Thursday June 20:  Gunnison, Colorado to Salida, Colorado
Distance:  63.8 miles
Total time:  7 hours 9 minutes
Riding time:  4 hours 57 minutes

Today, as is often the case, was a ride in four parts.  It began in cool weather in Gunnison with a 31 mile, rolling ride to the base of Monarch Pass.  Then, the nine mile climb, followed by a 10 mile screaming downhill, and ending with a sweet 10 mile run to the hotel with a 20 mile an hour tailwind.

The first stage was very pleasant cycling through rich, green ranch land.  We made 26 miles in the first two hours.  Yesterday, climbing into a headwind, we made 13.  The landscape was beautiful, and much wetter than anything we've seen since San Francisco.

Jamie took an action photo of Michael and me cruising along on this pleasant ride.

But our thoughts were very much on the crucible that lay ahead of us, the looming final climb over the Rockies.

We stopped at the base of the climb to prepare ourselves.  Here's Jamie, about to set out.

Jamie, Michael and I have now ridden 1300 miles together, but our strategy on the big climbs is to do our own thing and meet at the top.  Jamie and Michael prefer to get into the zone and power through, while I stop frequently, rest, then try to catch up.  Amazingly, in a 90 minute climb, we all arrived at the top within four minutes of each other.

I wasn't in an artistic mood, but did manage to snap this during a rest break.

And I got this picture of Jamie as he was about to pass me.

He returned the favor.  Notice there is no blurring of the image as I whiz by at an estimated five miles an hour.

Jamie and I arrived at the summit at nearly the same time, and we pretended to race, at about three miles per hour, to the waiting van and the cheers of our friends who had already finished the climb.  Yes, lots of snow still at the summit.

As you might imagine we were pretty impressed with ourselves following the climb, so we engaged in an orgy of photo taking.

Here's a smug and self-satisfied selfie that I took upon arrival.  Note the elevation - 11,312 feet.  The final climb itself was just over 3,000 feet.

And here are the three amigos, as the rest of the crew now calls us.

My own individual shot in front of the sign.

And finally, most of the group posing together.  The Brits, who are great cyclists and climbing specialists, and who have climbed many of the great peaks in Europe, said that this was the highest elevation they had ever topped.  I'm second from right.

As we lingered in our self-indulgence at the summit, the sky clouded over and the wind came up.  There were gusts over 30 miles an hour, and a crosswind.  The flags tell the tale.  It was time to get a move on before the weather really deteriorated.

So, following the Climb of Supreme Athleticism, we faced the Crosswind of Alarming Velocity, coupled with, as the sign indicates, the Downhill of Unnerving Gradient and Extended Duration.  Did I mention the snow?

Off we went, and in retrospect it was the ride of a lifetime.  In many places on the 10 mile descent there was no shoulder, so we had no choice but to take a lane.  The views were spectacular but there was little opportunity to enjoy them.

We were joined on the downhill by Dave from Walnut Creek, who is very quick on the descents.  Here he, Jamie and Michael take a quick break to take pictures.

Finally the descent leveled out, sort of, from a six percent roller coaster to a civilized one and two percent downhill.  But the Crosswind of Alarming Velocity converted itself into the Tailwind of Emphatic Acceleration.  For the last 10 miles we bombed along at between 20 and 30 miles an hour, barely touching our pedals.  A fitting reward for the agonizing climb that preceded it.

In fact the tailwind was so powerful that it blew us directly into this brew pub.

There we met up with Steve from the UK, who took time out to call his wife on their anniversary, had beer, ordered food from the food truck outside, and all was in order.

Tomorrow, 94 miles to the relative metropolis of Pueblo, then a day off on Saturday.  Haircut, bike repairs, laundry, see some old friends.  Oh, and it looks like the "Comments" function is working again.