elevation Gain: 4877 ft
Weather: Low wind, 33 degrees in the morning and around 90 degrees later
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Today could be described in one word... Photo. We went over Monarch Pass, and it was magnificent. We took 61 pictures today, and we could've taken many more. We ate continental breakfast at 6:00, loaded at 6:30, and headed out. Since it was in the 30's, we bundled up in c.JPG)
lothes. Wade was wearing everything he had except his rain gear, and I was wearing everything except my long pants and rain gear. For the first time, we were wearing more clothes than other riders. It turned out that wearing a lot of clothes paid off... other people complained about how freezing it was while we were comfortable. We got about 20 miles in before we first started stripping off layers, but we still kept some w.JPG)
arm clothes on. We went about 6 more miles, then we had to stop again. This time it was for a flat... my flat. With that one I went up 4 to 2 on Wade for the number of flats so far. I changed and once again, just as Wade was about to hand pump.JPG)
it, the sag van came with a real pump. He's one lucky kid. Anyway, we rode 2 more miles into the first sag stop and we stayed there for awhile. After the rest, we started our approach to the Monarch Pass climb. It was relatively flat heading into the mountain, but having mountains in sight was really intimidating. Wade saw one.JPG)
with snow on top and he said, "I'll be very disappointed if we don't get up past the tree line and into snow." He must be crazy because I was hoping we wouldn't even get close to that. Eventually we got to the m.JPG)
ountain and it was definitely a mountain. Right where the cue sheet said begin climb for 9 miles, it was about an 8 percent grade. We had no idea what we were in for.
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with snow on top and he said, "I'll be very disappointed if we don't get up past the tree line and into snow." He must be crazy because I was hoping we wouldn't even get close to that. Eventually we got to the m.JPG)
ountain and it was definitely a mountain. Right where the cue sheet said begin climb for 9 miles, it was about an 8 percent grade. We had no idea what we were in for.We began the climb and immediately Wade said, "I'll stay behind you for awhile so I can get pictures of you climbing." What was I supposed to say to that? "Ok I'll stay in front of you until you decide to pass me." He took about 10 pictures in the first mile of Fran and I climbing next to each other. He eventually had to stop after a mile because I had to take a rest... I mean I had to take a picture. It was a great view, like the whole climb up, but it was a nice rest too. About a mile further up the moun.JPG)
tain, Wade had to stop. I was hoping he was tired, but it was just a flat. Oh well, I got to rest while I changed it. This flat wasn't as surprising as the others because the last 2 days when I pumped up his tire in the morning, the pressure was only 20 psi when it's supposed to be 115 psi. He made it all of yesterday without a flat, so we thought we would stick with that tube again today... This time it didn't work out so well. It was completely flat, .JPG)
and I had to change out the tube. Wade didn't get as lucky this time and he had to pump it up with the hand pump.
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tain, Wade had to stop. I was hoping he was tired, but it was just a flat. Oh well, I got to rest while I changed it. This flat wasn't as surprising as the others because the last 2 days when I pumped up his tire in the morning, the pressure was only 20 psi when it's supposed to be 115 psi. He made it all of yesterday without a flat, so we thought we would stick with that tube again today... This time it didn't work out so well. It was completely flat, .JPG)
and I had to change out the tube. Wade didn't get as lucky this time and he had to pump it up with the hand pump.We took some pictures there because like the rest of the mountain, it was beautiful. Then, we started climbing again. We were riding along a cliff for almost the entire ride up. For some parts there was a guard rail, but at some parts there wasn't. If we would have m.JPG)
oved right about 4 feet, we would have been falling down some rocks. At one point there was a rock ledge that we walked out on and took some pictures. Wade wanted to go further out, but I decided to make his mother happy and say no. I hope you're proud of me Joan!!! Anyway, we took quite a few pictures there, then we continued climbing. We didn't get much further before we stopped aga
in and took more pictures. After those pictures we rode a good distance before we stopped again. Then, after that stop, we finished up the climb. There was a sag stop at the top, and Pam, one of our staff members, cheered us in. It was a great feeling to reach the top. We ate a bunch of fruit, went to the bathroom, then bought tickets to go up in a gondola to the very peek. When we bought the tickets, we also got our souvenirs for the trip. We got
$8 t-shirts that said, "I made it to the top of Monarch Crest." Also, the t-shirts had a bike in the background, so it was perfect. We were 11,312 ft up, which is the highest we've ever been and the highest we'll be on this trip. Monarch Pass is also part of the Continental Divide, so it's all down from here. This was the longest, and supposedly toughest climb of the trip, so the t-shirts were awesome.
