Day 4! We finally get to sleep a bit. The plan the night before at the base of Willow Creek was to meet at 6AM. I got myself up and headed to the dining area for pancakes prepared by Vernon the wonder man! As I looked at my bike this morning, I noticed that gadunk, gadunk, gadunk had finally taken out one of my rear taillights. It was dangling loosely on the rear rack. At least the Super Flash was still there. I borrowed a screwdriver from a volunteer and removed the lamp and tossed it into the drop bag. I then packed my drop bag with everything in the room and carried it out to the U-Haul trailer.
It became 6:15 and I still didn't see Jeff. I checked my phone and saw nothing. I rebooted my phone and then found voicemail and messages from Jeff saying the new plan was 7:00. Of course, I had knocked on his door before learning my phone was on the fritz. The list of DNFed riders had increased after the previous day of riding. I sat around and ate more pancakes and chatted with Kirsten as well. Many of the DNF riders were riding Day 4 as a permanent to get back to Louisville.
Jeff and I got rolling shortly after 7:00 AM. We rolled along with a couple of other riders just whiling away the time. I stopped at some point and started taking off layers of clothes. The day was getting hotter and I wanted to be ready for Cameron Pass. I had to chase the group and then have them apologize because they hadn't notice I was behind them. Oh well. All's well that end's well. At Moose, we stopped and topped off our bottles and put on sunscreen.
As we left the ranger station, Jeff reminded me to get a photo at the top of the pass. I put the bike into the 34x32 (one below the 34x34) and started the climb. I was worried that day 4 legs might fail me, but I powered up the climb and reached the summit in short order. Vernon was there with water and drinks. He happily volunteered to take a picture for me. Here is an anatomy of that climb in photos.
What a relief to be done with the last big climb of the brevet. Of course, we still had miles to ride. I waited for Jeff and we got a photo at the top together as well.
At the top of Cameron, I put on my jacket to prepare to descend. I tucked into the bike and let the hill carry me down. We had about 30 miles of downhill, but the very top of the pass was the best with no pedaling required. Our plan was to meet up in Rustic like we did on the outbound. This time, we planned to sit down and enjoy restaurant food. I arrived to Rustic first and found a huge number of bikes parked at the store. We learned the road had been closed ahead of us because of a fatal wreck. We sat down and prepared to wait for news on what to do. I had a plate of Colorado's version of chili rellenos. Not exactly what you get in Texas, but it was good.
We finally got news that the police were letting riders through so we got on our bikes and headed further down the hill on CO-14. Light pedaling was all that was needed. We eventually reached the wreck and it looked terrible. We got the stink eye from cars that were stuck waiting. We got through and enjoyed little to no traffic as the road was closed behind us. On the way, we saw the tow truck heading up the road to pick up the wrecked car. We got to the turn at US-287 and stopped at the c-store there. Several riders were there, but Jeff had fallen off at some point. I knew he had given his borrowed tire tools back to Vernon on the summit so I didn't want to leave him with no way to fix a flat. I told everyone else to head on and I waited for Jeff. He was irritated with me for waiting but I reminded him that we are friends and that friends look after each other when one friend has no tire tools to fix a flat -- especially now that Vernon was up the road with the truck.
We rolled out together and eventually caught the group that left ahead of us in Loveland. They had stopped at the store and we were able to catch up. It was shortly after this point, with about 22 miles left that I lost my mojo. I fell off the back and stopped once to get some food out of my bag. I was just rolling along slow when Jeff dropped back to see what was wrong. It was his turn to fix me and I ate the cheese crackers he offered. I felt better and we pushed on catching Luis along the way. As we rolled towards the end of the route, I decided to try pushing the gears in bigger positions like I do when I climb the passes. This worked pretty well. It was a bit painful with day 4 legs, but the strategy worked and I was able to keep a good pace. We rolled through Niwot and thought back to the SR600 finish wishing this were the end point.
About a mile from the finish, I got caught by. a traffic light that Jeff and Luis rushed through. I followed them a couple minutes behind and arrived to the final control to bell wringing and clapping and riders giving us a pat on the back. Official finish time was 87:21. That's fine with me. My shoulder hurt a bit like it usually does and the saddle soreness was definitely there too. But everything else felt pretty good. I had a slice of cake and debated a beer. I decided to wait for the post ride dinner to have a drink. Russ helped me with getting the bike up to the 2nd floor (no elevator at the Quality Inn). I carried my drop bag. I then walked back to the Best Western and got the van and drove it back to the QI. I showered, dressed, and then met friends in the lobby for the short walk to the pub. We ate, drank, laughed, and recalled the good, the bad, and the ugly. Back at the hotel, I had enough energy to brush my teeth and then crash hard for sleep.
All photos from Day 4 are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/MfmKedmvJ18KbAhc9
Full Garmin data is here: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7132875016
It is never possible for me to read these reports without thinking what a wuss I am for not doing the ride myself. Well done that man!