The Tower 300 Adventure - Day 1

Continued from The Tower 300 Adventure

The day started early, probably about 5am. But that was ok, since I hadn’t slept well for a few nights anyway. Both the bikes were already in the back of the truck, so Ashleigh drove Ardan & I down to Killian’s for the race. After a super tasty burrito we got in line for the start 6:05 am.

Luckily I packed well enough that I at least had lights.

We started rolling out of town with the pack, and Ardan promptly lost a water bottle within the first half mile. It turns out I mounted the bottle cages backwards so they had a tendency to pop out. Whoops. Oh well, we are in a race! Can’t stop for that! At least, I couldn’t. Ardan turned around and went back to get the bottle. Which is a good thing. We will probably need it! (Don’t worry, it finally found it’s freedom on day 3)

Initially we headed up Higgins Gulch. It’s a nice ride. Although it’s surprisingly long to get up to stadium ridge, especially with a fully loaded bike. The stoke was high. Of course I pushed it up the stadium ridge climb, but then kept rolling all the way through single track attack. Some of the rocks on sheep steeps knocked out that water bottle again, so I gave in and flipped the cages around. It’s only fair I suppose. I mounted them wrong and yet Ardan was the one paying the price. It took a while though. Multitools do not fit well on some of the cage bolts.

We got down to sheep flats and didn’t see anyone, so kept rolling along taco alley to Iron Creek Lake where we found Tom & Tim admiring the beauty.

From there the route took us up a cow path that snaked its way … for a long time … up to Tinton road. From there we took the Old Baldy Trail around to burrito boulevard and back down to… sheep flats. A giant loop. Oh well, I didn’t mind too much since the stoke was still high.

Then we rolled on into Wyoming, and down to Dugout Gulch which is one of my favorite trails. The bomb on down to the trail head is a fantastic flight. Even if the bike is pulling me back to the ground at 55 lbs. Heading down Sand Creek through Ranch A is beautiful. That took us out of the hills & over I90 to the State Line Station. Never before have gas station burritos tasted so good - “Hunger is the best spice” indeed.

We hung out there for an hour or so, eating & resting. Finally we headed on up Rifle Pit Road. This is where things started to go south, both literally and figuratively. I got hot on that climb, and that’s my kryptonite. A few times hiding in the shade made it a bit better, but baking heat combined with my saddle rail bolts almost falling out 3 times really put me in a dark place. I also noticed a broken spoke on the rear wheel.

However progress must be made!

We kept going all the way to… 😱 Government Valley Road 😱, which I will never look at the same. I bonked hard here, barely creeping along. Tom & Ardan zoomed ahead but kept waiting for me to catch up.

It got dark.

I bonked more.

It got cold.

I bonked harder.

At one point I seriously contemplated discretely kicking my rear wheel and breaking even more spokes so I could call Ashleigh and tell her the bike just broke down oh shucks and you have to come take me home to my warm bed…

Eventually I just laid on the side of the road, looking around at the astounding lack of trees. Brilliant idea hammock camping was Alan. Just fantastic. What’s the plan now? Roll down into a ditch and wait for morning?

That honestly sounded appealing vs more time in the saddle.

However, Ardan would have none of that. He dug out the hot chocolate, and Tom dug out his Jetboil, and before you could say “We’re surrounded by private property and even if there were trees we can’t camp here”, I had hot chocolate in my hand, my coat on my back, and was feeling surprisingly well! We packed up and kept rolling over to Sundance Horse Camp.

Here, at what felt like the middle of the night but was really just about 9pm, Ardan & I strung up our hammocks and climbed into bed.

And at about 11pm, Ardan was freezing, so we got out the under quilts. Thanks Ashleigh!

Continued in The Tower 300 Adventure Day 2