The Three Musketeers.

Some quite tough cycling saw us pass through remote 'communities' (Editor; the term used when the community equates to 3 houses, a dirt and a tired dog) like Radium, seemingly there only because of the enormous coal trains that pass through. Radium is yet another candidate for the back-end-of-nowhere nomination.

 

Yes, this is a photo of Radium above.

 

Look closely for the railway line.

Sarah negotiating a ford. "No, it is not deep my Sweet"

"Well, it may get a little deeper......"

"Dave, which way now?". "Try down there, my Sweet".

 

It also saw us pass through Frisco (Great place), Breckenridge, etc. The ride from here over Boreas Pass (11,482 feet) was spectacular, and being a former railway grade was just how all mountain passes should be made. It was a pass designed by Mr. Cavendish himself.

Sarah so liked the aspens she actually asked me to take a photo. So here are some more.

And that most rare of images - one including me. You will note that as I do not have suspension forks my front end is very light so I have to lean on it to keep it down. I am also the first person in history to wear a white shirt cycle touring. Well, it was in the sale.

 

And another with me in it! Boreas Pass - 11,482 feet of pleasure and beauty.

What goes up must come down....

Other bikers.

During this trip we had met but a few other bikers, usually travelling in the opposite direction. But on this section we met not one but three bikers all headed our way on the dirt Divide route.

Ashley, a Manchurian, Rick the home-grown boy and Matthieu from Holland. Although they did not start out together Rick and Mathieu had joined forces to complete the Divide route, and Ashley sort of tagged along. Just like d'Artagnan. (Editor; yes, we all know there were actually four in the original story, so please don't write in, Dicky).

Ashley the so-called dilettant cyclist. He was making use of his riding time to perfect his new one-man stage show, 'Lawrence of Arabia on two wheels; the true story'.

Mathieu in a pre-drug stage of the day; Ie.,behind someone.

Rick in bike pack mode. (Editor; bike packing is light weight camping by bicycle, carrying minimal kit. It s very practical in off-road bike touring).

At first I was a little unsure of riding with others as it was so unfamiliar, but quickly the Musketeers warm-hearted and generous company proved to be enormously entertaining. Each had a story to tell; one, an addict to Mountain Dew (Editor; a highly caffeinated soft drink with suspected performance enhancing attributes) who would down a bottle and race off like Eddy Mercx; another a highly experienced 'ships captain for hire' to the rich - and the even richer; the third a retired navy Seal and plant laboratory owner. It should not be difficult to identify who is who.....

Although there was never an agreed plan we would all loosely ride together and end up in the same destination.

One such small 'town' we ended up in at the end of a days riding was Hartsel.

 

Always handy to have game processing provided at your cafe (See right of picture).

Unless you are the game, that is (See left of picture....).

Hartsel is a 'community' of one store, one bar and one small school. Camping was allowed in the nearby community area, where our new friends used a covered area to camp, allocating us the married quarters - a wendy house.

It was very comfortable, if a little bijou. However carrying Sarah over threshold was a little tricky.

I really liked Hartsel, and The Highline Cafe & Saloon were a hit with me. And I can vouch for the quality of the breakfast burrito. It deserves all the customers it gets.

I find myself really enjoying many of these very, very small communities; there is an honesty about them, the people are always friendly, and obviously tough and independently minded just to be there (Editor: or stuck). Authentic is the word that springs to mind, and in this day and age that is a good quality to possess.

All of this malarkey only added to the amazing scenery of Colorado.

Mountain Dew, I worship at your plastic bottled altar.

Again, someone was turning the landscape 'wow-dial' up a notch at every turn. To bike through such country with almost no traffic at all, simply the sound of bike gears and tyres on dirt felt rather special. This section of Montana was rolling open range land, which had an almost hypnotic effect, on me at least.

The surface was usually good, but there was a fair share of wash-board or gravel, the former particularly hard on my rigid setup. The weather was also in our favour; crisp, cold mornings, clear sunny days, but not the stinging heat in the day of the previous weeks.

As mentioned, we loosely rode together. It was very relaxed company. Good fun.

Rick bringing up the rear for once.

Where does the road go next?

 

 

 

I must admit that the Divide route is quite an experience. However, we decided to ride as far south as the town of Salida, then peel off west to head towards Utah and the Grand Canyon; a desicion now lost in the past somewhere. On our last night together we shared a take-out pizza and some 'growlers' from the local brewery.

Once again I have added another little highlight to my trip experience; riding with the Three Musketeers.

 

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