Tim's Great Divide Ride: Straight UP

Day 50—Tuesday, September 20—Del Norte to Platoro, CO

50 miles; 6,000 feet of climbing

Early morning on the main drag in Del Norte. Interesting town!

Ike and Autumn, our hosts through Warm Showers, kindly let me and TJ sleep in their backyard. Autumn is a mental health counselor in Del Norte. Ike is a jack of all trades: artist, welder, farmer, landscaper, etc. (He also has 4 tons of cannabis biomass since the crash of the cannabis market with the legalization of pot.) Other things I learned about Ike: he did a bike trip from San Diego to Brazil, survived a sinking sailboat off of Baja, was rescued by an Indian freighter, and then traveled the rest of the trip with a chicken.

Tenting in Ike and Autumn's backyard. Lots of bike parts for creative projects!

Autumn & Ike

Eric, TJ, and Ike, grabbing an early breakfast at Boogie’s in Del Norte

Eclectic yard art (see VW at left in background); thanks to Molly, our yard doesn’t look like this! Pots and pans on the fence line

Eclectic house ...

…across the road from more traditional rural architecture

We were feeling a little apprehensive about the day ahead up to Indiana Pass—at 11,900 ft, the highest pass on the ride. The guidebook forewarns that you will never forget the 12-mile climb 😳. Why do they say this? On the other hand, previously forecasted storms had dissipated so we had a window of opportunity to take on this iconic pass.

We rode a paved road out of Del Norte, a very interesting community with a younger generation really trying to make a difference. Ike was instrumental in starting a farmers market and other events. This is a small town reinventing itself.

Once out of town the road started climbing and eventually turned to gravel and went straight UP! The grade must have been more than 15%. It was grind time: first gear at 3 mph for the next four hours. Someone asked me what I do to “get in the zone” so the time passes more quickly. I don’t have a system other than to get off and walk/push if I drop below 2.5 mph, stop and take a breather or eat something, or get some water and take time to look around. I wish I could say I get transported to a blissful place with the repetitive pedaling and arrive at the top refreshed in what seems like minutes…but I can’t. It’s a grind—rewarded by the sights and vistas on the way up and the knowledge and gratitude that my legs are up for the challenge, even if I am the “greatest SLOW on earth."

Doesn’t look steep here but it was

The way up included passing through Aspen groves whose colors range from bright green to blazing yellow. Trail water angels topped off our bottles and encouraged us.

Water angels Colin and Trisha from Del Norte, up in the mountains for the day; they have ridden parts of the divide

Spruce among the aspens

Approaching the pass; top of this mountain was mined. Careful instructions not to drink from any creek even if filtered. Beautiful but tragically contaminated landscape

The pass itself had no sign so you’ll have take my word for it that I made it…see some pics below. By this time Eric and TJ were probably 20-30 mins ahead so I enjoyed the rest of the day riding solo. At the pass it started to rain and hail so I didn’t spend a lot of time up there! And the temperature was dropping with a storm moving in.

Looking Southwest from Indiana Pass; 11,900 ft…tallest point on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Ride…stunning views into the next valley

Looking east from Indiana Pass; in distance, valley floor where we started the day’s trip

Summitville mine in distance…clouds are gathering

After Indiana Pass, we descended to the Summitville gold mine which is a superfund site—meaning extremely contaminated with leaching natural minerals but also chemicals used by mining companies to extract gold. The historic town of Summitville was little more than some wood ruins.

Summitville mine superfund site…very sobering

Remains of historic Summitville

High mountain meadow with cabin

Started climbing again to a high meadow before descending to a low point (more rain had me sheltered under a pine tree) before climbing up again to Stunner Pass before dropping into Platoro. An exhausting day of 9 hours of riding including breaks (averaging just over 5 miles an hour!)