Salt Lake City Thru Colorado Rockies

Salt Lake City through Colorado Rockies

Fall 2021

Day 9: Sep 14 - Grand Junction, CO - rest day

I walked across the road to a food mart where I found several heated egg sandwiches. I had a burrito egg sandwich, which was very tasty, and a cup of coffee.

Then I made a decision. Yesterday was mostly a rest day, riding only from Fruita to Grand Junction but I was considering taking today as a rest day. However, a rest day during this pandemic is problematic in the sense that there are fewer options for what to do other than just veg out in a motel room.

That’s when I decided what better time to spend time in a hospital ER and there was a St. Mary’s Hospital that was conveniently not quite 2 miles away. I had actually been debating an ER visit for a while. That’s because I noticed that my balance wasn’t quite where it should be and walking was a little unsteady at times. This didn’t affect bicycling at all but it was still a little troubling. So I decided if I’m going to take a rest day, it was a good time to visit the ER and get checked out.

I rode the less than two miles to the hospital and arrived around 7:30 am, hoping to beat the rush. In fact, I was the only person waiting after getting the normal check in. Soon I had my own room and was repeating again why I wanted to get checked out. Then to make matters worse the facilitator naturally asked for my medical card and my driver’s license. That’s when I discovered my driver’s license was missing. I didn’t think I had been asked for it during check in but they checked anyway and they didn’t have it. That caused some more stress that I didn’t need.

After discussing my issue and health history with the ER doctor, who was himself a cyclist and probably a little more sympathetic than a non-cyclist (he suggested riding the Colorado National Monument which I had done twice previously and considered riding it on my route from Fruita to Grand Junction but decided maybe I was overkilling the climbing bit on this trip), an EKG and CAT scan was scheduled. That went pretty quickly but then they decided to schedule an MRI as well. I wasn’t sure if that was because the CAT scan suggested something or because they still hadn’t found anything. In any event, all I could think was brain tumor. On the positive side, I got smart (suggesting that at least my brain was partially working) and called my motel to see if I had left my driver’s license when checking in. It took a while for them to check but they finally came back and said they had it, although I don’t know why they couldn’t have warned me on their own that I had left the driver’s license.

It was near 1 pm by the time the testing was all complete and the radiologist had evaluated both the CAT scan and the MRI. Then the ER doctor came back with the news that neither the CAT scan nor the MRI had revealed anything. The doctor didn’t say that I should abandon my tour, just that follow on with a PCP was warranted and the good news was that he didn’t see the issue as an emergency that warranted keeping me. So that was a relief that there apparently wasn’t anything neurologically involved and I was glad I had made good use of a rest day.

I had also previously decided to modify my planned route. Originally, I had planned to ride from Grand Junction to Gateway to Naturita to Ridgway to Silverton to Durango. The problem was there was a lot of climbing and very little services. In particular, Gateway only had a very expensive resort and a BLM campground. All of this while the area was projecting highs in the 90s, which was about 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of the year.

So I decided it was more prudent to ride from Grand Junction to Delta to Ridgway to Silverton to Durango. This would involve less climbing and shorter distances with more services along the way. It also meant I would have access to more health services if my balance issue became worse.

Day 10: Sep 15 - Grand Junction, CO to Delta, CO [45.5, 05:07, 8.8 mph, +1,827', -1,515']

I grabbed another burrito at the food mart across the street for my breakfast along with a cinnamon roll and coffee. I was out the door at 7:40 on what was forecasted to be another very warm day in the low 90s.

Google Maps gave me a route through town to pick up US50 to Delta, my destination for the day. It was Horizon to 27 ½, Cortland, 28, Patterson, and 29. And yes, Grand Junction has fractional roads like 27 ½ and 28 ¼. This route was easy except for getting on Patterson. As I approached Patterson where 28 dead-ended, I could see a couple vehicles waiting in the left turn lane for a gap to get on to Patterson during rush hour. I knew that meant it was not safe for me so I used an option regular vehicles don’t have - I rode the sidewalk the mile to the light to get on 29.

Once I got on US50 it was like an Interstate with a wide shoulder so I felt safe with the heavy, loud traffic. There were some really good views on both sides of the road and I stopped to take more photos than usual. Part of this was because today’s route was just over 40 miles and less than 2,000 feet of climbing. It was nice to feel I didn’t have to kill myself to make my destination.

Along the way, the left lane was shut down for road maintenance. I continued to ride on the wide shoulder until a couple of guys in a transportation truck stopped in the closed lane and suggested I ride in the closed lane for safety. I didn’t have any problem with that and was happy to have a lane to myself for maybe 10 miles. Eventually the lane dividers were moved a little further right forcing traffic to start encroaching on the shoulder so it was good that I was in the closed lane at that point.

About the time that the lane re-opened, I had reached the apex of the day’s climbing and I mostly coasted on the gradual descent to Delta. In town, I stopped at a Maverick food mart for a cold drink and a burrito and then topped it off with a milk shake. I’ve found some of these food marts now sell some milk shakes that you stick in a holder and the machine stirs up the cup and makes a decent milk shake.

Then I needed to find a place to stay. There was a Days Inn with a good price and because of that, it was sold out. A couple of other places wanted $120+ that wasn’t in my price range. However, there was a Valley Sunset RV Ranch that had cabins and I was able to get a small cabin for $50. It didn’t have a bathroom or bed linens but it did have A/C, a microwave, and a small refrigerator. So it was a good deal compared to the motels.

When I cleaned up I also rinsed my shorts and jersey and then hung them up to dry on my cabin’s small porch. This porch also had a bench on one side and as I neared the bench I felt a stinging sensation in my foot. I looked down and there were a couple of bees swarming around. Maybe they had a nest under the bench or something and they weren’t happy with my approach. This sting was really painful for a while and then it was nothing. In a way, it was nice to get stung because when I got stung on another tour in Mississippi I suffered an allergic reaction. That reaction caused me to get very lethargic and I could barely pedal my bike for about 30 minutes before that abated. When I investigated, I learned that the next allergic reaction could be worse and I used to carry an epipen. However, I’ve been stung multiple times since then and have never had another allergic reaction. Nevertheless, I was careful for about hour to assure myself that this was just a simple sting.

There was a Safeway grocery store across the road from my cabin and I went there to check out what they might have for food. They had a deli where they made subs and I picked one of their standard sub offerings. It took the attendant forever to make the sub so I don’t think Subway needs to be concerned about competition from this deli. But the sub was pretty good and was so much food I probably should have just gone for a 6” rather than a foot long.

