Salida – It was the second of six days on Ride The Rockies – hot as hades – when a fellow cyclist took the words right out of my dry mouth.
“Oh, glorious aid station!”
On this annual bicycle tour, now in its 21st year, aid stations are alone worth the price of registration. They are stationed approximately every 12th mile, depending on the nature of the route. Their staples are water, Gatorade, bananas and portable toilets.
In addition, the aid stations are supplied with technicians to maintain bikes and marshals to maintain order. Adding an element of fun to the essentials are the food vendors.
Breakfast burritos, “performance pasta,” peanut-butter sandwiches, slices of pie and jars of raw honey are just a small fraction of the creative dishes at the disposal of needy cyclists. And the fuel, in this day and age, comes cheap.
PBJ: two bucks. Egg, cheese and potato burrito: two bucks. Oh, and the water, Gatorade, bananas and portable toilets: gratis.
On this year’s tour, there are 27 aid stations along the 419-mile ride from Cortez to Cañon City. They are oases. And every once on a while, a curveball is twirled.
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TODAY’S DESTINATION:
CANON CITY |
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In Moffat on Thursday on Day 5 of Ride The Rockies, the Colorado Certified Potatoes Growers Association treated cyclists at an aid station to baked potatoes with all the fixings. The day’s route took cyclists on an 84-mile ride from Alamosa over Poncha Pass to Salida.
The potato bar did wonders to raise spirits on a relatively gloomy morning. The first 40 miles of the route to Moffat lent little in the way of scenery. Surely, tumbleweed can trace its origins to this stretch of Colorado Highway 17. To boot, the smoke of forest fires cloaked the mountain scenery to the east.
Spuds saved the morning, judging from the line outside the tent. Poncha Pass would prove the power of the potato.
If not? Well, there’s another staple of Ride The Rockies that can treat the sting at the end of the each day: the New Belgium Brewing Co. Beer Garden.
* FRIDAY: Salida to Cañon City – 67 miles
Random profiling
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BOB STELZER
* Hometown: Lakewood
* Age: 66
* Occupation: Engineer
* Make of bicycle: Specialized
* How many RTRs, including this one: One
* Reason for participating in RTR: “I’m into cross-country bike riding with friends; it’s a nice way to see the country”
* Favorite RTR scenery: The ascent from Chama to La Manga Pass
* Favorite RTR munchie: “Bananas and smoothies”
* Favorite RTR memory: Needs more hindsight
* What would you be doing at this moment if you weren’t on RTR: “Working or riding my bike”
DenverPost.com sports producer Bryan Boyle is participating in the 2006 Ride The Rockies. The raging amateur’s series runs each day of the June 18-23 event, which follows a 419-mile course from Cortez to Cañon City.
To share any RTR-related experiences, fears, advice or yarns, send an e-mail to Bryan at bboyle@denverpost.com.
