CTR Day 3

I got moving relatively early this day and made my way into downtown Leadville. I stopped for a coffee and a muffin. I stopped to say hello to Brian at Cycles of Life. Then I left town and started making my way up Halfmoon Creek Road. In 2008 I camped right along Halfmoon Creek with 2 other guys. In reality we were really fast touring the route but it was so much fun. We had gotten giant Fosters beers and sat there laughing and eating and drinking beer after setting up camp with daylight left. I past that spot and grinned. 

I got back on the CT and started heading towards Twin Lakes. I could see fresh tire tracks so I knew there was at least one rider up the trail. Maybe an hour or two later I caught BC Paul and another rider I had not seen yet. We rode together all the way to Twin Lakes. I had to stop to filter water from the reservoir and they went ahead. After I got going again I started catching several riders. Once I hit the fire road at Clear Creek Reservoir I had reeled in BC Paul one more time. We rode the detour into Buena Vista together and talked about food. Last night we talked about pizza but today we wanted chicken sandwiches and burgers with fries. I knew of a bar so we headed that way. 

After eating, Paul wanted to go to a bike shop but I needed to hit City Market and shop for supplies. With what I hoped would be enough food to see me to Silverton, I got back on my bike and started heading up Cottonwood Pass. I made it to the drive in theater and all hell broke loose up by the hot springs. I am terrified of lightning so I turned right around and hauled ass back to town and hid in a bathroom for about an hour or so. Once things cleared, I shoved off again. I made it to Mount Princeton Hot Springs and a room sounded lovely so I went in to ask but they were booked. Up to this point I really wasn't having any fun at all. I decided to sit in the bar and drink Coke and water. I called my wife who informed me that my SPOT was not tracking correctly. She was very worried about me going into the next 200 mile remote stretch with a "spotty" SPOT. I was prepared to bail right there and go find a room in Salida but...a reset found it working fine. At about midnight I left and rode several miles before finding a bivy spot and laying down for the night. It was the first night where I could see the stars. I watched them for a while before drifting off to sleep.