July 30 - Day 35 - Steamboat Springs, CO

Routt National Forest (Informal Campground) to Steamboat Springs, CO
Distance - 43 Miles, Avg Speed - 9.1

Well readers, the storm that looked to be certain last night never actually hit us. Our early night was rudely interrupted by a herd of curious cows trying to come into our campsite. Dirtbaby initially thought Numbstuff was just snoring a bit louder than usual but then she heard Numbstuff get out of his tent and start yelling at the cows to go away. That seemed to work but we were still serenaded by mooing most of the night.

Our plan was to get up at 5, climb the 12 miles to Columbine, where there is a grocery store marked on the map, then cycle to Steamboat Springs to get to the post office to pick up our ship forward box and also get the bikes to the bike shop for some TLC.

Of course, our plans never quite work out. Firstly, Dirtbaby sleeps through the alarm so wakes up at 6. Then we find Numb Stuff’s front tire is completely flat but we just pump it up and pray for the best. Dirtbaby’s front tire is not too bad, a little soft, but OK after pumping. We hit the road and begin climbing. The guy yesterday was totally right, it was a brutal climb but much easier in the cool of the day than it would have been in the humidity of the previous afternoon.

Along the way, we see a couple of sandhill cranes which make the most amazing noise. Apparently they are an endangered species so we are lucky to see them. We also see a huge Pyrenean sheepdog just lying on the road, his flock of sheep behind him. He doesn’t bat an eyelid as we cycle past – he just looks like he is having a cigarette break away from his flock of sheep.

Eventually, after 2 and a half hours of climbing 12 miles we reach Columbine, and no, it’s not the Columbine of the tragic shooting fame. There’s nothing there except the grocery store, which is, yeah, you guessed it – closed! By now, we are starving.

Luckily, the road to Steamboat Springs will be paved and it is mostly downhill. Four miles later, we come across a visitor center which has cold water, rest rooms and a soda machine all of which we use. They tell us there is a small store about a mile away, we’re hoping we can get a coffee here and maybe if we are lucky, a breakfast pastry. In fact, the store has a restaurant and is still serving breakfast! Oh joy! Great coffee too!

Strengthened by this, we finish the last 24 miles to Steamboat in 2 hours.

Numb Stuff goes to the post office to find 4 boxes waiting for us - he just about has enough room to put them all on his BOB.

On the way back from the post office, he realizes his front tire is now completely flat, so he has to walk his bike to the bike shop – the bike shop is called Orange Peel. We both have a big list of the work that needs to be done on our bikes – Numb Stuff is getting a new sturdier back wheel. The bikes won’t be ready until tomorrow, so we go and get some beer to celebrate making it to Steamboat.

Here’s a photo of our motel room after the BOB bag and panniers have exploded!

On the way to dinner, Dirtbaby sees a familiar face cycling down the road – it’s CHIP! She streaks across the road yelling Chip! Chip! She eventually catches up with him.  We didn’t expect to see Chip again as he left a day ahead of us but it turns out he took the main route which was much harder than the Columbine alternate.

Chip found a private home here that takes cyclists in. The people here are really into the Divide race/ride and fed him and gave him as much wine as he could drink for $50 a night, so not surprisingly, he stayed there 2 days! Upon hearing his description of the main route, we are glad we decided not to take it as Numb Stuff’s rear wheel for sure would not have survived the rough downhill! We have dinner with Chip and share stories of the last week, then a glass of wine back in our motel room after which we fall asleep thankful to be in a bed.