Leadville, Colorado

Saturday 8 August

First canyon out of Ft Collins

Out of Ft Collins, first stop, a supermarket with a pharmacy

just like home, better spoken, knowledgeable man

set me up with the right nasal gear for nose-bleeds, saline gel.

Dunno why I hadnt come across this sooner

plagued all my life as its been, with summer nose-bleeds

thought it was work-induced high blood-pressure and/or dusty sheepyards.

Going to be interesting to try this stuff back home.

Anyway.....

quickly into a canyon, bumper to bumper, holiday traffic I suppose

up to Stanley, and the famed Stanley Hotel.

Stephen King patronised  the place, wrote a lot here

and his book, the Shining, was filmed here,

built by the founders/manufacturers of the Stanley Steamer, vintage steam car circa 1897

While theyre noted for getting the 1907 land speed record

Stanley Hotel

of around 120mph, in 1938 a Stanley steam car got up near 200mph on Daytona beach.

The science of aerodynamics wasnt too flash in those days, they completely sheathed the underside thinking this would help the speed

but in actual fact worked like a wing, and the thing took off and flipped.

Modern autos got no undersheathing as a result.

Very popular venue for weddings

there was one going when I arrived, and I parked next to a bloke from Boulder who was next up.

I just had a coffee and cinnamon roll on the verandah.

Then climb the side of a mountain range onto the tops, about 8500'

sort of rolling country and quite populated, schools and stuff there

people like lice, living everywhere

must be bloody cold in winter.

Then down another canyon to the old mining towns of Central City and Black Hawk

still deep in the canyon, 2 streets and 2 blocks wide

but a new sort of mining going on here, a canyon of casinos, 6 storeys and up.

Road up Mt Evans

Down to Idaho Springs for fuel

then on to the big deal of the day

climb Mt Evans, another Tour de France alpine road

14,000' at the top, higher than Mt Cook, on a bike

and there at the summit, some mountain sheep

and also some cyclists after a challenge, its 15 miles to the top.

I'm sure Lance Armstrong mentions this climb in one of his books

and the Discovery team did train here.

Top of Mt Evans

Back down the same way and on to Interstate 70

for the 45 mile run down to tonights stop at Leadville

past the renowned ski-fields, Brackenridge, Copper Mountain, and Vail

all nude of snow

and another 2 mountain passes of 11,000' to cap the day.

Most of the plains running we've been doing has been in the 3-5000' asl range

today I dont think we've been under 8,000'.

Must check with the others but I think the rivers here lack the pristene-ness of the Montana and Canadian waterways

wonder if its the denser humanity living around here, and a lot of construction 

or maybe its just the snow-melt's finished.

Perhaps another achilles heel beside dependence on fuel, for USA....., water

the farmers at Kimball told me that the little irrigation done round there was pumped up from, I think they said the Oclala, or Oglala, acquifer.

Its huge, stretches all the way to Texas, where the suck-off is heaviest

its a separate underground system to the one that Idaho pumps from

also, they havent had a normal rainfall year for 10 years

so just as well for the set aside program.

Unlike barren Australia, this place is a veritable food basket

and if nations (and armies) march on their stomachs

and every house is a potential armoury

then the Islamists, like the Japanese in 1942, are plain nuts to be kicking America's shins.

The other thing I couldnt figure is why Nebraska was visibly under set aside

but Idaho's agriculture is really rocking.

Is whose not allowed to do what, dependent on senate representation?

Mountain sheep