Dolores, Co to Mesa Verde National Park and Back – 40 miles
Yesterday I woke up at the Cozy Comfort RV Park in Dolores, Co at around 7. The plan was to hit the bike shop in town called Lizard Head Cyclery when they opened at 9 (according to Google). I packed up and rode down the street to the shop at around 830. When I got there I saw the sign said they weren’t open until 930, so I decided to go next door and grab some breakfast at the Depot. I got a breakfast burrito, coffee, and OJ for under 10 bucks, not bad.
After breakfast I went back and sat around for awhile, waiting. I decided to grab some groceries, also basically next door. I sat around some more. By this time it was almost 1030 and no one was at the bike shop. There weren’t any numbers to call, so I sent them an email and a Facebook message. After not hearing anything back I decided to head down to Cortez about 10-15 miles south. It was also essentially on the way to Mesa Verde National Park.
There was one good climb on the way out of Delores and then it was pretty much all downhill to Cortez. I went to Kokopelli Bike Shop when I got there and they hooked me up. They cleaned and rebuilt my rear hub, trued both the front and back tires, cleaned and lubed my drive train, and let me use their hose out back to wash off my bike – it needed it.
I was out of the bike shop by around noon and I started the ride to Mesa Verde National Park, only about another 10 miles to the entrance. On the way out of town I ran into Benny from Rico! Stopped and talked for awhile and thanked him for taking us down the river on Saturday since we didn’t see him before we left Sunday morning.
The rest of the ride to Mesa Verde was incredibly hot. I was incessantly applying SPF 60 sunscreen, but still felt like I was burning. When I got there I went straight to the Visitor’s Center to cool off. I talked to a ranger and looked at a map. It was a serious climb and 20 miles one way to get to the ancient Native American ruins. There was no camping back in the park, only at the campground near the entrance. That meant I was going to have to ride in and ride out either by the end of the day or early tomorrow.
While I was standing at the counter with the ranger I met Brian. He offered to let me hitch a ride into the park with his family and friends in the RV they were traveling in. I was happy to accept his offer. Brian and his wife Kate were traveling with their five kids and two friends. One of them they met in medical school and his name was Andreas. He’s from Germany and was super stoked on my trip. It sounds like he enjoys an adventure or two as well. I had a great time hanging out with them and it made the trip into Mesa Verde much more enjoyable. There were absolutely no shoulders and loads of RV’s traveling in both directions at top speed around tight switchbacks – super sketchy for cycling.
We stopped at one set of ruins (Cliff Palace, I think) and then headed back out to the entrance. I would have liked to check out more ruins since I was there, but was happy to get to see some without having to do the ride into the park.
When I got back to the Visitor’s Center and said bye to the Brian and Kate crew, I started planning my next move. My options were to stay at the campground there or ride back up to Delores to meet up with my route. I had contacted a Warmshowers host when I pulled into Delores the day before, but hadn’t heard back from him until the morning. I decided to give them a call and see if they could host me tonight instead. Dave answered the phone and said they could host me, so I started the ride back up to Delores.
Dave and Linda’s house was on a gravel road just off the highway that goes into town. It had great views and an awesome log cabin feel to it. Dave is originally from California and grew up around the ocean. Linda is originally from Missouri, but has moved around a bit. They both seemed to like adventure and we had a good time sharing stories from our bike tours while eating dinner. Linda made some delicious stuffed peppers with a salad.
They retired from agriculture in California a few years ago and did a cross country tour in 2008 and a European tour in 2011. It’s always really inspiring to hear stories from older people who still like to get out there and wing it. I hope I continue to keep my sense of adventure throughout my life. It’s the only way to live!
