crmbt day 1 - colorado springs to canon city

Sunday, 8-3

Woke up to the symphony of zippers; tent flaps, luggage, etc. and prepared for day 1. Sherpa Ville always has coffee and hot water for oatmeal, and I had picked up some bananas and bagels. The school wasn't far away, and the porta-potties were closer. After dressing and packing my bag I left my tent and waited for Peter to give his talk to kick-off the tour.

A large group was winding it's way through the neighborhood and missed the turn for Lake Circle  near The Broadmoor. We climbed by the golf course and when we saw the sign for the zoo, I knew we were not on the right track. Some folks thought turning right was appropriate, but I just turned around, went back down the hill until I saw cyclists heading a direction that would get us to our first highway for the day, CO115.

Pretty views and sunny skies made for a nice morning. The shoulder was plenty wide, but held a lot of debris, and by the time I finished I think I had seen a dozen riders changing flats on the side of the road. Of course, I asked each one if they had what they needed, but they were all well prepared.

As we neared Canon City I saw what I thought might be a high school, but soon realized it was surrounded by a high fence topped with razor wire. We didn't stop there.

After some rollers we ended up 700 feet lower than we started. But we would go a little higher tomorrow. We were mostly in by noon, and the tents were going up in Sherpa Ville. After a nice shower I walked to Subway for a veggie sub, then returned to the school where a lot of us spent the whole afternoon visiting, enjoying the shade, and telling cycling stories.

That evening I walked to a Mexican place with Thom and Glenn for a good meal and a nice visit. I was in my sleeping bag fairly early to be ready for a planned 94 miles tomorrow including our first mountain pass. This was a good first day to warm up the legs and let us flatlanders acclimatize before the serious fun began.