Fijis Across America 2010

The mountains are calling and I must go. 
John Muir 

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http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/co/south-fork/556126323609183372

After a luxurious night full of relaxation which consisted of strumming the guitar, watching You’ve Got Mail at least twice (don’t ask me why), and cleaning the leftover dishes I hit the sack preferably early in order to wake up at the crack of dawn to prepare breakfast for all the fellas. On the menu: pancakes. I sluggishly and cautiously, using the materials I could find, created some pretty amazingly tasting pancakes, in my own opinion that is. Our stomachs full of carbs, we departed for Fort Garland only about 73 miles eastward into the unknown on state highway 160. 

The terrain was extremely flat for the entirety of the ride with only a few small hills and a total ascent of 531 feet. For the beginning of the leg I separated myself from the rest of the group and pushed a cadence of about 18 through the town of Del Norte into our first designated SAG Spot at mile 20. I decided after the first stop to just sit back and enjoy the rest of the day with some of the riders, therefore I decided to talk with Cameron up until lunch at mile 45ish in Alamosa at Arby’s. The conversation was quite enjoyable comprised of many various topics that passed the time quickly away. 

After cramming down the cheapest lunch I have eaten in quite some time we headed back out onto the road to finish the remaining 30ish miles. The terrain still presented itself as flat with occasional monotony until we arrived on the outskirts of Blanca. To the left of the road towered Blanca Peak, a 14, 435 feet with an immense girth at its base. On the leeward side of the mountain, the Great Sand Dunes National Park is situated as America’s tallest dune in existence today. I really wanted to take a detour and see the landmark for myself, but none of the other guys seemed interesting.

Blanca was a small town that we traversed through next with the typical restaurant, general store, and automotive shop. After about an hour or so, we arrived to our destination in Ft. Garland, found a room at the Motor Inn purchased by Bill Hebb and crashed for the rest of the night. Supper was extremely delicious across the street at a some Italian joint, where I crammed down a whole pizza and listened to the harmonious playing of Walking to Memphis produced by the great composer, Jordan Minton.

Another day down of just living the dream!   Only one more day until an extensive rest day period!