2014 Westward Ho Before Bros Mancation: Days Three and Four

Woke up at the Simple Lodge and Hostel bright and early for the shuttle up to Monarch Crest.  Today, our crew of four was to be joined by George (formerly of Bike 29. currently of Niner Bikes, someday POTUS) and his friend Lee.  We all hopped on the shuttle and listened to the smooth sounds of Seal's Kiss from a Rose.



We assembled our group and headed up from the parking lot to more pedally-type climbing... because... we were on the MC Escher shuttle route.

Eventually, the shuttle paid off in braappage...

and views.

My bike leaning against a mountain.

And somewhere after that, things fell apart.  Flats.  The Chad was having issues with a slow leak that then morphed into a full flat.

I took mushroom photos for Eric "PMBAR Honcho" Wever whilst waiting.

And then Lee told us a story that started with "mushrooms" and "tugging," and then I got lost in my mind for awhile.

More braappage.

Later, The Chad had a double pinch flat and then spent thirty minutes alone in the woods with a patch kit, talking to riders as they passed his makeshift bike shop.  He made so many friends that day.  Everyone knew The Chad.  Once he emerged from his spot in the woods (surprisingly without a full beard), he talked about bailing, but at that point, there was none to be had.

And then these things happened.

During George's second flat repair (or third?), he decided he would walk all the way back.  Lee said, "impossibru."  I chased George down, we started to address his issues, Team Chad sat down on the trail, Bill Nye saw that The Chad's tire was flat again, and it was Team Chad VS Team George in a flat tire fix-off.  By the time we had all the flats fixed and rolled down to the Rainbow Trail option (the one everybody says is a "can't miss"), we decided to bail down the gravel road.  It was late in the day, and the skies were darkening.  We had pushed our luck enough and were running out of tubes and patience.  Time to head to the Elevation Brewery... after descending the final pavement in a light rain that told us we had made a smart decision.

At the brewery, with help from Lee and George, we finally decided on a tail end to our trip... although they mentioned we were doing it ass-backwards repeatedly.  After Durango, we would head up to Telluride, do some free lift-assisted riding, then head over to Hartman Rocks, camp, and then ride Crested Butte with some fellow Faster Mustaches who were also out west on vacation.

A few liquids and goodbyes at the brewery later, and we were back in Salida, went out to eat with Lee, and then fell into a bar named Benson's.

Where we stayed longer than we needed to...

Until we headed back to the hostel to sit on the porch and drink Bill Nye's moonshine.

We woke up to day four (unsurprisingly) with swollen heads, packed up, and headed to Durango.  Many re-hydrating beverages later, we got to the Siesta Motel to find the "Out till something o'clock" sign.  We headed over to Raider Ridge to make great bike ride to kill time.

Up the wrong way and up some more... because maps are for the weak, or at least the comprehension of maps is.

Up Raider Ridge until Bill Nye and Wirun had reached their maximum levels of tolerance for my stupidity, and then back down.

Then a stop at the Durango Bike Company to finger their 650b'zles, back to the Siesta Motel.

Shower and a scoop from Matt McFee of Hermosa Tours to some brewery in town for some solids and liquids.

And in bed (kinda) early for another shuttle to... 

tomorrow.