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oved right about 4 feet, we would have been falling down some rocks. At one point there was a rock ledge that we walked out on and took some pictures. Wade wanted to go further out, but I decided to make his mother happy and say no. I hope you're proud of me Joan!!! Anyway, we took quite a few pictures there, then we continued climbing. We didn't get much further before we stopped aga
in and took more pictures. After those pictures we rode a good distance before we stopped again. Then, after that stop, we finished up the climb. There was a sag stop at the top, and Pam, one of our staff members, cheered us in. It was a great feeling to reach the top. We ate a bunch of fruit, went to the bathroom, then bought tickets to go up in a gondola to the very peek. When we bought the tickets, we also got our souvenirs for the trip. We got
$8 t-shirts that said, "I made it to the top of Monarch Crest." Also, the t-shirts had a bike in the background, so it was perfect. We were 11,312 ft up, which is the highest we've ever been and the highest we'll be on this trip. Monarch Pass is also part of the Continental Divide, so it's all down from here. This was the longest, and supposedly toughest climb of the trip, so the t-shirts were awesome. We got on the gondola and rode to the peek with Fran. It was even more beautiful up there. We could see mountain peeks out in the distance for miles upon miles, there were trails on top of .JPG)
the mountain, and most importantly, there was snow... Wade got what he wanted. We went out of the lookout and onto the mountain, and almost immediately Wade ran to the snow. He grabbed some snow and started throwing it at me. Who would have thought that Wade would be throwing snow at me in late June. He stayed out in the snow for awhile, and Fran and I sat on a ledge as we all looked out into the pure magnificence. I took quite a few pictures of Wade in the snow, and I even took a video of Wade throwing a snowball at Fran. The connection is bad again, so I doubt we'll be able to get the video up, but we'll try. After we got done outside, we went back in and found the line of the Continental Divide. We took a picture, and of course we jumped back and forth from side to s
ide a couple of times. We stayed up at the peek for about 45 minutes, and we could've stayed longer. We got down from the peek, took more pictures, then started our decline. As a whole, we were on the summit of Monarch Pass for about 2 hours.
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the mountain, and most importantly, there was snow... Wade got what he wanted. We went out of the lookout and onto the mountain, and almost immediately Wade ran to the snow. He grabbed some snow and started throwing it at me. Who would have thought that Wade would be throwing snow at me in late June. He stayed out in the snow for awhile, and Fran and I sat on a ledge as we all looked out into the pure magnificence. I took quite a few pictures of Wade in the snow, and I even took a video of Wade throwing a snowball at Fran. The connection is bad again, so I doubt we'll be able to get the video up, but we'll try. After we got done outside, we went back in and found the line of the Continental Divide. We took a picture, and of course we jumped back and forth from side to s
ide a couple of times. We stayed up at the peek for about 45 minutes, and we could've stayed longer. We got down from the peek, took more pictures, then started our decline. As a whole, we were on the summit of Monarch Pass for about 2 hours.We began our descent, and it was beautiful as well. We took some pictures, but it was harder to stop because we were going so fast. I hit 46.8 mph at one point on the descent. That is the fastest I've ever gone on a bike in my whole life. It was nice, and it was downhill all the way into Salida. We went to the old downtown and ate at a restaurant along the Arkansas River. Fran had to have his sandwich for lunch. We didn't get our ice cream today, but we got cherries... those were gone in about a half of an hour. Anyway, it was an all around great day for pictures, and tomorrow we follow the Arkansas River the whole day. I doubt we'll beat 61 pictures tomorrow, but it'll be beautiful again.
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