Next, I checked out accommodations in Ridway, tomorrow’s destination. There were only a couple of expensive motels but there was a state park with several campgrounds. However, I discovered I had to make an online reservation and to do so I had to create an account. This was very annoying since it took quite a bit of time to create the account before I could finally make the reservation.

Then I started checking out accommodations in Silverton for the next night. Unfortunately, that is a Friday night and I found several places were already booked. So I was resigned that I might be forced to camp that night. That’s why I hate weekends when touring. During the week there is a much better chance that accommodations won’t be booked.

A nice day of touring despite the loud traffic on US50. On the other hand, it was another very warm day and I was fortunate to get into town by 1:30 and beat the worst of the heat. This heat is about 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of the year and was supposed to continue for another 3 days before it reverted back to normal.

Day 11: Sep 16 - Delta, CO to Ridgway, CO [43.2, 05:02, 8.5 mph, +1,906', -243']

When I got up in the morning, I was dismayed to discover that I hadn’t plugged in my Chromebook and it was almost out of battery. I plugged it in to get the battery charged as much as possible before I left and I got it almost half charged.

Surprisingly, after all the heat it was in the 40s when I left and backtracked a little over a mile to town on CO92. I ate breakfast at the Maverik food mart and had a breakfast burrito, a cinnamon roll, and a cup of coffee. The cinnamon roll was a real one with real icing. Normally this is off limits but I give myself permission for this type of food on my tours as I burn calories.

I left town at 7:30 and headed to Montrose which was on the way to Ridgway. Google Maps claimed today’s route was flat but it gained almost 2,000 feet on a gradual ascent and that definitely is not flat. For most of the day I rode at a 7-9 mph pace. Crops were in the fields on both sides of the road and the San Juan Mountains were coming into view despite the haze.

After 20 miles, I stopped at a Maverik in Montrose and had an egg sandwich and a quart of chocolate milk. The Maverik had a couple of picnic tables outside and I settled in one that was in the shade. After finishing my food/drink, I worked on what to do about Silverton accommodation. Tomorrow is a Friday and not a good time to be riding into Silverton. I spent some time last night checking out accommodations and it looked like several were completely booked and I guessed others were too. I had tried Silverton Lakes RV a couple of times last night and just got a recording. Today I tried calling the Silverton Visitor Center and got no answer. However, when I tried Red Mountain Motel and RV Park I got an actual human on the other end. I ended up reserving a small cabin for $130 that was sounding like the best I was going to get for the weekend. I had debated just showing up and winging it, counting on the fact that I could most likely at least get a tent site. But having a reservation for a busy weekend removed that concern from my list.

When I left US50, headed east and I picked up CO550 that headed south to Silverton and Durango. When I thought I was about to leave Montrose I stopped at a food mart and found lemon-lime Gatorade at the soda fountain and guzzled a 32 oz drink, figuring this would be the last cold drink for the day. Then I discovered that I had quite a bit further to go to get out of Montrose.

CO550 didn’t have quite as good a shoulder as US50 but it still had 5 feet or so and that was fine. Then when I was about 5 miles from the Ridgway Reservoir the shoulder suddenly disappeared and I had to watch out for traffic. This lasted for about 3 miles and then the good shoulder returned.

After 43 miles, I stopped at the north end of the Ridgway Reservoir at the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk Campground where I had a tent site reservation for the night. There were several campgrounds along the reservoir and I would have preferred the others from the point of view being closer to town to make tomorrow’s mileage shorter. However, this campground had walk-in tent sites, which was why I chose it.

When I stopped at the entrance station I had to wait for an RV to get taken care of. Seemed like it took forever. Then all I had to do was tell the ranger I had a reservation for site 292 and I was waived on. Most people have to park their cars in the parking lot and then haul their camping gear across the river to the walk-in tent site loop. The park provides hand trailers to facilitate this process. All I had to do was ride my bicycle. That is, until I got to the site loop. Then I discovered that the loop was up a hill and not feasible to ride and I pushed my bike until I found my site.

After setting up I rode back across the river to a service center for a shower that was free. There didn’t appear to be any water in the tent site loop so I filled up at the service center and brought one of my water bags along and filled it too. On my way back I found there was a water spigot just before crossing over the river.

The tent sites all had food lockers for bear protection. I hauled out my food stash and ate from my stash for the second time on this trip. I had turkey bites, some string cheese, and Nutella spread on whole grain tortilla wraps. Not a bad meal for no cooking.

A fairly easy day ending up in a nice campground with shade and the smell of pine trees.

Day 12: Sep 17 - Ridgway, CO to Silverton, CO [29.2, +1,626', -2,114']

I was up at 6 am and needed to use the restroom that was at the bottom of the hill so I had to use my headlamp. I figured I would be the only one up but someone had a campfire going.

I packed up, ate a banana, and left around 7 am and headed 8 miles to Ridgway. It was 4 miles to the park’s main entrance and another 4 miles to town. I got an egg sandwich, a cinnamon roll, and a coffee but the cinnamon roll was no match for yesterday since this one was a plastic wrapped version.

By the time I left town it was already 9 am. It was only 33 miles to Silverton but that involved climbing from 7,000 feet to 11,000 feet at Red Mountain Pass before descending 2,000 feet to Silverton. I grew increasingly worried whether this was too much and there were a couple of signs warning truckers that there were narrow roads and 7-8 % grades. There were two climbing sections when leaving Ouray, one a 4-mile section and the other a 5-mile section with steep grades. At 3 mph it would take about 3 hours to ride those two sections.

From Ridgway it was 10 miles to Ouray. When I stopped in Ouray at a food mart, I learned the road was closed from 8:30 am to 4 pm except from noon to 1 pm. Folks were lining up to make sure they got through this opening. This meant that I couldn’t really start the climb until about 1 pm because there was no shoulder and this road closure ensured that traffic would be bunched up.

At first, I thought I would try to hit someone up for a ride to the pass at the service station but then I realized a better approach was to ride about a mile outside of town where the road was closed. There would be a line of vehicles waiting for the opening and they would be easy prey to my tearful request for a ride to the pass.

The first person with a truck was a woman with a dog and she declined my request. However, the next vehicle was a couple from Ohio, John and Karen, who had visited their daughter and husband in Grand Junction. They had seen me a couple of times along the road and felt sorry for me. The woman told me several times that she was thankful that I asked them for a ride. They had an extended cab truck with an enclosed cargo bed. My bike easily fit in the back and I had a seat in the second row.

