Day 35: Frisco, CO

Houston, wounded duck coming back on line after yesterday's ride had frozen up my comm link. The duck found hard dock yesterday evening in fairplay, colorado at the western inn. As predicted, yesterday was to be a rough one and by the end of it, fighting hypothermia, the sortie did not disappoint giving both ups and downs literally and figuratively. Fortunately, the operation concluded without casualty but it did necessitate a one hour power shower during debriefing to return the body's core temperature back to normal status, return the color of my skin from blue back to a rosey hue, and thaw the icicles off of my eyelashes. It started with yesterday's launch time being delayed in order for climatic conditions to warm up, a battle that would underwrite the day's script. The climb was going well, especially after equipment adjustments were made to adapt to the conditions. Once made, riding was going well until finally, at mile 1413 into the trip, the rubber on the aft burner went flat.

My reaction was one of utter disbelief for with these specific specialized kevlar-reinforced models, flats have been few and far between. The last one requiring maintenance occurred in 2006 while riding from moscow to boise. After making necessary repairs, on the side of a pretty decent slope, the nag and duck rolled back into operation. The rest of the assent went relatively well. The rain wasn't pleasant as it again soaked the gear and the bod, but the unusual cold front from our friends in canada caused the wind to blow up mountain where normally it would blow down thus giving wounded duck a nice little breeze from the back all day and probably staved off catching a cold as i rode with the wind instead of against it which obviously would have only caused the wind chill factor to worsen. So eventually the nag pulled itself over the crest of currant creek pass after a juicy 4000 foot climb and headed back down towards civilization at one point reaching a maximum velocity of 45.9 mph. As i began to descend, the skies began to turn dark and with a few miles to go to shelter in the town of hartsel, it began to hail. Wounded duck managed to roll in before it really got bad for in time the size of hail reached marble size-that would have left a mark. Finally with lunch in and about six cups of hot tea the last 18 miles into fairplay were wet but at least not conducive to conditions where a concussion would have been imminent.

Yesterday's hard count:
mileage: 74.7
hours in the saddle 7:03
total elevation ascended: 4300 feet finishing around 9800 feet above sea level
Elements that played a factor: many
icicles that formed on facial features: yes
ambient temperature difference in the last two and one half weeks: > 80 degrees
temperature when arriving into fair play yesterday afternoon: 40 (according to the bank sign)

Today's stage will include the highest peak of the trip - hoosier pass at 11,550. just waiting for the lighting and thunder to pass - duck out.