Hello! It’s Will, BACK for another consecutive day of blog! After leaving beautiful Crested Butte (Thank you, Heather, for hosting us, and for your wonderful home, oatmeal, and coffee!), we set off to Salida. The first 30 miles were relatively typical - beautiful Colorado views and rolling hills. The usual, daily routine of Stanford Spokes 2024.
Mother Kawther biking
In mile 32, everything got flipped on its head by the “Hors Categorie” hill. Hunter had warned me about this hill, but this hill was truly a MOUNTAIN. 9 miles of straight incline took blasting house music, a bottle of water, and a Clif bar out of me.
Halfway up the massive mountain. It was steeper than it looks in the picture I swear
We were rewarded at the top with the Monarch Pass Trading Post, where we bought an assortment of goodies because money doesn’t matter when you’ve just biked up the Rocky Mountains. Goodies included chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, Sweet Spicy Chili Doritos, blueberry ice cream, and postcards.
Us at Monarch Pass (Doritos, cookies, and ice cream not pictured)
Our struggles for the day were not over, however. We had been seeing gray clouds overhead for the past few days, and light rain began to fall as we enjoyed our treats at the summit. We quickly powered down the other side of the mountain, enjoyed our lunch, and biked in the rain for the second day in a row - a surprisingly enjoyable, main-character-esque experience.
Tubb admiring the rural vibe after we escaped the thunderstorm
This was actually one of my favorite rides of the entire trip, despite the hellish incline. We are staying tonight a few miles outside of Salida, CO with Sheena. We are genuinely in rural heaven: Sheena has been so kind and gracious in sharing her home. Some of us are sleeping in her home, some of us in her Airstream, and some of us in the barn. Thank you very much, Sheena!!!
Rural heaven ft. Sheena’s beautiful dog
We also got the chance to meet MIT Spokes today, who kindly drove down an hour from their rest day in Buena Vista, CO, and they were actually amazing - Amulya, Jess, Rebecca, Varsha, Sophia, Clelia, Hank, and JD, you are all incredible people, and you have inspired us to be like you!!! We found several places of bonding between our trips, among a few other differences.
They all wear clip-in shoes.
They start much earlier than us (we need to be more efficient in the mornings).
They have 8 people.
They rent a van (four vans…)
They typically bike in a few separate groups.
Spokes besties for life
Spokes is such a unique opportunity, and it was a pleasure to bond with other students who shared a very similar experience to us. This was truly one of my favorite moments of the trip!!!
That’s all for now!! Good night from Sheena’s Airstream <3
Will (MIT Spokes lover)