We had to wait about 30 minutes for the road opening. Folks were so queued up that they were asking folks to queue up in a clear out area to keep the line from backing up into town.

When noon hit folks started out on the spectacular ascent to the pass. Unfortunately, I was so excited I hadn’t thought to take my camera with me so I missed some great photos. On the ride, I realized that this was a very dangerous road for a cyclist to be climbing. There was no shoulder on the first climbing section and often there was an immediate steep drop off. I realized later that this would have been the best day to do the climb. That’s because after the road closed again at 1 pm I would have had the right lane to myself and wouldn’t have had to ride near the edge. However, I assumed the road closure was due to road maintenance with a long enclosure, not the single location closure that it was.

In any event, we reached Red Mountain Pass, 11,018 feet, at 12:30 and I was dropped off. They continued on their way to Cortez where they were going to visit Mesa Verdes for a couple of days. I now had an easy 10-mile descent to Silverton and I almost felt guilty skipping the climb to the pass. Almost.

When I got to Silverton it was near 2 pm and the Red Mountain Motel & RV was right at the entrance to town. After dumping my panniers in my cabin, which was fully functional with a bath and bed linens, I rode the mile length of town and back.

Then I cleaned up and walked across the street to a grocery/deli where I got a good chicken sub along with chips and drinks. Later I walked a little further to a motel/gas station/food mart to scout out breakfast possibilities. There I found another milk shake machine that I’ve become addicted to. Unfortunately, this place didn’t open until 7 am and didn’t have any hot egg sandwiches.

Back at the motel, I was able to connect to the WiFi but it was almost useless. I assumed that was due to a weak signal so I moved to the laundry room which was part of the complex and it worked much better.

Day 13: Sep 18 - Silverton, CO to Durango, CO [46.6, 05:07, 9.1 mph, +3,027', -5,776']

It was 34F when I got up at 6 am, not too surprising considering that Silverton sits at 9,318 feet. Nevertheless, I was in no hurry to get going since it would be another two hours before the temperature would threaten 40F.

I left my cabin just after 7:30. It served me well except that its WiFi was too weak. That’s because it was too far from the WiFi router, as evidence that when I moved to the laundry room it worked fine. The other problem was there was no chair in the cabin. That’s because there was no room for a chair nor any room for a desk. There was a bench outside the entrance if you didn’t mind having your PC on your laptop.

There was a food mart at the edge of town that I was counting on for breakfast but when I approached, it didn’t look lit up and I feared it was closed. However, a sign said Open and I was able to get a burrito and coffee.

In light of the temperature, I was wearing my seal skinz socks, some gloves, and a hat. These quickly became overkill since the day started a 6-mile, mostly 6% grade climb to Molas Pass at 10,912, a 1,600-foot climb. The route for the day, all on CO550, consisted of a climb to Molas Pass, a 4-mile descent, a 3-mile, 5% grade climb to Coal Bank Pass at 10,610, a 5.5-mile, 6% grade descent, a 6-mile flat section, a 10-mile, 4% grade descent, and then a 17-mile flat section into Durango. This made an interesting variation for the day and great cycling.

The first climb to Molas Pass was steep but I was able to climb at 3-3.5 mph, a pace I could maintain. There was great scenery along the way including a view looking back at Silverton. At the pass, there was a turnout and a bus had stopped and dispersed its 30 some passengers so it was rather crowed including a line at the restroom which, fortunately, I did not need.

This pass was followed by a steep 4-mile, 5% grade descent where I hit 35 mph. The road was great so I was able to turn the bike loose and enjoy the descent while riding in the driving lane. This descent gave up much of the altitude gained on the climb to the pass.

Just as I was about to start the second pass there were some large rocks that made decent seating for a second breakfast while the clouds blocked the sun.

My elevation profile seemed to show the second pass as steep as the first pass but I found I was climbing about 0.5 mph faster. Maybe it wasn’t quite as steep or maybe my second breakfast gave me an added boost.

The descent from this second pass was steeper than the first and I managed to hit 40 mph. Then the road flattened out for a while. During all this time the weather cooperated by mostly blocking the sun and keeping the warmer temperature at bay.

During the flat section following the second descent I stopped at a country store just past the Purgatory Resort and had another milk shake that I had become addicted to.

Then the final descent carried me 10 miles. This descent wasn’t as steep as the first two but it was the longest and was exhilarating for how long it lasted.

Down the final stretch to Durango, I had an option at Hermosa to get off CO550 and take CR203 for a while. However, CO550, which started the day with basically a non-existent shoulder, now had a shoulder wide enough to be a traffic lane. I decided to stick with CO550 and, just a little later, there was a food mart where I got my lemon-lime Gatorade fountain drink.

The remaining miles to Durango were flat and easy. Around 2:30, I found the Budget Inn where I had a reservation on the north end of Durango. I got set up in a ground floor room away from the road. The receptionist was the same guy who took my reservation yesterday and was very helpful.

After settling in, I walked about five blocks north to the Serious Texas BBQ place. I intended to take carry out but when I got my food, their outdoor place only had one other couple so I chose to eat my meal right there. While eating I was debating taking tomorrow as a rest day. I didn’t have to take one but figured it was good preventive action. Then when I got back to my room, I checked the weather forecast and there was a good chance of showers in the morning. That settled the matter and I signed up for another day.

There was a laundromat two blocks south so I chose to do a load of laundry. Unfortunately, I needed $5 worth of quarters and I only had $3.50 in quarters plus a dollar bill that I converted into soap. Earlier in the day, I had used up $5 in dollar bills that I would have hoarded had I known. Now I only had a $20 bill and even if the money change machine would have handled that, I had no desire for 80 quarters. I ended up walking across the street to a pizza place and picking up two pizza slices just to break a $20 bill although the food was useful.

This turned out to be the best day of the trip. The weather was great, the scenery was great, and the riding was not too strenuous with great climbs and great descents.

Day 14: Sep 19 - Durango, CO - rest day

There was a coffee house next door to the motel so when I woke up I headed there for a cup of coffee and an egg sandwich but, unfortunately, they didn’t have any pastries. Their primary focus is coffee so I guess the missing pastries were understandable. There was only a single customer hanging out inside so I spent a while hanging out there too.

