Pagosa -> Durango (the long way)

We were amped to get back on the bikes after 4 days of festivating and this is exactly how I anticipated it would be.  Ride your bike for 4 days, relax and listen to music for 4 days.  Not enough time to get tired of either really.

We have chosen to not do the direct route to get over to Durango.  Instead, by taking CR500, we'll follow the San Juan River for 42 miles on smooth dirt road (see pic above).  That was the wonderful part of the day.  The not so wonderful part happened when we caught up with the Mag-Chloride truck.  Yuck!  Muddy mess for about 8 miles.  

This route turned about to be about 20 miles longer than I had anticipated but we really had to make it to Durango because our friend owns a hotel there and he had a room waiting for us.  So not making it really wasn't an option (a situation I try to avoid usually unless they involve soft beds!).  So by mile 70 we're near Ignacio on the Sky Ute Indian Reservation.  I'm pretty much at the end of my rope when I see the sign "Durango 24 miles".  Oh boy,  this ain't gonna be fun.  Kiki is, the whole time, NOT complaining which made me feel like I couldn't either, so we trudge on.   I took the following measures that I am attributing to giving me a 2nd wind and I will outline for you exactly what I did:

1)  One Carb Boom Gu Packet  2)  3 Vitamin-I's (Ibuprophren) 3) One peanut butter power bar followed by 4) 15 minutes of lying on my back with my feet elevated at about 75 degrees.    I know, sounds pretty kooky,  and I'm sure I looked pretty kooky, but I'm telling you,  by mile 80, I was pedaling hard again.  

Pulling into Durango, a strange coincidence occurred.  We had already agreed to get  milkshakes once we arrived into town,  so when I saw the Micky D's, I pulled in and it was exactly on the 300th mile of the tour.   I have to admit, in normal life I do not pine for Micky D's.  But when I'm on a bike tour or a long-distance hike, I'm like, bring it on!   It must have something to do with the deprivation along with physical exertion that really makes hanging out in a fast-food joint seem like an OK thing to do.  

Brad met us at his hotel with some fantastic "trail magic" to the tune of 7,o00 calories along with a comfy hotel room and a hose and spray nozzle to get that nasty mag-chloride off of our bikes.  A truly wonderful night's sleep.