Day 17 – ‘Looking at a lake with intent to take photos’.

Total miles 2,734.

Woke up at 5:30am which seems to be the time I wake up these days with a sore neck and back from the mountain riding the day before. To be honest I am surprised my back hasnt given me more problems as it is pretty messed up from working in theatre and the accident I had 2 years ago that funded this trip.

I skipped the breakfast of coffee and fruit because I dont drink coffee and I dont eat fruit and it the road to Salida (I am sorry for the amount of times I have said ‘hit the road’ in these blog posts). The ride started east,the road was pretty flat and I even managed to hit 60mph. I pulled up after about an hour to take a break and refuel.

This road carried on twisting and turning its way through the beautiful countryside until I got to my first set of road works. Now I have seen lots of road works during this trip and they have usually been similar to roadworks in the UK,A bit of a traffic jam and a load of many standing around not doing very much. This however was slightly different. I was greeted by a sign saying ‘Pavement ahead ends’ and then another saying ‘motorcycles proceed with extreme caution’ (luckily I am on a scooter with tiny 10 inch wheels and not a motorcycle). The road quickly vanished and turned into gravely,muddy,rutty stuff and me and FF were bounced around all over the place for a couple of miles but we made it through with going all ‘Newark’.

Back on the paved road we cruised through little towns amongst the hills,saw plenty of road kill and made the most of the blue sky while it lasted.

I think the mountain in the background is the one I rode up yesterday but I could be wrong. Without being ‘mountainist’ they all look the same to me.

After a couple of hours it was time to take another break,I spotted a picturesque lake with a car park right next to it so I pulled off the road,headed down the dirt track and took a couple of photos.

There were a couple of kids kayaking in the crystal clear water and their mum was watching them from the bank.

As I headed back up the dirt track a police 4×4 headed down the track towards me,pulled up next to me and the slightly rotund police officer wound down his window and shouted ‘ARE YOU A RESIDENT?’ my brain instantly filled with cocky replies like ‘of the lake ? no do I look like a trout’ but instead I said no. The cop then shouted ‘THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE’,I told him that I was taking a quick break. He then shouted ‘DIDNT YOU SEE THE SIGN’,I hadnt seen the sign,the sign was tiny and I was too busy looking at the lake to notice it so I said no. The cop replied ‘SO YOURE TELLING ME YOU DIDNT SEE THAT SIGN’ as he pointed to the tiny sign. ‘No’ I replied ‘WELL YOU BETTER GET OUT OF HERE AND DONT EVER COME DOWN HERE AGAIN’ he shouted before wheel spinning off.

Apparently you are only allowed to look at this lake if you are a resident. I am not entirely sure what crime I had committed ? Looking at a lake with intent to take photos maybe ? Appreciating a body of water with out written permission from the state ? Taking a 5 minute break in an area of restricted beauty ?

I was half temped to get myself arrested just to find out what I was charged with but I was hungry so I thought better of it. Fake Franco wanted to bite him but I told him he couldnt because he has no jaw and his mouth is stitched on so he quickly chilled out and we headed back to the highway and swore about the cop to ourselves for the next hour and a half.

Time ticked on and finally according to my gps we were 18 miles away from the hotel. the last 18 miles involved a very tough (couldnt work out how to spell grueling) climb up a very steep mountain at around 15mph. We reached the top and found nothing but a ski lift and visitor centre so I went inside to ask where the hotel was. The lady behind the counter informed me that the hotel was back at the bottom of the mountain and I would be better off losing the sat nav and buying a map (Rob will love that). I viewed this as a cheeky marketing ploy to sell maps so I headed back down the mountain and eventually found the hotel.

After settling in I headed into town to find some food and found a place called Amicas that not only sells pizza but has its own micro-brewery. I ordered a white pizza with  load of veg and a pint of ‘Lunch lady’ which is brewed in house. Both were delicious (and before you ask no I didnt take a photo because its impossible to do in a public place without feeling like a total idiot).

I moved over to the bar to finish my drink and got talking to a guy called Andy. Andy is a 40 something year old skateboarder who has broken pretty much everything doing what he loves. He bought me a beer (cheers Andy) and we chatted for a couple of hours then we went outside so I could meet his dog ‘little d’. Little d had been in the back of the car this whole time with Andy’s pizza in a box right in front of her and she hadnt even looked at it. She’s one hell of a dog, I wish I had my camera and fake Franco with me but I stupidly left them back at the hotel.

However,Andy did give me his card –

Andy makes furniture out of ancient tree stumps and here he is kicking back on one of his creations.

It gets really lonely out here on your own but meeting people like Andy and little d make it all worth while. I am glad I went out and didn’t just order dominoes to my room !

Tomorrow I head 200 miles south west to Durango which is very close to the Colorado/Arizona border. The mountains are beautiful and the roads are great but I am looking forward to getting back to some higher speeds and flatter riding.

The Grand Canyon is only 290 miles away from Durango so if I feel like a bit of a mega ride I could be there,looking at a big hole in the ground the day after tomorrow !

Thanks for reading as always.

NIGHT !