Telluride:

Telluride is a little skiing town in Colorado. The views and area are incredibly beautiful.

After a 3 hour shuttle ride with Neal from Moab we arrived in Telluride. A couple laps through town found us at our destination. We unloaded the bikes and headed in to town to find some place to eat. We had heard rave reviews about the "Telluride Bakery" so we thought we would grab a bit to eat there.

After a few more laps through town and down a couple back streets we found the bakery. By the time we got there the majority of the bagels were gone but we were able to muster up enough to have them prepare bagel sandwiches for everyone. The dining area in the bakery is dimly lit so we opted to sit on the patio in front of the restaurant. Seating was limited and we had to share a table with a couple other patrons. We found a couple tables that would accommodate about 6 of us so we took them. Unfortunately the limited seating caused us to infringe upon the seating space of 2 college girls who were in Telluride spending time together before one of them was to head off to France for an archeological dig. 

If you have never met Skip Burson, chances are he knows someone who knows you. We all sat and listened in amazement as Skip talked to these girls and found out that he somehow knows one of their friends who is also on an archeological dig in France. What are the chances of Skip knowing someone in Telluride who knows someone in France. As I said, we all sat in amazement!

After lunch we went back to our rented château, grabbed our bikes and headed over to the ski lift. Telluride is almost like 2 towns separated by a mountain. To accommodate the residents the city has installed a ski lift that transports people and bikes up one side of the mountain and down the other. This enables residents on both sides to easily move between the two towns. It also provides mountain bikers the ability to get their bikes to the top of the mountain for free!

We loaded the bikes up and rode the lift to the top of the mountain. The first ride down was a single track the put us at the base of the lift on the backside. The single track was a lot of fun. You ride through trees, across ruts and down loose marbles. At the base of the lift we decided to ride up the lift and do it again. Upon reaching the top we ran in to Mark and Larry who joined us for another fast paced descent down the back side. 

About half way down the group came to a screeching halt.  Mike broke his Sram derailleur (de-rail-yur as they say in east of the Mississippi). Keep in mind this is about 5pm and we are supposed to leave the next morning so time to repair the bike is critical. Mike and the group ride continue to ride (or coast) down the mountain to the bike shop on the back side. No luck there, they don't have the part we need, but he recommends a shop on the other side of the mountain. Mike and the group jump on the lift and head back up the mountain. Mike stays on the lift and continues over the top, the rest of us get off on top and take the steep fire road back to town. 

As we descend the fire road the group starts to fragment, the faster riders are up front the more cautious riders towards the rear. The road is a gravel road filled with ruts and erosion caused by rain. Three of us get about two-thirds of the way down and stop to wait for the others.  After waiting five to ten minutes we start to worry about the others. Did someone crash? Are they hurt? Break a part/bike? This is not what we needed to have happen the day before we left on our trip.

It wasn't a couple minutes before a local came down on a quad, we asked her if she had seen the rest of the group and she told us they had stopped and did not appear to have crashed. Eventually the group came down. Al's brakes (Hayes hydraulics) had failed so he had to slow down and stop. As the rest of the group converged on Al, Dave noticed he broke a couple spokes. Upon closer examination the spokes were not broken at the nipple, but he actually broke the hub.

It's now about 5:30 and we are pressed for time. We have a bike with a broke derailleur, another with a broken hub and another with failing brakes.

We found Mike's bike, but no Mike, at Telluride Sports. The guy working on the bike was also the guy working the register and trying to tend to the customers. He came across as being a bit of an a-hole. He told us he would "try" to get the bike done in time but couldn't commit to anything, and if the bike was not done when he closed, we would have to get it the next day. This was not acceptable to us because we needed the bike that night....and changing a derailleur is about a 30 minute job. He had almost 2 hours to get it done. 

Dave's hub could not be repaired so he ended up buying a new wheel. After our experience at Telluride Sports we  found another bike shop, Paragon Ski and Sport, to buy the wheel from. The guys at Paragon were totally cool. They gave Dave a great deal on the wheel and told us that if Telluride Sports could not get the bike done in time that they would help.

After the "mechanical" dramas were taken care of we ate dinner at a great little BBQ restaurant a guy at Paragon Ski and Sport recommended. With fat bellies and a day full of excitement we rode back to our little château for some TV and a good night's rest.

It was also in Telluride that we first learned about the effects of elevation on the gastrointestinal system. This is my hypothesis, so bare with me. When you take a sealed container up in elevation the ambient air is thinner than the air in the sealed container. Therefore the air in the container expands. For example, when you buy a bag of chips in Big Bear the bag is bulging because the bag was sealed at a lower elevation. The adverse effect is also true where if you take a sealed container from high altitude and bring it to a lower altitude the container will appear to be crushed. I believe that the same is true for your gastrointestinal tract. Any air trapped in your body expands. The net result is an increased expenditure of flatulence to help relieve the air differential. It's amazing how this phenomenon can be so entertaining, but it was.

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