After a relaxing morning over breakfast with Mike, Julia, and Ethan, we packed up to start on our way again. Mike had brought the new tire we needed, so we are well equipped to ride, and we did not have to repeat our 4-mile trek over sandy roads; Mike was kind enough to ferry the bike and our gear out to the paved road. We bid them goodbye after a really great weekend reunion, and headed downhill.
We expected a quick and easy ride, because the route to Canon City is all downhill, on paper. On the road, it was a little different. Two miles into it, before we were warmed up, we hit our steepest little hill yet, a 12%'er that wasn't even all that short. We got over it with lungs burning but without a stop. A mile or so later, we hit another little one at 8%, which seemed tame by comparison.
Then the road was indeed downhill, dropping 3000' over the next 20 miles, taking us down through a series of valleys with high mountains close on each side. We covered it quickly despite a stiffening headwind, but with 10 miles to go we turned into a strong wind and what looked like a long uphill. We decided to stop for a snack-food lunch, at a spot with many flags snapping in the wind, promising us a hard, slow 10-mile slog. Even worse, the sky ahead looked dark and threatening. Expected adversity often has turned out on this trip to be no big deal, and this was another example. After about two miles the road turned downward so sharply the wind didn't matter much, and we zipped the rest of the way to Canon City without getting more than a few drops of rain. A total of only 33 miles today, with another short day expected tomorrow.
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