Gunning for Gunnison

We woke up at were treated to an all you should eat breakfast by the Optimist Club of Buena Vista – I had 4 pancakes and 2 glasses of OJ. The ride today was challenging, as we climbed from 6,700 ft up to 11,312 feet – Monarch Pass, which is part of the continental divide. The ride was not that bad – 6% for 14 miles, but only because all of the riding has gotten us into biking shape. A couple of riders even stopped for a quick snowball fight. We had lunch at the top of Monarch Pass, and Angela treated everyone to a cup of hot chocolate. Despite the dark clouds, I decided it was time to continue the ride and went down the mountain at 40+ mph. The rain clouds decided to let loose and the rain started to fall, making the descent chilling. My teeth were chattering and my hands were shaking – not good when the hands are controlling the steering. I also had to be careful on turns as the road gets slick with the rain (and all the gas / oil on the road). I made it to the gas station at the bottom of the mountain, to see the thermometer reading 58 degrees. I went inside to warm up, and after another hot chocolate at 40 minutes, we continued our ride – really pushing hard to stay warm and get to Gunnison. We stopped at the Sonic in Gunnison (Happy Hour 2-4) before making our way to the high school for showers and dinner. David, Renee and Dennis then headed to a local bar for a drink and a game of shuffle board. Since we could not shut off the emergency lights in the gym, it was the perfect time to sleep with a t-shirt covering my eyes.

Leaving Buena Vista in the morning, with the Collegiate Peaks in the background.