Marilyn and I took our Fall Retreat to Mesa Verde last weekend. We just went up there and sat on the mesa top and looked at the clouds go by. We didn't even go down into the ruins. It was just important to know the Anasazi where there.
Marilyn and I took a bike ride from the Far View Lodge on high end of the mesa down to the lower part of the mesa where the ruins are. It was very enjoyable. We stopped at the different overlooks on our bikes. Many of the ruins are a short walk from the roadway. (If you have cleats, take cleat covers) It was off season so the traffic wasn't bad. On the lower part of the mesa there is a great museum, gift and snack shops.
On our return we faced the 5 mile and 1000 foot climb back up the front of the mesa. What a hard climb after about a mile Marilyn asked me to ride on to the top and bring back the car. But she screwed her courage to the sticking point and continued to grind out the climb while I went ahead. It was definitely painfully up. I got the car and came back. She was resting under a tree in the heat, having done another mile and a half. I was pretty proud of her efforts and I think she was too. The total ride is about 17 miles.
The next day I took a ride to the bottom of the mesa and back. A great ride. Leaving Far View Lodge I traveled East along the mesa top road. This road has either good shoulder or none in proportions of one to one. The climbs are fairly steep but managable and the scenery is fantastic. This is not a ride to be done during peak season. The traffic was light today and sailed along relishing the short descents between the climbs as you go across dips in the mesa front that will someday be great canyons.
The sun is bright at 8000 feet on the mesa. The views are like from an airplane. I come down the road approaching the short tunnel that is on the road. A year or two ago we saw a group of wild turkeys here. I check that there is no traffic behind me and enter the tunnel. I hope to have enough speed to bullet through the short unlit tunnel. The tunnel gets darker and darker and the light at the end of the tunnel doesn't seem to be getting any bigger. I realize that my eyes had adjusted to the bright sunlight and now I was riding in a totally black tunnel. I focused on gripping the handle bars and riding where the cars would have cleared anything off the road. I prayed that I didn't hit anything as I shot at 25mph into darkness. This was no short tunnel like it was in a car. For a bike the quarter mile long tunnel seems like mile. Heaven help you if you had been wearing sunglasses when you entered!
I shot out the other side of the tunnel much releaved but knowing that I would have to return through the tunnel on the way back. The Tunnel was built in the 20's or 30's. I am not sure which. The stonework at the entraces is very beautiful. It was done by the father of the HP librarian who was a stone mason in Loveland.
I make the final climb before the descent to base of the mesa. A quick a inspiring descent and rest for the climb up. I take a drink from my water bottle and point my bike upward. The climb is steady. The air clean and fresh. The sun shining to prove that it can out shine all other days. I quickly am over the top of the 1000 foot climb. Pause at the top of the mesa to think about my strategy for the tunnel. I figure a sprint. Probably with no car behind me would be good. I let a car pass then the road is clear and sprint into the tunnel. If I had dark sunglasses before the tunnel and could take them off right before that would have prepared me. But once again I am utterly astounded how dark it really is in this tunnel. It really gets the adreniline pumping. Yeow, I sprinted out of the tunnel, at least as sprinting as you can do after climbing the front of the mesa. I am releaved and ride the rolling hills home to the lodge. Slithering round the corners on the downsides and standing out of the saddle on the climbs. A very exhilerating and scenic ride.
Distance: 28mi Verts: 2800ft