Durango – day 1

Arrived in Durango mid afternoon & headed straight for a bike shop to get a map & some trail ideas. It had just rained, so the guidance was a small area close to town that typically dried quickly. The map called the area Durango Mountain Park Trail System – it’s just referred to as “Test Track” by the locals. This was perfect, as I wasn't planning on a major ride, just a quick one to get the legs working and start to acclimatize.

Once I found the trail (well hidden in plain view!), I started to get ready. Just then a small black cloud rolled in overhead & raindrops start to fall around me. And not small drops – these were the kind that splash up a small crater in the dirt. Crap! On goes the rain jacket & away we go. Not 5 minutes later and the sun was out again & the rain had stopped. Phew.

I was a little surprised at how the altitude didn’t seem to bother me. Sure, my HR was lower for the same perceived exertion, but I wasn’t gasping like a chain smoker, unlike my first rides in Canmore prior to the World Championships. And Canmore was only at 4600ft, my Garmin had me at just under 7000ft at this point. Hmm, maybe there’s some kind of “altitude memory” that my system developed - something to ask Coach about.

 

I did a little noodling around to get warmed up and soon found a beautiful view of Durango. I was just 5 minutes ride out of town. Man this place is cool. I ran into a true local on the trail (she was from Durango), who told me she almost never drove her car to get around to all the trails. I realize that’s possible in Austin too, but cruising Hwy 360 is not quite the same as cruising around here…

After a couple of hours, I elected to head back to the car and go find my campground. I could have kept on riding – this being my favorite time of the day – but I though it’d be prudent to get my campsite setup before the sun came down.

You can’t tell from the pikkie, but the campground is in a beautiful spot on the Animas river. Perfect – except for the screaming infant in the adjacent tent. Damn that kid could bawl. I thought I’d get an decent night’s sleep & hit the hay around 10pm. I was still awake at 12:30am. Geez. Ahh, the pleasures of camping…

I used this time to study the map little more closely and elected to start my exploration with segment 28 of the Colorado trail – the beginning of the epic trail that’s on my “bucket list” of rides to hit someday.

I eventually fell asleep thinking of the upcoming days of riding. Yeehaw.