Manitou Springs, CO to Salida, CO via Victor Pass and Cripple Creek, CO - 139 miles

 Well, it keeps getting better! We left Manitou Springs and almost immediately started climbing up the mountain. We were on some Jeep / limited access roads for awhile and them we linked up with an abandoned railway “road”. We followed this for a long time, 2.5. - 3 hours of washboard roads, combined with places where a section was completely rutted out, plus large rocks. Hard work, a couple of falls. I didn’t fall, but Lucinda and I tipped over on on steep grade waiting for a couple of people to help a rider. I got off to help pick the other bike up and because we were on a steep grade, Lucinda tipped. A few scratches, broken turn signal cover - fared better than the 2 actual falls by other riders!

The abandoned Railway line was built during the Teddy Roosevelt presidency to service the gold mines in the Victor and Cripple Creek area. These were gold rush towns that eventually went bust, though they still mine low grade gold ore near Cripple Creek. Evidently, Roosevelt said that the railway “was the line that nearly bankrupted America”. Both Victor and Cripple Creek remind me of towns in the Upper Peninsula - grand for awhile, then bust, now a shadow of themselves. The rail line goes through 9 tunnels - most of them still are open to ride through. 

Hard to take pictures, because no place to stop. But here are a few:

Arrived at Victor Pass (10,219 ft), and the town of Victor. Ate at an old restaurant/bar in Victor, opened in late 1800’s:

Bet these floors have never been redone!

 Cash register -  circa 1890’s

Headed down towards Salida, beautiful ride, again amazing scenery!

 View from my window

And finally, evidence that the dirt ruled today:

Learning some new “McGiver techniques” - how to tighten a oil filter? Take a tie wrap, cinch it around the oil filter, grab the tie wrap with a pair of vice grips and use the leverage to tighten it up! Brilliant!

Becoming concerned about my right hand. After riding for awhile, 3 of my fingers go numb which affects my ability to turn the throttle as well as use the front brake. A fellow rider lent me a wrist bandage, but I still had to stop every 20 minutes on the way to Salida to regain feeling in my fingers. Went to a drugstore and bought a similar wrap when we arrived at the hotel. Part of the problem was probably the hard ride on the dirt today. Lots of standing up on the pegs, maneuvering around rocks and trying not to fall. You tend to over clinch the handle bars in this environment.

Greg and Lucinda leaving coming down the mountain.