Day 39: Dillon to Ruby Valley Campground

I’m writing these next few posts during a rest day in the future, so to make the date less confusing I’ll include it at the beginning.

Today my dad and I split up as planned. I wasn’t feeling much other than some slight anxiety about touring alone, but after we went our separate ways, I felt the isolation immediately. It was definitely a mixed emotion that I can’t quite describe. Regardless, I stopped thinking about that when the climbing started. There were a few short but very steep (for me) climbs, up to 14% grade in sections I think.

Doing the gravel detour was definitely the write move. It made me wonder why we’re doing any road riding at all. Other than the obvious lack of traffic, something about the dirt/gravel makes it feel like you’re really in nature and the countryside. It feels special, whereas being on the road just makes you want to be in a car (not that I want to be in a car, but being in a bike can get really unpleasant when the roads aren’t designed with bikes in mind).

The campground is a great deal. $10 for bikers with free showers, Wi-Fi, and a small convenience store. I met Tim here, who tours up the Great Divide (roughly) every summer to presumably escape the heat in New Mexico, where he stays in the winter. This is essentially his retirement - he doesn’t own a house and doesn’t plan on stopping until he can’t do it anymore. What really amazed me was how loaded his bike was. He carries everything he needs to repair anything on his bike, including heavyweight items like chain whips, torque wrenches (even the big one), spare chains, etc. To him, the redundancy and ability to repair his bike on the trail is worth it. I certainly agree, if you don’t mind some more effort on climbs. Anyway, I really enjoyed his kind company, and we chatted about life and its unpredictability.