Later in the morning I rode downtown, a little over two miles. Along the way, I passed a bicycle shop and stopped in. I have an M4 wireless cyclocomputer that had stopped working a couple of days ago. I also have a Lezyne Mega XL GPS trip computer so the failing M4 didn’t have much impact but I still wanted to get the M4 fixed.

I had a problem with the M4 shortly before starting this tour. I replaced the batteries and adjusted the magnetic pickup and nothing worked. However, I had a problem once before with this M4 and it turned out to be the contacts. Even though this is a wireless unit, the main unit has to be clicked into a holder. That holder has two contact points that need to connect for the unit to work. I found that when I cleaned the contacts the unit worked again. I was sure this was the problem again when the unit failed two days ago but I was unable to clean the contacts or jiggle the unit to make it worked. I thought the bicycle shop might know what to do but I learned the mechanic was out for several days. But this stop “fixed” the unit. That’s because I realized I had forgotten to check the magnetic pickup and I discovered that the transmitter had moved and wasn’t close enough to the magnet on the wheel. Once I adjusted the distance the unit worked fine again. So it was good the bike mechanic wasn’t available and I wasn’t embarrassed by failing to make this basic check.

The last time I was in Durango I took the train ride to Silverton and back. Before the ride, I ate at the Durango Bagel which was near where the train departed. I headed there again because it was at the end of Main Street. In the shop, I discovered a cinnamon roll that had my name on it and a price tag of $6. But it was a convenient location with outside seating so I signed on.

Main Street is lined with shops, as you would expect for a downtown area. On the way back to the motel, I walked on the sidewalk with my bicycle. I happened on to an outdoor clothing shop that was having a summer clearance sale. Years ago I had bought 2 synthetic (not cotton) briefs from REI that were great for traveling but now the elastic bands were worn out. In this store, I found a couple of synthetic briefs to replace these REI ones and they were half price, only $15 each as opposed to the normal $30 price.

After walking the rest of the downtown area, I biked the rest of the way back and dropped my bicycle off in my room. Then I risked my life again. There was a grocery store across the street but getting there was a risk. That’s because the street was four lanes with a middle turn lane. Since this is a main road there is quite a bit of traffic so you have to find a gap in the traffic to make it across. Usually, you can find a gap in traffic, get out to the turn lane, and wait for a gap in traffic from the other direction and hope no one decides to use the turn lane while you are in it. The alternative would be to walk across at a traffic light but that meant walking to the end of the block just to cross and there was considerable distance between traffic lights.

At the grocery store I picked up a sandwich and chips for later. Finally, I walked to a Walgreens to see if I could get something to clean the smudges on my smart phone screen. When I asked what they had, the helper assumed I meant to sanitize the phone and I finally had to tell her I just wanted to remove the smudges from my screen and I found something appropriate.

Then I spent time doing some more trip planning and made a motel reservation in Pagosa Springs for tomorrow. Then I watched some NFL football as a time filler since I’m not really that big of a pro football fan.

It was a good rest day. It apparently rained overnight and there was a chance for rain in the morning but that never materialized.

Day 15: Sep 20 - Durango, CO to Pagosa Springs, CO [59.9, 06:34, 9.1 mph, +3,539', -2,729']

I walked to the coffee shop next door at 6:40, ten minutes after it opened. I had an egg sandwich and coffee and then I noticed a pastry in this glass enclosure next to the register. It looked like a cinnamon coffee cake and was enticing but I already had something I picked up from the grocery store. But this eased my concern that this wasn’t a real coffee shop since it didn’t have pastries. Actually, it didn’t have pastries - it had a single pastry. It was unclear why there was just a single pastry sitting there. I may have been the first customer so it isn’t like there were multiple customers ahead of me who grabbed the pastries and just left the single pastry that I saw.

I left right around 7:30 with the temperature at 48F that was fine for me. Rush hour wasn’t a problem because there was a bicycle lane all the way through town. After picking up US160 east to Pagosa Springs, 60 miles away, there was a wide shoulder for this 4-lane highway. However, there were multiple intersections and for each intersection there was a right turn exit lane which was “borrowed” from the wide shoulder. These right turn lanes had to be watched carefully because they were much like exits on the Interstates. They also became entrance lanes after the intersection but none of these posed a real problem.

After some modest climbing and 20 miles, I came to Bayfield at 10 am, which was a good time for a second breakfast. I stopped at a Speedway and discovered their restroom was out of service. Then I discovered they didn’t have single servings of milk so I had chocolate milk for my cereal, okay but not great. Shortly after I left, I saw there were two more food marts but it was too late.

After Bayfield the 4-lane highway became two lanes and the shoulder became variable, ranging from 3 feet to basically nothing. In the worst case the shoulder was guarded by a guardrail that made the shoulder non-existent. I had to be really careful when these guardrails put in their appearance to make sure there were no conflicts with upcoming traffic.

After Bayfield there was an 11-mile climb but it was pretty moderate. That was followed by an 8-mile descent where I hit 30 mph a couple of times. This descent also saw the return of the good shoulder. While I was zooming down the descent I used the vehicle lane when there were no vehicles but I was comfortable using the shoulder when traffic came up.

Shortly after finishing the descent, I came around a corner between two hills and saw Chimney Rock, with the distinctive “chimney” jutting into the air. My map also showed a Chimney Rock town but I wasn’t sure if that was just a spot on the map. I was hopeful when I came to a place with a restaurant and tavern but it didn’t look open. Then I saw a 2014 Denver Broncos football schedule outside the tavern and I was sure this place was closed. However, all was not lost since there was a bench outside the tavern to sit on that was in the shade, so this was a good break spot.

Finally, there was a 10-mile moderate climb before Pagosa Springs. The scenery had been hills with pine and conifers and some meadows since Bayfield. Now some Rockies put in their appearance just north of Pagosa Springs. Traffic was pretty heavy as I neared Pagosa Springs. There was a food mart on the edge of town that would have been difficult to get to on the other side of the road had there not been a stop light.

After a cold drink, I continued on into town and found the Alpine Inn where I had a reservation, again on the other side of the road. This wasn’t the best location but there was a Speedway across the street where I had a milk shake. They advertised pizza but nothing was available and when I asked the cashier if there would be any she said she didn’t know and wasn’t sure they had a cook.

After I went back to my room and cleaned up, I discovered with Google Maps there were two other places nearby. One was a bar/grill. I stopped by and checked their menu, which was okay, but they didn’t seem too interested in getting my order. So I walked to the Sonic Drive In and got a chicken sandwich that was pretty decent.

