Day 17: The Climb Begins

Walden, CO to Parshall, CO to Breckenridge, CO

I was warned about the northern Colorado roads being full of potholes. Yesterday, I just narrowly dodged one with my front tire, but hit it hard with the back one. I heard a sound like the wheel makes when running over a rock and thought oh no! But on closer inspection, it seemed all good and I rode my final 20 miles into Walden.

I woke up this morning and started packing up my stuff. Rob was already packed and ready to pedal off, so I said goodbye then talked with Gabriel, as we both prepped to head off in opposite directions. It didn’t take me too long, and I was off. Almost immediately, I realized that there was something up with my back wheel. My brake calipers kept catching the rim in one spot, on every rotation, as I rode. With each turn of the pedal, it felt worse and worse. I knew something was wrong, so I turned back to the park to check out the wobbly wheel. I figured that pothole must have caused some damage after all.

Gabriel was helping me adjust the spokes to try to true the wheel, when I found the root of the problem. The wheel hadn’t just gone out of true. I had broken a spoke! Without a bike shop anywhere around, I had to make due. Luckily, the spoke was not on the freewheel side of the hub. I was able to remove the spoke, and true up the rim by tightening and loosening the spokes around the missing one, and just kept going. I knew I would need to get to a bike shop somewhere as soon as possible, otherwise the wheel could get further damaged. Of course, like last time, it was a Sunday. Although I passed a couple bike shops, they were all closed. Once I got cell service I was able to search, and found a bike shop open in Breckenridge, but I didn’t want to risk riding that far on my broken wheel. I was already pushing it. But, no option. I pedaled on…

I passed Rob along the way, just before the big climb to the top of Willow Creek Pass, which was another crossing of the Continental Divide (9683 feet). It was a tough climb, but I had 15 mile of super easy downhill afterwards. Of course my broken wheel was on my mind the whole time. Another pothole could destroy it. I ran into 2 cyclists along the way, Clementine and George, ALSO going the opposite direction. I fought a tough stretch through Byers Canyon with more relentless headwinds, but AMAZING views.

I stopped in Parshall, a tiny town, to meet my friend Sophie’s mom, Kathy from Buena Vista. Kathy gave me a ride to Breckenridge so I could get my spoke repaired and still make it to Buena Vista in time for the 4th! Kathy loaded me up on snacks, and we set off for “Slope Style” bike repair shop in Breckenridge. The town has a big bike race coming up on the 4th, so they were swamped. Initially they said they couldn’t get to my repair today, but when I explained my situation, the bike mechanic, James, made time to cut spokes, install them and true up the wheel. I had a good time talking with him and all his buddies. Thank you, James!

Kathy and I had a great dinner before she dropped me off at The Bivvi Hostel in Breckenridge. It’s a cool place, with an even cooler dog, Paco. I’m in a communal bunk room for 4, but so far I have it all to myself. Tough climb to the highest elevation of my journey tomorrow, (Hoosier Pass- 11,542 feet) but then, I will have an awesome break with my friends in Buena Vista for the 4th of July! VIEW PHOTOS –>

Distance: 67.20(1322.63 total miles)
Time: 5:05:09
Ascent: 2654
Descent: 3120

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