July 25 - Million Dollar Highway

Lodging: Silverton, CO

Is it possible to have too much fun on a bike? I couldn’t make up my mind what to do today so I ended up doing the million dollar highway four times. 😀 I went north and then south so I could experience it both directions. Then I was heading north again to do a big loop but decided at the last minute I would like to soak in a hot springs. By the time I did that there wasn’t enough time to do the loop so I went south on the million dollar highway again to get back to the hotel. Awesome! I wish I could show a picture that did it justice. But the things that make it so fun- narrow roads, sheer drop offs on one side and red stone cliffs on the other- make it a hard place to pull over and take a photo. That plus a lot of rain today also limited my options. I got two photos of me on the road before I got dumped on. Then I found a place to pull over in the rain that shows some of the curvature of the road. I did have a bit of a challenge last night. After I paid for my hotel room and unloaded my bags, they told me the room was a shared room! There was no where in the ad that stated this and my roommate (a man) also had no idea! Neither did the couple next door. The problem was that it was late at night and the town was completely sold out. I had been riding for two straight days and there was no other town nearby. I told myself this was just another adventure but after spending one night there realized it just couldn’t work. The hotel manager told me there would be two other men in my room tonight (see photo of bunk bed in the closet-sized room) and then two other people the following night. The lack of privacy, risk of theft, inability to sleep are all problematic. But the real risk to me was being in such close quarters with multiple strangers during a pandemic after just surviving throat cancer. Fortunately I met a lady at the post office who knew somebody who knew somebody and I managed to snag a small cabin at a decent price for tonight and the next two nights. I am super grateful and am really looking forward to a good nights sleep finally. This will be a fun story to tell later.