It was a good day of cycling with cooler temperatures and moderate climbing.

Day 16: Sep 21 - Pagosa Springs, CO to South Fork, CO [45.7, 06:11, 7.4 mph, +4,690', -4,061']

The continental breakfast at the motel was okay. I had oatmeal, yogurt, muffins, banana, and coffee. When I left at just before 8 am it was about 38F so I wore my windbreaker. There was a big line of traffic that I thought was because of some construction but I didn’t see any construction. This looked like it was just rush hour. The line of traffic must have been a mile long. Fortunately, I had the option of using the shoulder and I rode past all of the traffic into town, almost 3 miles, which was much further than I thought.

After I got to the downtown there was little traffic. The route to South Fork was 45 miles with one simple climb - an 8-mile climb to Wolf Creek Pass. After that it was downhill to South Fork.

Not long after I left town an emergency vehicle went flashing past me. A little later, a couple more emergency vehicles zoomed past. And then more kept coming. I think there were 11 emergency vehicles including an ambulance and a fire truck. Later I learned a truck didn’t make the hairpin turn coming down the pass. This despite the huge sign at the top of the pass that warned about this hairpin turn and that there was a runaway truck ramp just before this turn. The truck crashed through a concrete barrier at the beginning of the turn and went down the hill. However hard this climb was for me I had a much better day than this driver who didn’t survive the crash. Later I learned that this section was considered one of the most dangerous roads in the US with multiple crashes over the years.

The first 15 miles leaving town were a gradual climb through a valley with forested hills and meadows. Just before the real climb started, there was a turnout for the Treasure Falls hiking trail. The parking lot offered a place out of the sun for my second breakfast that I was pretty sure I would need.

The 8-mile climb to the pass was a constant 7% grade that I climbed in just over 3 mph. There was just one short section where the grade eased up and I was able to make 5 mph but that didn’t last long.

After about 2 miles, there was a scenic turnout and this is where all the emergency vehicles were congregated. I could see little since the truck apparently went through the concrete barrier and down a steep hill but I did see some truck wheels by the concrete barrier.

The first 3 miles were very scenic. Looking back, I could see the valley below and the road I was climbing as it snaked its way up the hill. After these 3 miles, there wasn’t much to see looking back and it was just a matter of grinding out the miles to the top.

I reached the pass at 2 pm. The descent was fast, easily hitting 30+ mph on the 6% grade. However, when I applied my front brakes something wasn’t right as there was a jerky motion. This was concerning as I had to rely mostly on my rear brakes. Later at the motel, I checked my front wheel for irregularities but couldn’t find anything wrong with the rim that has a lot of mileage on it. I guessed I might have to play around with the brake pad alignment.

I had a reservation for the Four Season Lodge for $90. However, there was no one at the office since they were shorthanded and I had to call a number for someone to show up. I got a room on the ground floor that was rather large but the WiFi was a mess. There were three WiFi networks for the lodge and they all had problems. I got one of them to work for a short time but then it failed too. Eventually the motel operator said he would give me a 20% refund but not until the morning since he had to work at this other motel until near midnight.

There was a food mart not too far away where I had several slices of pizza and a cold drink. I was counting on them also for breakfast in the morning.

It was a hard climb to the pass at 10,850 feet but there was rewarding scenery. The WiFi fiasco was a bummer but at least I expected to get a refund. On the other hand, I had been having a battle with the New York Times. I have a digital subscription so I can read their opinion section and get charged $15 every 4 weeks. However, I forgot my password and when I asked to have it reset the NYT claimed I didn’t have a subscription even though they were billing me for one. Eventually, I re-subscribed under a special deal for $4 every 4 weeks. Now NYT is billing for my non-subscription and this new subscription. Only time will tell how long it will take them to fix this.

Day 17: Sep 22 - South Fork, CO to Alamosa, CO [48.6, 04:22, 11 mph, +282', -958']

It was a chilly 34F when I walked to the food mart. I was expecting to find some egg sandwiches but there were no sandwiches of any kind in the place. What they did have was a breakfast pizza. I’m not sure what makes a breakfast pizza but I picked one up and a cup of coffee. Apparently, it was a breakfast pizza because it had a little sausage on it. Anyway, it was okay. I had also gotten a cinnamon roll last night, which I heated up with the microwave in the room.

When I left just before 8 with temperature up to 38F, I stopped by the office where the owner gave me a 20% discount on the room because of the WiFi problems. I thought this was fairly generous and I’m not sure how many motels would have done this. The owner also owned the Quality Motel and said he was shorthanded because two folks were in quarantine.

It was an easy 48 miles to Alamosa since it was a downhill grade except for one short hill that climbed 100 feet. The scenery was really nice up until Monte Vista with rolling hills on both sides of the valley. I made frequent stops to take photos.

After 17 miles, I reached the small town of Del Norte at 9:45. Surprisingly, there was a bike lane through town. Halfway through town there was a sign claiming the end of the bike lane although it obviously continued. Shortly after there was a bike lane start sign. Finally, at the end of town, the bike lane ended and a sign correctly identified the end of the bike lane.

I continued on to Monte Vista another 13 miles with continued good scenery. At 11 am, I stopped for my second breakfast. For some reason all of the food marts were on the other side of the road. I ignored the first two for that reason but finally gave in when the third one was also on the wrong side. Then on the edge of town there was a final food mart also on the wrong side. It seemed there was a village ordinance that didn’t allow food marts on my side of the road.

Leaving Monte Vista it was another 17 miles to Alamosa but the nice scenery was left behind. I did notice this one large mountain to my northeast that loomed and as I continued, I finally realized it was a Sangre de Cristo Mountain. It was almost certainly the one that helped create the sand dunes in the Great Sand Dune National Park that I had visited on a previous tour.

As I entered Alamosa, surprise, surprise, all of the food marts and services were on the other side of the road, unless I wanted something like cabinets or tile. I had a reservation on the other side of town at a Rodeway Inn for what I thought was $71. It wasn’t a good location since I was planning to head south tomorrow but saving $25-30 seemed worth it. I was surprised when I was charged $79 with the claim that $71 was the rate without taxes even though I had explicitly asked if the cost was $71. My complaint fell on deaf ears at the motel but it was still cheaper than the other motels.

