Montrose, Co to Telluride, Co – 65 miles
This morning I woke up at around 730 in Montrose. Packed up went to eat breakfast at a restaurant called Starvin Arvin’s. While I was there I struck up a conversion with a couple at the booth next to mine. I asked them about potential camp spots near Telluride, because I knew it would be tough to find somewhere to sleep with the festival going on, and I didn’t know if Charlie would be reachable when I got there. They gave me some good ideas to check out on the way into town. They left a little before me and as I was finishing up my breakfast the waitress told me they had paid for my breakfast. Great start to the day!
I didn’t get the bike until around 10 and it was already really hot. I had about 60 miles to do to get to Telluride and at least one mountain pass to climb.
I made it to Ridgeway where Charlie and Jeff had camped the night before at around 1. I got a text form charlie saying that they had made it to Telluride. I kind of wish I was there to ride in with them. I’m sure it was great to finish their ride right on time with the amount of ground they had to cover. I stopped for lunch in Ridgeway at the True Grit Cafe and Bar. I guess True Grit was filmed in Ridgeway so there is John wayne stuff everywhere.
As I was leaving the restaurant an older woman stopped to talk to me about what I was doing. Her name was Penny and she was from the UK. Her and her husband are driving from coast to coast. She even ended up donating! Thanks Penny!
I was back on the bike by around 2 and started climbing the Dallas Divide. It wasn’t too steep and not nearly as long as Monarch Pass, but still difficult with the heat. The San Juan Mountains continued to get larger as I climbed the pass.
Once over the top the geology changed almost instantly. The dirt was red and the cliffs were more jagged and steep. The descent was long with a head wind.
At the bottom of the hill I started a long slow climb to Telluride. It was strange because now I was riding East. The the sun going down behind me in the canyon it was really hot. As I got to telluride a bike path appeared which was nice because there was a ton of festival traffic and no shoulders.
I stopped at a convenience store and texted Charlie. I figured they had been celebrating pretty hard since their arrival so I didn’t really expect a response. I got one pretty quick. He told me to ride into town and that I could either camp with his brother or possibly sleep in the condo he was in, so I rode into town.
Telluride is a super cool mountain town. Even though there are thousands of people here for the festival it didn’t feel crowded. I rode around bit and eventually met up with Charlie’s brother Tad. he had a pickup truck and had an idea to camp up the side of the mountain where we could still see the stage and it was free. I threw my bike in the back of his truck and we went up a forest road where we met Jeff’s girlfriend (other bluegrass fest to bluegrass fest cyclist), Caroline. We found a perfect spot where this was the view.
The sunset over town was incredible.
You can see either Jupiter or Venus above and to the left of the moon in the picture according to some people I talked to at the Astronomy Festival at Black Canyon NP. Eventually, Jeff met us up there and we all hung out and listened to John Butler Trio and the Telluride House Band. It’s crazy how things come together sometime to make the perfect situation. What an incredible day.
