July 21st: Leadville – Frisco, 52km, 461m climbed

Autor: Tim Goodall

Last night I did not want to walk 2 km into town and back because I would not have had time for the blog so I went to a small Mexican diner behind Safeway and Mark and John went into town. They were not in a very good condition this morning due to some heavy interaction with cocktails and a bottle of whisky and some locals. John was up on time and, after a very light motel breakfast, we rode back to the town centre for some photos and then stopped at the Safeway deli counter for extra food. Back at the motel, Mark had still not emerged and, when we got him to finally check out, he was in a rather delicate state. He remained in a delicate state for most of the day but we managed to get him on his bike and set off at a modest pace. We dropped 50 m leaving town which was easy enough but then we had to climb 400 m over 13 km to get to the top of Fremont pass and that had to be done in small stages for Mark to eat and drink something and slowly recover.

We were in the Arkansas river valley with the river on our right and Arkansas mountain set a bit further back to the east. The scenery was as impressive as ever with mountains between 13000 and over 14000 ft all around us. On top of the pass was a quarry for Molybdenum which, according to information received in a bar last night, only operates when the market price is high enough for it to be profitable. From there on, much to Mark’s relief, it was mostly downhill to Frisco and the last 16 km were on a newly surfaced abandoned railway line that took us to Frisco’s Main St. where we found a hotel halfway along with pubs and restaurants all around. An ideal location for the next two nights though two of us only drank water at dinner!!

Maybe the best but not the finest
The famous opera house.
Wall art on the side of…..
Quincy’s.
Wouldn’t it be nice to get pictures without cars in them?
Hardly possible these days.
Unless it is too early for buying booze and you wait for a gap in the traffic.
Arkansas river and, judging from the map, Arkansas mountain in the background.
Top of Fremont pass.
Trees brought down across the bike trail by an avalanche. There were several places where this had happened.
Spot the chipmunk.
Frisco Lodge (Mark for one night) is so old that not all rooms have en suite bathrooms. John and I are on the other side of the road in the Frisco hotel. Mark will join us there for the second night

 

99 Gedanken zu „July 21st: Leadville – Frisco, 52km, 461m climbed“

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