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I had some reservations about the campers near near me last night as they had barking dogs, music, and we're yelling at each other late into the evening. But once the sun went down just past 9, they were silent all night. I ended up sleeping better there beside Ophir Creek than any other place so far.
I awoke a little after sunrise, and noted the temperature at 43. I ate some breakfast and put on warmer clothes and didn't get going till 7. I went about a half mile off my route when I got to the highway, to Bishop's Castle. By then the temperature had already warmed almost 20 degrees.
The largest self built castle in the US, 6 decades in the making, and still under construction, it looks like someone's imaginary house come to life. I arrived and there was no one visiting. There were lots of hand painted signs with both humorous and serious disclaimers. Reading the signs, you're made aware of the risks of exploring. But it's free to anyone, anytime, and there weren't even any gates or warnings other than the initial ones. The 10 porta potties outside in the "parking area" bore testament to the visitor traffic the site gets.
I entered underneath a giant stone building for a drawbridge, and looked up in awe at the insane height of the castle. The spires rise over 16 stories, with metal frames jutting out into the sky as evidence of future planned growth. A local stone exterior with wrought iron catwalks and stairs, it looked the part of a castle. The underpinnings looked to be steel. I walked slowly up a random set of stairs, there were dozens all around the outside leading to various places.
There was an eerie silence broken only by my footfalls on the plain wooden flooring of the main vaulted space on the second floor. It was impressive with stained glass and giant arches making the empty room feel enormous with only me in it. I couldn't help but feel like I shouldn't be exploring here even though I knew I was welcomed.
By now a couple of fit looking guys about my age had also arrived and we're exploring as well. I walked up a tight stone spiral staircase that led up one of the tall spires. The two guys were already at the top where a further set of wrought iron stairs led about a story higher. The catwalks and stairs were delicate looking and the welding was a bit spurious. But you think to yourself, lots of people have already explored this extensively and been the guinea pigs so it should be safe, right? Only you start to wonder if perhaps your weight will be the straw that broke the camel's back. The thin steel grid over the support webbing of the stairs had many repairs everywhere, some held in place with wire rather than welds.
And after watching the two guys climb up in turn up the last floor of the spire we agreed that what made it scary wasn't the height, which was considerable as we were at least 100 feet up. It was the "homegrown engineering". No evidence based structural load modeling went into the design. He just built it higher and higher. Just because.
If you are anywhere near this place, which is considered Rye, Colorado, you should visit. Look it up on Atlas Obscura for details. I dropped some money in the donation box and went on my way.
The first leg of the ride was really fast despite a lot of climbing. I was on the paved highway (which was deserted) for awhile and the climbs were gradual. The gravel was hard packed and fast. The descent into Westcliffe was gradual and had a lot of pavement as well.
I got some Subway in town and also stopped at both the Dollar General and the little grocery store. So I was fueled up well. The temperature was about eighty and the sun was trying its best to poke through a smoky haze. Not enough to really notice a smoke smell but enough to darken the sky a bit.
I had a couple of windy prairie climbs and descents and turned off the gravel and rode a lightly trafficked highway all the way down a fast descent through a beautiful rocky canyon to Cotopaxi. I passed a touring cyclist with traditional panniers going the opposite direction up the climb. He was stopped with his hands draped over his bars in apparent defeat at the difficulty of the climb. I waved and wished him good luck as I flew by at 35mph.
There was a storm gathering off to my north so I decided to pop into the general store and get a snack and figure out what to do next. I had met my goal for the day already by 2pm by arriving in Cotopaxi at the Arkansas river. The storm was moving away from my route but another was gathering just south, towards my position at the store. I decided to head north and try to outrun it.
Only the way north was a 15 mile, 3500 foot climb. I stayed just north of all the heavy rain the whole time and only had a bit of light rain. As I got closer to the top the light rain became more common and the temperature dropped. Eventually the pavement gave way to packed gravel. Eventually I reached the top.
By now I felt so good I decided to press on all the way to Salida. The big climb finished, I was ready for the descent into town but I had more than 15 miles of up and down to contend with. I constantly had to don or doff my rain jacket as the rain started and stopped and when climbing or descending. At length I reached the decent.
The rain started again while I barrelled down the hill. Thank goodness the roads were gravel and took the rain well with almost no mud. I got to town late evening and found it full of people everywhere despite the light rain. Bars, restaurants and breweries were all packed. Jen had already been looking for a hotel for me and I kept checking one by one and they didn't have any vacancies. Eventually we settled on Great Western Lodge which had one room left. Apparently the only room left in town. Sounds familiar! I had passed a huge, brand new hotel that was completed but not yet open. It will do well here I am sure.
So I ended up with another too large room but whatever, it was a nice end to a wonderful and long day. I felt really good on all the climbs and keep wondering if I will ever fall apart but I have been feeling great every day. Tomorrow I will try to get some parts and stuff from town.
By: | WTR4 |
Started in: | Custer County, CO, US |
Distance: | 120.5 mi |
Selected: | 120.5 mi |
Elevation: | + 11648 / - 13368 ft |
Moving Time: | 09:51:01 |
Gear: | 2020 Lynskey GR300 |
Page Views: | 56 |
Departed: | Jul 13, 2021, 7:00 am |
Starts in: | Custer County, CO, US |
Distance: | 120.5 mi |
Selected distance: | 120.5 mi |
Elevation: | + 11648 / - 13368 ft |
Max Grade: | |
Avg Grade | |
Cat | |
FIETS | |
VAM | |
Ascent time | |
Descent time | |
Total Duration: | 13:39:25 |
Selection Duration: | 49165 |
Moving Time: | 09:51:01 |
Selection Moving Time: | 09:51:01 |
Stopped Time: | 03:48:24 |
Calories: | 5325 |
Max Watts: | |
Avg Watts: | 151 |
WR Power | |
Work | |
Max Speed: | 42.6 mph |
Avg Speed: | 12.2 mph |
Pace: | 00:06:48 |
Moving Pace: | 00:04:54 |
Max HR: | 142 bpm |
Min HR: | 59 bpm |
Avg HR: | 110 bpm |
Heartrate zones: | |
Zone 1: | 3 hours 43 minutes |
Zone 2: | 1 hour 1 minute |
Zone 3: | 0 minutes |
Zone 4: | 0 minutes |
Zone 5: | 0 minutes |
Best format for turn-by-turn directions on modern Garmin Edge Devices
Best format for turn by turn directions on Edge 500, 510. Will provide true turn by turn navigation on Edge 800, 810, 1000, Touring including custom cue entries. Great for training when we release those features. Not currently optimal for Virtual Partner.
Useful for uploading your activity to another service, keeping records on your own computer etc.
Useful for any GPS unit. Contains no cuesheet entries, only track information (breadcrumb trail). Will provide turn by turn directions (true navigation) on the Edge 705/800/810/1000/Touring, but will not have any custom cues. Works great for Mio Cyclo. Find GPS specific help in our help system.
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