After checking in, I cleaned my bike chain and then I adjusted my front brakes. I finally had realized that the pulsating braking I felt for the front brakes was something I had experienced before the trip. I have a lighter 32-spoke wheel that I use when not touring but I switch it out for a stronger 36-spoke wheel for touring. When I made the switch out I replaced the brake pads and I had to adjust the brakes for the wider rim. Because the pulsating brakes disappeared with the wheel change, I assumed the 32-spoke wheel was the problem. But now I remembered I had that same pulsating feel before the wheel change. That told me the problem must be with the front brakes and not the wheels since I hadn’t spotted anything wrong with either wheel.

Then I needed to make a big change to my route. I had planned to ride south to Antonito tomorrow so I could ride the Cumbres & Toltec Train. After that, I wasn’t sure how I would get home. Normally I would have ridden to La Junta, CO, to take an Amtrak home but I didn’t really want to ride the train during the pandemic. Then I learned we were having a family get together in the St Louis area on Sept 30. So I had decided I would rent a car and ride to this get together. I assumed that I could rent a car in Santa Fe but when I checked today, I couldn’t get anything out of Santa Fe for some reason.

From some checking before starting this tour, I found I could rent a car in Pueblo, CO. That meant I would have to bypass my trip to Antonito and redirect my routing to Pueblo. That meant I would need to continue riding east to Walsenburg and then north to Pueblo. That also meant the motel was actually a good location for this rerouting. The biggest issue with this rerouting was how to get from Walsenburg to Pueblo. The obvious route was the Interstate but 60 miles on the Interstate wasn’t appealing. I looked at alternatives to the Interstate but nothing was obvious.

It was an easy day that almost felt like a rest day. But it was really disappointing to be unable to rent a car in Santa Fe and have to redirect to Pueblo.

Day 18: Sep 23 - Alamosa, CO to Walsenburg, CO [72.2, 07:18, 9.8 mph, +2,588', -3,939']

I walked to the food mart next door at a chilly 34F. Despite having a grill, the only thing I could get was a biscuit and gravy. The grill advertised egg sandwiches and burritos but there were none. There were also no cinnamon rolls so I had to substitute a muffin. This was a minimally okay breakfast and certainly nothing to write home about.

I left just before 8 with the temperature 38F. The route for the day covered 71 miles over the La Vita Pass at 9,413 feet. Despite the pass it was a pretty moderate climb.

The scenery to start had the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the left and the Culebra Mountains on the right. The big mountain I saw yesterday was Blanco Peak, a 14er at 14,345 feet. However, it was not the mountain that shielded the Great Sand Dunes National Park as I thought. Those mountains were just to the left of Blanco Peak and you could see the sand dunes from US160 as I was riding.

It was a very gradual uphill to Fort Garland where I stopped for my second breakfast after 24 miles. I was out of cereal so I opted for a burrito, a cinnamon roll, and a chocolate milk.

When I left Fort Garland, the scenery became much more interesting as the hills started encroaching on the road as it headed northeast to find a path to the pass. The climb to the pass started about 7 miles before the pass and it was a moderate climb. I only dropped below 5 mph once near the top for maybe a half mile.

After 45 miles, I reached the pass at 2:30 and started the descent. This is the descent where on a previous trip I momentarily hit 50 mph. This time I didn’t even hit 40 mph and I’m not sure what the difference was. One difference was the road was not in as good a shape. To even think about 40+ mph you need both a smooth road and a straight road. This road was too rough now to risk that kind of speed, an indication how much the road had deteriorated in 7 years.

It was 26 miles from the pass to Walsenburg. The first part was fairly steep and then was a gradual downhill. It took longer than expected to make town, arriving at 4:30, mostly because I underestimated how far it was to town. Most of the way was easy pedaling except for a few short, moderate climbs.

In town, I turned right at the stoplight and found the Anchor Motel in a couple of blocks, where I had stayed on my previous visit to Walsenburg. Then it cost $44 but now it cost $79 seven years later. I was dismayed when I tested the WiFi upon checking into my room, something I try to do the first thing in case there is something wrong with the WiFi. I want the room untouched so I can move out if necessary. In this case, the owner reset the WiFi and that got it working. But the WiFi was still somewhat erratic as its signal strength fluctuated.

I walked to the other end of town to eat at Subway. On my way back I stopped at a Safeway to replenish my cereal supply.

This was a fairly hard day even though the pass was a pretty moderate climb but it was still 72 miles with 2,500 feet of climbing.

Day 19: Sep 24 - Walsenburg, CO to Colorado City, CO [34.9, 04:11, 8.3 mph, +1,633', -1,909']

It was 49F when I walked to a 7-Eleven to get an egg sandwich and cinnamon roll, somewhat warmer than the last 2 days, which I assume is due to the lower altitude.

I could make Pueblo in one day but I was scheduled to pick up my rental car on Monday so there was no hurry to get to Pueblo. So I planned to take two days to ride to Pueblo. In order to avoid the Interstate I had Google Maps create a cycling route to Colorado City where I had a reservation at a Day’s Inn. I was able to avoid the Interstate by taking frontage and county roads at a cost of seven more miles and some rough riding.

I picked up a frontage road on the west side of I25 just outside town that had seen better days. It was rideable if a little rough but I preferred that to riding the Interstate. Eventually the road passed under I25 and picked up another frontage road with good pavement and it looked like I could have started on this frontage road. Eventually the pavement deteriorated some and then it ended with a 90-degree turn onto CR102. It never occurred to me although it should have that these county roads would be unpaved.

CR102 started out as a good, hard packed gravel road, almost as good as pavement. CR102 turned north and became CR103, which became CR104. These roads eventually deteriorated and gradually became harder riding. Still it was good to be off the Interstate and to see the prairie unencumbered by traffic. There was a smattering of cattle and a few homes but I saw no vehicles on these roads. At that point I was glad I had chosen this route.

CR104 did a zigzag and then ended at an I25 overpass where a left turn got me on CR650 that was somewhat rough. CR660 split off from CR650 and was a little better road. CR650 took me back to I25 but CR670 veered away and became Apache City Road. Unfortunately, it had modest wash boarding that made riding uncomfortable. By the time I was riding county roads 650, 660, and 670 I was questioning my decision to bypass I25. I could have gotten on the Interstate for 3 miles at the overpass, bypassing 650 and 660, and saved about 5 miles.

