Ah, get up early, let’s go hit the bike shop! We go to Mountain Bike Specialists on Main, because it’s a block away from the Irish Embassy. No. Not the REAL embassy – it’s a pub … and it has … Guinness on tap! We went there for dinner last night. So today, the bike shop! Super friendly folks, great shop dog (Ruby!), we buy a map and a book, get some really good trail advice (one REALLY good thing the guy did, was tell us what direction the trails should be ridden in!), so off we go to ride. We decide to ride Horse Gulch trails Well, Horse Gulch is a dirt road (almost – well, ok, it IS a road, but it doesn’t look like it!), and there are many, many trails that come off of it.
Anyway, we get there, saddle up, and start the ride up the road. It”s hard! VERY rocky, and quite steep, and even though we’re 2,300 feet below Crested Butte, I’m still having trouble breathing. The Bear gets ahead of me, and starts to widen the gap. I hear a woman’s voice … “Are you from Texas?”. I stop (gladly! I already need a rest!), turn to look back, and look for the truck … maybe they saw it … nope, it’s too far away, out of sight (though just barely!), and again she asks “Are you from Texas?”. Ever the smart-ass, I answer as I usually do … “Maybe …”. She says “It’s Mo. Do you remember me?”. Mo … yes! “Mo Monahan? Yes, I remember you!” I yell to Barri, tell her to come back down. She’s maybe 50 yards ahead, and doesn’t want to come back down – she just climbed this! But back she comes, and boy, is she ever glad she does! Twenty years ago, they were both racing for the same bike shop, and each is very happy to see the other. Mo is with her husband Randy, they’ve been here a few years, and love it (duh!)! We chat a little while, do a lot of catching up, and promise to stay in touch. Yup, that definitely has to happen! We’ll stop by next year for sure, and get together. Looking forward to it, especially because next year we’ll be in much better shape to ride.
We say our goodbyes, and continue our ride. It’s a grinder of a climb, but we get there. Start out the wrong way, but soon discover our error and turn around, going the way we’re supposed to. Well, it’s not required, it’s just more fun if you go the right direction. Here’s a view of the area:
Reminds us of Austin. The hill country in Texas, actually, not just Austin. Except this is a mile higher. A bit harder to breathe up here. The ride is fun for me, for The Bear, not so much – she’s having stomach cramps, and lets me know she also had them during our last ride in Crested Butte, is why she was so slow. Nice to know. Wish I’d known then. We cut the ride a bit short, though we still get over eight miles in. Eight hard miles, so it does count. Good ride. On the way home, we stop by Home Depot – they’re closing, so I can’t get what I want, but we see this outside:
Yes, solar panels! Actually, a totally self-contained solar power center, almost a kilowatt! I need to find out why we don’t have this in Dallas! Good day, but it’s time to go home and rest.
I do have a beef about Durango. Nice town, but not if you have a real truck. Junior is too big to park on the street, you have to find a parking lot! Here’s a shot of a Subaru in a parking spot:
It barely fits! Junior, with a front tire up against the curb, sticks out about two feet! And signs everywhere tell you you’ll get a ticket if you hang over the white line. You gotta love it – a ranching State, where if you own a ranch truck, you can’t park it! Ranchers don’t buy little trucks, they buy REAL trucks. We had a hard time finding Junior – it’s hard to find a four-door long-bed Dodge in Dallas. In South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and Idaho, you can’t swing a dead cat that you don’t hit trucks like this one. Oh, and you know how Ford is number one in Texas? Not up here! Up in all these States I mentioned, Dodge is the big hitter! Not a lot of Fords or Chevys, and just try to find a Toyota Tundra! You find the smaller Toyotas, but the big ones? Yeah, one towed the shuttle, but in the real world, Dodge diesel is king.