On Monday, Durango was transformed by the second day of The Denver Post’s Ride The Rockies Colorado bicycle tour, which brought more than 2,000 sunbaked cyclists into town for the night.
While to most people, the 65-mile ride from Cortez to Durango would be punishing in any circumstances, many completed it in Durango’s blistering afternoon heat, when the temperature hit a high of 86 degrees. Riders could elicit spontaneous feelings of solidarity with all the ants who’ve perished beneath magnifying glasses.
Unsurprisingly, cyclists reported the heat was their biggest obstacle. Sharri Cosler of Highlands Ranch, who was sitting at a table in Durango High School’s blessedly air-conditioned cafeteria, said she drinks about 50 ounces of water every 15 miles, and fills up at every aid station.
On Monday, that was a total of 200 ounces of water, just during the race.
Her teammate, John Strothers of Littleton, who was sitting a few seats down from Cosler, agreed drinking water was utmost in importance, but noted many cyclists were motivated by more mature thirsts.
“Cyclists love beer,” he said.
Cosler and Strothers said they were tired from the day’s toils, but they were determined to hit the town, as they were sick of power gels and protein bars, and desperate for “real food.”
In the evening, ravenous cyclists descended on Durango’s downtown restaurants and traipsed Buckley Park – which became a beer garden in the cyclists’ honor.
But Durango High School, where the cyclists set up camp, saw the most change.
There, from midmorning on, cyclists trickled in, their bodies drenched with sweat, clamoring for water, rest and cool respite from the sun.
Throughout the afternoon, cyclists could be seen crouched next to outlets in DHS’s halls, charging all manner of devices, some doing yoga, others guzzling water, while a few lay still in seemingly catatonic trances.
Some cyclists set up camp outside, where they slept in tents.
Most however stayed indoors – inside DHS’s gym, which took on the look and feel of a wartime hospital wing, with long rows of blow-up mattresses lining the floor some draped with prostrate, sun-bitten bodies. On one mattress, a man laid spread-eagle with water cloths over his eyes like a blaze-blinded soldier. On another mattress, a woman with cuts on her thighs sprawled out composing an email home.
Judging from their belongings and the intimacy of their sleeping arrangements, the cyclists were largely a neat, health-minded and incredibly friendly bunch with a strong intellectual bent.
In addition to the usual cycling gear – helmets, fancy shoes, spandex, and sleeping bags – the cyclists’ personal items, which were bestrewn throughout the sleeping area, included a box of animals crackers, an electric tea kettle, the book Midnight at the Marble Arch by Anne Perry, an enormous bag of chocolate-flavored whey protein powder, several curling irons, a stray but improbably unbruised banana, a standing fan, packages of instant oatmeal, several self-help books, and even some casual reading on George Washington and John F. Kennedy.
Patrick Quam of Fort Collins, who was lying on his mat inside the gymnasium, said the best strategy to avoid the heat was leaving early. “You get to sleep early – 8 or 8:30, start winding down – and drink lots of fluids to get ready for the next day.” Quam acknowledged beer’s seductive powers, but said, given its tendency to dehydrate, cyclists should generally resist.
“I’ve done it the other way, and it’s not very fun,” he said.
In the women’s locker room, a freshly showered Anne Wilkinson of La Veta was looking forward to going downtown, and though she was still unsure of her transport options, she said, “I’m not getting on my bike.”
She said she liked caravan living.
“It’s me and 500 of my closest friends sleeping in the gym. It’s surprisingly quiet. There’s some snoring and the occasional fart, but people are very congenial,” she said.
Emily Griffin contributed to this report. cmcallister@durangoherald.com
