Day 28, 29, 30
Weds 2nd September – Fri 4th September

We did a few other things before riding Pikes Peak, and stayed longer than we planned as we found a bargain on Airbnb. We basically had our own apartment for $15 a night, we couldn’t believe it! It was so cheap that we decided to stay another night, and spent the rest of our budget and a little bit more on all-you-can-eat sushi, all-you-can-eat Indian (where I ate so much that I was left on all fours in the parking lot unable to get up because I was in so much pain – yes I’m ashamed about that), an evening in the cinema, new flowers for my front basket and eight identical cowboy boots for Ed’s spider. Welcome to our world.

 

 

Oh and Ed finally sourced and ordered a new engine, as he’d finally had enough of his overheating, piston eating, soulless piece of crap.

We also went and explored the Garden of the Gods, recommended to us by our hosts. We decided to camp the night and visit it in the morning before riding Pikes Peak, and after extensively researching where we could and couldn’t camp, we found what we believe to be a good spot. We heard the telltale truck pulling up and footsteps at 7am, and were told very politely that we weren’t allowed to camp there. He was very friendly but said that the signs said no camping, to which we pointed out that not a single sign says no camping, which we know because we went round and checked them all. He stood and thought about it for a moment then said ‘Yeah, you’re right, they don’t say no camping’. We were apparently camped in the Garden of the Gods, although the area was included in the ranger district map as being national forest and under their jurisdiction. The friendly chap said that it wasn’t, but after showing him the map that we’d downloaded off the official park website, he said that he’d be sure to bring it up at the next meeting.

 

 

We didn’t mind being woken up early as we needed to get a move on anyway, and made our way over to the visitor centre. There we had an extremely delicious elk bratwurst, and watched an informative 15 minute video that explained the geology of the area.

We had a new appreciation for the scenery around us after that, and enjoyed a ride around the park which lead us past cool and interesting rock formations that towered high above us.

 

 

Next stop was Pikes Peak. It wasn’t as steep as Mt. Washington so it was fairly easy to ride up, but I had to stop twice to move the position of my carb needle, two places in total.

 

 

I got up it at a fairly decent speed and was left waiting at the top for Ed to come crawling up the last section at a snails pace.

 

 

It was funny as the views on the way up were better than the views at the very top, mainly because it was so hazy.

 

 

The best views were of the road as it snaked up the mountain side, and I had a new respect for all the car and motorcycle riders who race up it each year.

 

 

I’d felt a bit funny during the last 1000ft or so, but it was only when we went inside that we felt the full effects of the altitude. We walked in the door and immediately joined the scores of other people that appeared to be floating around the visitor centre, high on the lack of oxygen. It’s a weird but strangely pleasant feeling when it’s mild and you know what’s going on, but when you’ve never experienced a feeling like it before it can be quite frightening. One poor chap was dealing with the latter, and after overhearing his conversation and aware that he was possibly on his way to an anxiety attack, Ed was quick to go over and reassure him that he was fine and would be OK. Having experienced the full effect of altitude sickness before while hiking to Everest Base Camp, much faster than is recommended I’d like to add, Ed knew the signs and symptoms and didn’t want the man worrying unnecessarily. It’s horrible when you don’t feel right or well, and panicking and anxiety can mimic symptoms and make things worse. Having some reassurance can be just what you need to calm yourself down, and thankfully Ed’s calm and knowledgeable words seemed to do the trick, as did a bottle of water.

 

 

It was a relatively easy ride down as it wasn’t very steep, which is good considering I didn’t have a front brake. You may remember that my throttle was now operated by my front brake cable and lever, as we’d had to steal the cable when my throttle cable snapped. Well we’d picked up a new throttle cable, but when we came to fit it we discovered that the brake cable we’d been using as the throttle cable had been rubbing, and was literally down to the last few threads; if it’s not one thing it’s another! So I was now left with a correct and fully functioning throttle but no front brake. Thankfully we made it all the way down successfully though, and there wasn’t a smoking rear brake in sight!

Happy with our success we decided to grab some food before we left, and fancying some more Elk I found a pub in Old Colorado City, which is a national historic district of Colorado Springs.

 

 

I’m so pleased we went there, I really liked it and it gave me a different view of Colorado Springs. The main city was just like any other city, but Old Colorado City had a lot more character. Some parts even reminded me of some towns in England, especially the pub fronts.