Eventually CR670 ended at CO165. Just before it ended it became good pavement, which was a great relief. CO165 was a fast trip into Colorado City. I stopped at a food mart there but didn’t see anything exciting so I continued a couple more miles to my Day’s Inn at the I25 exit. I was able to check in at the relatively early time of 1 pm. The food mart next door had a Subway so I had a foot long.

I expected to be in Pueblo tomorrow and Sunday as well so I started checking motels. It looked like many motels were or were going to be booked for Saturday night. I ended up making a reservation at a Motel 6 that had a rate of $134 for Saturday night and $58 for Sunday night, more than double the rate for the weekend.

That evening I was curious how much time I would have needed to ride from Walsenburg to La Junta, an Amtrak station, and I needed to know when the Amtrak train was scheduled to arrive in La Junta. So I pretended I was making a reservation for tomorrow and when the reservation options popped up it showed a sleeper was available. I was surprised because I was under the impression that sleepers sold out well in advance.

This jogged my brain because my reluctance to take the train was having to spend a lot of time in near proximity to other travelers in coach. Furthermore, sleepers are expensive, typically costing $500 or more than a coach ticket, something I wouldn’t normally consider. But I realized that renting a car with the associated motel, gas, and food costs in addition to the rental cost was going to be as expensive or more than a sleeper, not to mention much less comfortable. At that point I decided that a sleeper was a preferred option.

So I tried to change my plans and make an Amtrak reservation for the train in La Junta but I hit a major snag – I couldn’t get my bike on the train. I have used Amtrak in La Junta a couple of times before and never had that problem. These days you can take your bicycle on Amtrak by just handing them your (unloaded) bicycle but there are a fixed number of slots on the train for bicycles and no slots were available. Alternatively, you can pack your bicycle in a bike box and check it as baggage but the Amtrak website said no bicycle boxes were available at La Junta, as they were the other two times I picked up Amtrak in La Junta.

I was really bummed out about this just when I thought I had a great option to skip the car rental. I found it hard to believe that neither a bicycle slot nor box was available so I called Amtrak to confirm. Then I was told there was a TWO-hour wait for an agent so I gave up.

A much harder day than I expected which I attributed to the variability of the road conditions. And then real disappointment when I decided a sleeper on Amtrak was much better than a car rental but I couldn’t get my bicycle on the train.

Day 20: Sep 25 - Colorado City, CO to Fowler, CO [58.8, 05:25, 10.8 mph, +882', -2,411']

The motel had a decent breakfast - waffles, sausage, eggs, cereal, muffins, and coffee and I had all of them.

Earlier, when I woke up at 4 am I called Amtrak again to ask about bicycles on the train. They confirmed that there were no bike boxes at La Junta and the bicycle slots were sold out. The only way I could get a bike on the train was with my own bike box. The agent said bicycles were popular on the train; hence the slots were sold out. She also said she expected there was an order for bicycle boxes for the station but that supply chain issues might be a problem.

After breakfast I made one last effort to make the train work – I checked for bike shops in La Junta and saw there was an Arkansas Valley Cycles shop that opened at 10 am. Later I discovered the shop was actually in Rocky Ford, 11 miles northwest of La Junta. I figured this gave me one last shot at getting my bike on the train but I wouldn’t be able to find out until the shop opened.

At first, I was going to just wait at the motel until the shop opened but then I figured I might as well make some progress on the road until then. So I packed up and left about 8:30. I planned to ride to Stem Beach where I would have to make a decision whether I could get my bicycle packed up in a bike box for the train or would have to use the car rental.

I didn’t mess around with county roads after the difficulties yesterday. I just took the Interstate, which was fine since traffic wasn’t that heavy. After 16 miles I took the Stem Beach exit and was lucky to find a marijuana dispensary building that had a bench on the west side of the building that provided shade. This turned out to be indispensable given Amtrak’s customer service.

First, I called the bike shop a little after 10. The owner confirmed that he had a bike box that would work. The issue was how to get the packed bike to La Junta that was 11 miles away. Eventually he decided he could make this work so I worked to get an Amtrak reservation for a roomette (sleeper). At first, I tried amtrak.com with my phone and got everything set up except I couldn’t get the payment to work. I clicked on the payment button and nothing happened, without any clue as what might be wrong. I tried several times and then reluctantly called Amtrak. Amtrak pushes their automated answering service called Julie (“Hi, I’m Julie, Amtrak’s automated assistant…”). Julie worked until I said I wanted a roomette and then Julie passed me on to customer service, which said there was an estimated 30-minute wait for an agent and I waited and waited…. I again tried my smart phone while I waited and finally got the payment button to work only to discover that Chase declined my VISA charge. That was really concerning as I envisioned waiting 30 minutes for an agent only to be told my VISA was declined.

After a stressful 50 minute wait I got an agent and was able to get a senior reservation for a roomette for $648. I sighed with relief when the VISA charge was accepted. Then I called the bike shop back and confirmed we were a go for tomorrow.

I left just after noon after spending about an hour and a half getting my bicycle box arranged and my Amtrak ticket reserved. I took Lime Road and then St Charles Road that wound around the Pueblo power station in the southeast corner of the city. Then I caught 25^th Lane and ended at Business 50. There was a food mart on the corner so I stopped for a cold drink and an iced bun since there was no hot food available.

As luck would have it, Bus50 had a bike lane so it was decent riding. There was still a good shoulder after leaving town and the bike lane ended. When the road became just two lanes the shoulder disappeared, which didn’t matter much because there wasn’t much traffic.

At that point, I just cranked out the miles on a mostly flat route even after Bus50 merged into US50. Just after 4:30 and 57 miles I rolled into town. There was one motel but it was booked. However, there was the Fowler RV Park that had some spots for tents where I got a tent site for $10. The tent sites were just grassy areas and I just set up my tent on a grassy area by the office and that was fine.

Just across the road was a food mart with a Subway so I had another foot long sandwich. The restroom at the park was somewhat decrepit but I got a shower out of it. Then I retired to the laundry room, which the owner said would provide the best WiFi.

A stressful day trying to make Amtrak work and having to deal with Amtrak customer service but the day ended well.

Day 21: Sep 26 - Fowler, CO to Amtrak, CO [18, 01:31, 11.8 mph, +131', -299']

I had breakfast at the food mart across the street - egg sandwich, cinnamon roll, and coffee. There were a couple of tables inside so I ate in the place.

I was in no hurry to leave because the bike shop didn’t open until noon on Sunday but I didn’t want to mess around either. It was better to get to Rocky Ford and wait there as opposed to waiting in Fowler.

