Today we rode from Salida, Colorado, US to Tomichi Creek Trading Post (Sargents), Colorado, US. Sunny weather with little clouds. Road conditions included paved roads and different sorts of gravel roads (smooth & difficult surfaces). Highlights of the day include having a lunch break on Marshall Pass and meeting all kinds of different people.

Riding statistics: on Tuesday, August 30, 2022, day 30 on the route, it took 07:42h (05:03h moving time), between 09:26 and 17:08, to cover 67 km (42 miles), including 1125 m (3691 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 13 km/h (8 mph), while reaching a maximum speed of 40 km/h (25 mph). During this ride the average temperature was 32 °C (90 °F) with a minimum of 20 °C (68 °F) and a maximum of 44 °C (111 °F).

Totals: So far, it took 8 days, 19 hours, 40 minutes, and 39 seconds of cycling time to cover 3106 km (1930 miles), including 36457 m (119615 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.9 km/h (9.3 mph).

No alarms for this morning. For today we are aiming to get to Sargents. We expect again a shorter day because It is only a 60km (37 miles) bike ride. However, it does include some more elevation compared to yesterday. The motel room was still warm, and although we were awake just after 6am, we both did not feel ready for getting up. It was nice to just lay and relax for a bit more. By 7:45am we both decided that it was time to get out of our beds. While make ourselves and the bikes ready, I got some breakfast from the food I bought yesterday. Anna went to the gas station for a hot coffee and a hot breakfast. It took a bit of effort to get all the food we bought yesterday on out bikes, but somehow, we managed.

At 9:15am we left the motel. The temperature outside was already high and it was a beautiful morning. While still riding out of town, we were caught up by a fellow bike-packer. He asked if we were Anna and Eef. His name was Eric and he had heard about us from other cyclists (Chuck & Tiago), who we had met before at the Brush Mountain Lodge. We also heard about Eric from storytelling by Chuck. Eric would join us regularly today.

At 10am, about 10km (6 miles) after leaving Salida, we started the climb to Marshall Pass. This climb covered a distance of 31km (19 miles) and had an elevation gain of over 1100m (3609 ft). Like Boreas Pass, this climb was based on an old railroad as well.

The road condition was varying from nice gravel, to wash-boarding, and even washed away sections of road. Some parts of the road where being repaired and a guy was grading the surface. Grading does not seem to be a positive thing for cyclists, it results in loose sand and rocks. The climb took us about 4 hours, including several breaks. At the beginning of the climb, we circled around the same valley for a while. It was cool to see how we got higher and higher. It was also nice to see (and smell) the forest, which included a lot of pine and aspen trees.

At the top of Marshall Pass we took a longer break to enjoy lunch. During the break we met several people. Including hikers of the Colorado Trail, other mountain bikers doing daily rides (electrical!), and hikers who parked their 4×4 at the top and hiked some trails over there. Just after 2pm we started our downhill, which was about 25km (15.5 miles) long, and ended up at Sargents. During the downhill, Eric caught up with us and with the three of us we rode to Sargents (Tomichi Creek Trading Post).

Sargents only had a couple of buildings, a gas station, little shop + restaurant, and a small RV park. We all three went into the restaurant to enjoy an additional lunch / early dinner and each ordered a big salad and cold drinks. After finishing our salads and chatting for a while, we arranged spots on the RV park to setup our tents. It included showers and we could do laundry on-site. We could setup our tents onto a patch of grass next to a small stream. There were also fire pits and picnic tables which are convenient to sit at, park your bike against, and put all your gear on. I decided that it was a good time to replace my chain. It probably could have covered more miles, but this way I know it does not wear down the other components of the drive train too much so that these last longer. I brought my own chain because of the worldwide logistics issues and expected unavailability of certain bike components.

I got into my tent early and tried to get some more rest because I was laying comfortably. Anna and Eric went for some more food in the restaurant.

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