 

 

After finishing off our Elk burgers we returned to our bikes to discover a very lovely note
left on my bike, with a $5 note in it. With an envelope titled ‘to the free spirits’, the note read ‘it’s not much… but I’d love to live vicariously through you’, which was followed by a peace sign, a heart, and the word Colorado! It really made me smile, and I looked around trying to see who could have left it. Looking at the hand writing it was almost definitely a female, so I just want to take the time to say thank you mystery lady, your note really made my day!

 

 

It was quite late by the time we left Colorado Springs, but we had a fair bit of daylight left. Of course it started raining about 10 minutes in to the journey and was actually quite chilly, but after toying with the idea of staying we decided to put some more layers on and continue on to Salida. We ended up riding in the dark as the terrain was flat and repetitive, and we didn’t feel like we were missing too much. We were picking up Ed’s new engine and also needed to collect a few things from the post office, and being a Saturday the following day we were aware that it would be closing early and we didn’t want to miss it.

We pulled in to a fuel station to fuel up but the guy was just closing, so we filled up with our cans instead. I spotted a couple working on their truck that had broken down, and as the fuel station worker locked up he turned off the forecourt lights and left. ‘That’s going to make it hard for them’ I commented, seeing that they only had a flashlight, and with that we wheeled our bikes over and provided some light for them to continue the work. What then ensued was a rather odd altercation with the fuel station worker who quickly returned. They’d been working on the truck for a while, and with the front wheel off the worker came over, let’s call him Dick, Dick came over and started saying that they weren’t allowed to be there, that they had to move straight away. We pointed out that it wasn’t going to be possible, given their current situation, and with Ed now helping they were doing it as fast as they could. All Dick could care about was that he wasn’t being paid to be there, and that his boss had told him to stay there until we had all gone. There wasn’t an ounce of sympathy on his part, and he said that the couple were taking advantage of him and that they hadn’t asked if they could do the work there. I immediately pointed out that they hadn’t chosen to break down, and told him that we’d fixed our bikes in service stations on numerous occasions without asking, and never had any problems with staff or anyone else for that matter. He said they could have done it anywhere along the road, and I pointed out that they’d quite rightly chosen the only place for miles that had any lighting, at least until he’d turned it off. He was getting very agitated and appeared to be slightly unhinged and mentally unstable, complaining that he’d been there ‘all fucking day’ and pacing backwards and forwards saying that we had to hurry up and go as fast as possible. We said we were going as fast as we could but that he was actually slowing us down, then he flipped and shouted that Ed and I had to leave. He definitely wasn’t ‘right’ and I could see the situation getting out of control, so I calmly explained that we were going as fast as we could, and that we’d be off the forecourt as soon as the wheel was back on. I also explained that we needed to be there, as if we weren’t they’d be going even slower as they wouldn’t have any help or any light, as he’d turned them off. He just didn’t get it though. He even said that he’d call the tow truck, and I asked him exactly how he thought that they’d be able to tow a truck with only 3 wheels. He wanted us to hurry up but all he was doing was slowing us down, it was beyond comical, baffling, and slightly sad. I think he was desperate to get back home for his next meth hit, or he had a nagging lady at home that was just as insensitive and uncaring as he was. I know everyone has their own problems, and maybe he was going through a lot at that moment in time, but that couple hadn’t chosen to break down and a little bit of sympathy and understanding wouldn’t have gone a miss. Hopefully Karma kicks him in the arse one day, it’s usually pretty good at working things out. The next card he pulled was that he would call the police, but thankfully they got the wheel on and managed to drive just up the road to tighten up the bolts to make it safe to drive. We then saw police lights in the distance, and sure enough a Sheriff car pulled up. We weren’t in trouble though, he just wanted too make sure that we were OK and didn’t need any help. I was pleased to get back on the road, that was enough drama for me. I don’t like dealing with unstable people, you’re never quite sure what they’re capable of, especially when they could have a gun in the car.

It was around 10.30pm by this time, and despite being tired and ready for bed we decided to ride all the way to Salida. We were 10 miles out when we spotted a sign for a campground, but after discovering that it was full we rode back up the approach road and spotted a camper van and a tent in an open space to the left. We stopped and asked the guy if we could camp there, and sure enough it was a free campsite and we could go wherever we liked, perfect! I was pleased the campground was full as it saved us $20, and not being surrounded by humongous RV’s is always a bonus.