It was an easy 18-mile ride but it was surprisingly warm when I left around 8 am. When I stopped once, I realized I had a tail wind and that’s why I was riding fairly fast. I think it also explained the perception of heat compared to yesterday. Yesterday I had a head wind and I think that kept me cool and I didn’t realize how warm it was.

When I got to Rocky Ford, I scouted Main Street to find the bike shop that was an unassuming little place. Then I stopped at a food mart for my second breakfast. Again, there was a table inside so I grabbed it and stayed a while people watching. One guy was buying scratch off lottery tickets. He was apparently not winning because as soon as he scratched off his ticket he got in line at the cash register and bought a new one. He did that at least 3 times before I left.

I camped at the bike shop knowing it would be a while until the official opening. However, Scott, the owner also lived upstairs in the building and he may have seen me camped out because he opened around 11 am. He was in no hurry to pack up my bike and I wasn’t either. I was going to be spending a lot of wait time, either at his shop or at the train station since the train wasn’t due until 7:29 pm.

Scott did a nice job of packing the bike and I picked up a few tips on how to pack. Scott had worked in bike shops in Denver for 25 years before setting up this bike shop so he had a lot of experience. The biggest deal was setting up a ride to La Junta, 11 miles away. Eventually his Aunt showed up with an SUV just after 3 pm and then we drove to La Junta.

Unfortunately, the waiting room at the station was closed due to covid whereas it would normally have been open. There was a front and back door but the rear was much cooler than the front so we dumped my stuff in back and Scott returned to his shop.

The train was scheduled for a 7:29 arrival but was delayed until 7:41. Eventually someone let me in the waiting room about 6 pm. There was only one other customer but no one seemed to care about getting our tickets and checking baggage, most notably my bike. A guy showed up and then two women. I assumed one of them would handle the ticket/baggage administration but nothing seemed to be happening. Turned out these folks were joining the train as a conductor and crewmembers.

When it was time to tag my bike box they needed some tape but the ticket counter was locked behind bars and they couldn’t find any tape. Eventually one of the crewmembers came up with some duct tape but this wasn’t Amtrak’s finest moment. The fee for a checked bicycle was $10 but I never got charged. This was probably because there was no ticket agent and the conductor had to handle the checked baggage. Maybe he didn’t know there was a $10 fee or just didn’t want to bother.

This was the first time I had not traveled in coach on Amtrak and this time I had a roomette, which was basically a room with enough space for a bed for one person (or a second person using a fold down bed from the ceiling). When I got on the train, the conductor said to go straight to the dining car if I wanted to eat which I did. I had crab cake for appetizer, salmon for main course, and chocolate cake for desert, included with the roomette price.

Then I took a shower, which was a first. Normally, I would have just have taken a sponge bath in the waiting room at the station but this time I didn’t since I knew I could shower on the train and that was nice.

A great relief when I finally boarded the train and knew everything had worked out.

Day 22: Sep 27 - Amtrak to Naperville, IL

I woke up early and discovered I was in a bed on Amtrak, a first. I did my usual morning rituals and then headed for breakfast shortly before 6:30 when the dining car opened. I was surprised to see folks already dining. That should have alerted me but I just figured some folks got there a few minutes early and the train crew graciously didn’t make them wait. Later I discovered my watch was still on Mountain Time but the train was now on central time. I had changed my watch time when the announcement was made that we were back in Central Time. However, my watch has a time zone setting and it was still set to the Denver time zone so the watch had corrected my manual time change. When I realized that I changed the watch time zone to Chicago and everything was right with the world again.

It was interesting that when I ordered my breakfast I was asked my room number, which was 7, and I didn’t understand why. When I got back to my room, I discovered that my room had been converted from a bed back to two chairs. I assume the room number info was passed on and used to change my room at a time that I wasn’t there, a nice way to make a non-intrusive change.

I spent the rest of the morning sleeping some and reading my Kindle. Later, a crewmember canvassed to reserve a time for lunch. I chose the last time, 1:15 pm. Then I was surprised when folks with 1:15 reservations were asked to come forward when it was about an hour early. I just figured they wanted to get lunch over because the train was due to arrive at 2:50 pm. But I hadn’t realized yet that my watch was still on Mountain Time.

Interestingly, the train stopped at Naperville but Naperville doesn’t have baggage service. So I had to go all the way to Chicago Union Station to get my bike and then take the commuter train back to Naperville. This “wasted” about 2 hours of my time compared to if I had been able to get off at Naperville with my bike.

The train arrived in Chicago Union Station essentially on time but I thought it was about an hour late since my watch was still on Denver time. But that was okay because when I got my bike I had to re-assemble it and then, I thought, couldn’t get on the commuter train until about 8:30 pm since bicycles weren’t allowed on the commuter train during rush hour.

After the train arrived, I collected my duffel bag from the baggage carousel and then I had to get an Amtrak person to let me down the stairs to collect my bicycle. I had done this before but on previous trips my bike was in a big Amtrak bike box, and all I had to do was attach my pedals and straighten out my handlebar and my bicycle was ready to go. However, this time my bike was packed up in a small box so I had to re-assemble it. That took about an hour but, again, I was in no hurry because I thought I had to wait until after rush hour to get my bike on the commuter train.

Then I bought a one-way ticket to Naperville and was prepared to wait several hours. About this time, I finally realized that my watch was still on Denver time and I changed it to Chicago time but I still expected to have to wait several hours. Then I asked some Amtrak personnel when I could get my bike on the commuter train and learned that rush hour restriction had been lifted, apparently because there was a lot less commuter traffic now due to covid and the rush hour restriction wasn’t necessary.

As luck would have it, there was a train leaving for Naperville in a few minutes and I got on it. Fortunately, there was room since there was only one other bicycle in the handicap car where bicycles use the spot where handicap passengers can put their carts. One limit of commuter bicycle travel is that handicap carts takes precedent over bicycles so there is always the possibility there will be no space or you could even get booted at some stop if a handicapped person gets one.

Fortunately, none of these undesirable situations arose and it was an uneventful hour ride back to Naperville. The hardest part of this commuter bike travel is getting the bike on and off the car. There were four steps that had to be navigated that are not trivial with a loaded bicycle. Getting on the train takes some lifting but getting off the train requires some careful braking to keep the bike under control when descending the steps. After that, it was about a 1.5-mile ride to my house and I arrived just as it was getting dark.