June 9, Day 34, Hot Sulfur Springs, Colorado-61 miles

Ate dinner last night at the same place I had lunch, The River Rock Cafe. The menu bragged about their Chicken fried steak and how it received mention in the National Geographic Travel Guide so I took a break from my pasta ritual and ordered it. Bad decision. Won't solicit Nat Geo for food advice in the future either.

Colorado Rockies

In the morning I walked out the front of my hotel room and discovered that nearly everything was frozen. It was 27 degrees outside! I slid back into my room, threw some more clothes on and got breakfast.

I thought I was about done wearing cold weather gear on the bike but I was wrong. Just before riding out of town I snapped this picture of the mountains while standing in front of a cemetery that was across the street from the hotel.

Today was about 60 miles. The first 30 were all uphill, leading to another Continental Divide and the top of Willow Creek Pass at just over 9600 feet of elevation.  Exactly at the point when I reached the summit, a two other riders coming from the opposite direction arrived also. They were a husband and wife team from England coming crossing the pond to attempt the TransAmerica Trail in the USA. We exchanged scouting reports for both directions and wished each other the obligatory safe trip. I enjoy listening to British people talk.

The Brits

The 30 mile descent down the other side was a beautiful ride filled with wonderful scenery as I followed the Willow Creek down the canyon. Open prairies backed by snow capped mountains made for picture perfect vistas.  Seven miles outside of my destination of Hot Sulfur Springs I transitioned west along a different state route and joined up with the Colorado River as it makes it's way toward the Gulf of Mexico. I followed the Colorado right into Hot Sulfur Springs and the end of the day's ride.

I walked into the Glory Hole Cafe for lunch. A woman named Nancy was the only other person there besides me and we talked at length about my trip. Nancy was completely fascinated with the whole "doing it alone" concept. As I went to pay my tab, the waitress informed me that Nancy had paid it already. She looked over at me with a grin and said she wanted to help make my trip enjoyable. She sure did.

Wonderful Nancy

I have never experienced hot springs before so I figured it was about time. Hot Sulfur Springs Resort has 12 different pools to enjoy, each one has a different temperature and/or some special mineral solution for your healthy soaking soaking experience. I wasted no time with the namby pamby warm pools and went directly up the hill to the hot, hotter and hottest pools! I plopped into the 108-110 degree pool first and had a chat with Pam from Ohio. Pam took her whole family except her husband(cant handle altitude) for a two week swing around Colorado resorts and interesting venues. She snapped this picture for me while we talked.

Next was the 110-112 degree pool. It was pretty dam hot but I worked my way in after the highly suggested 10 minute out of the water interval between soaks. The water was green due to chemical reactions to the sulfur at that temperature. Five minutes was good enough there and I went to the mother of all pools, the 112-114 degree pool. Nobody was in it, but three people were lying in lounge chairs right next to it and they all said they had gone in all the way. Well then that was that. I inched in slowly and painfully over a period of about a minute until fully submerged up to my neck. I managed about four minutes and got out. that was hot!

Soaking it all up

I returned to one of the lesser temp pools and finished my experience. I did come away very relaxed and I will be curious to see how my legs react tomorrow on the bike.

Tomorrow and the next several days are going to be tricky for me. I am ahead of schedule for my rendezvous with my wife on the 16th in Pueblo, Colorado. We are planning a four day mini-vacation around Colorado before I start off on the second half of my journey east. As of this moment I can't seem to make up my mind where I plan to have a couple of sight seeing days. I guess we shall see!