Sometime you have to wonder about those intrepid enough to pioneer and explore. You’d think that they had plenty of imagination, what with packing up their belongings in an ox-drawn, canvas covered wagon and trekking westwards over the mountains. The folk who founded the town where I am staying tonight obviously had little to no imagination – they called the town Rifle. I guess it could be worse – there is a town several miles further down the highway called Parachute!
Anyway, here I am, tucked up in bed and making notes from the day. I finished work, loaded up, faffed and pottered, and left home just after 3pm. My route today was pretty boring – except for the first part. About 15 miles from home is Guanella pass, which I ascended, crossed over the continental divide, and motored down the other side of Mt Blue Sky and Mt Bierstadt down to Georgetown.
Guanella is a pretty pass, not to challenging but with a few good hairpins. It is so close to home that I am very familiar with it, and am always happy to take this road over to join the I70, the major US Motorway running East-West, from Utah to Maryland.
I stopped in Georgetown for a quick refuel and a comfort break, and then hopped onto the highway heading west. The traffic was not great up to the Eisenhower tunnel – about 15 miles = but it was slow enough that I could filter through the two lanes of traffic, so I wasn’t held up too much.
Once through the tunnel the traffic cleared, and it was aclear 2 hour run along the rather pretty (for a highway, that is) road that crests various peaks and passes through some lovely steep canyons while riding alongside fast-runnig rivers. The traffic remained clear until about 10 miles from my destination, when an accident had slowed things down significantly – but once again I zooted through the two lanes of traffic and got past it all without too much hassle.
I have not sen much of Rifle, to be fair, but the lack of imagination evident in the towns name seems to have spilled over into everything else to do with the town. It is flat, hot and in need of a good scrub. Still, my motel was not terrible, there wasa rib joint 5 minutes walk away, and the airconditioning works well, so I am comfortable and ready to drift off to sleep.
A long and hot day coming up tomorrow, so I will say g’night, and catch you tomorrow night.