Tim's Great Divide Ride: Steamboat SPRINGS

Day 41—Sunday, September 11—Steamboat Springs, CO

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Took a day off in Steamboat Springs and got my brakes fixed (so happy to have confidence going into some very high mountain passes in CO). On a mountain bike, the time you spend in the saddle climbing at 3-5 mph is far more than the time using your brakes on the downhills. I can go for hours without touching my brakes (except to capture a pic) on the climbs that are sometimes anywhere from 5-25 miles long. However, you do need them going down—so I am glad I have them!

Steamboat is an attractive town nestled in a high valley surrounded with a backdrop of 10k foot mountains. Since the town itself is just under 7000 ft in elevation, these mountains don’t look more dramatic than the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

Ran into Cor (Netherlands) and Dana (Indiana) who I first met at Big Fork, MT and then at the Llama Ranch

Michael (from Muenster, Germany) and Cory (Chicago) also staying at the KOA

The main commercial area, Lincoln Street, has few major chains (the chains are mostly outdoor gear and clothes) and has a very healthy commercial edge with various goods and services. I saw no empty storefronts.

Got a terrific lunch at The Shack and walked on the residential streets which had lovely churches and some attractive housing stock some of which had been converted to law and CPA offices.

St. Paul’s Episcopal church: 1913

At The Shack I had an extended conversation with Jim, who passed on having his picture taken. I commented on his cowboy hat, which he said cost $800. Jim is an itinerant framing supervisor for wood frame construction. He is working on a condo project in Steamboat Springs. From Oklahoma, he lives in his RV and manages the framing and roofing of these projects for about 3-4 months and then moves on to the next one. Divorced for over 30 years, he is definitely his own person. I wish I could accurately describe his voice: when he ordered ice tea without lemon, I thought he might have had a voice box implant and he had a way of conjuring up his voice that sounded like it was coming from somewhere deep within him and needed an extra diaphragm push to get it out.

After he rejected the idea of a pic, he told me that he had been approached by someone in his younger days to model western wear (that hat); the photographer took some pics and asked if was available evenings. His career in modeling hinged on the fact that evening work would cut into his drinking, and that was that!

Catholic church in Steamboat Springs; really wanted to see what the inside was like

TJ buzzed into town in the afternoon and I met him at a pizza joint for a beer. He is trying to connect with someone in Como so decided to continue on.

With new brakes, I went back to the KOA.

Ya gotta love KOAs: this location has laundry, showers, mini-golf, a pool (drained) and a river running through it all. Their motto is: “there’s camping, and then there is KOA.” Man, that’s for sure!