Salida -- what a town!

A neat thing, to me, about TD is the geo-cultural aspect.

I was saddened to hear via Matthew Lee's MTBcast about Breckenridge's further touristizing. But it's good to know anyway. I like finding out about both the natural and the cultural features the race passes through. -- Just like the TdF informs us about Europe.

Speaking of Euro history, I'm now thinking of the Andy Hampsten and the Gavia Pass in the '88 Giro... : ) ...Because a photo of "Snowfield with Cyclist" just popped up over at Bikepacking's TD thread (http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,836.new.html#new).

Now, on to Salida... the racers will have just missed a worldclass week of whitewater action and racing -- the 62th FibArk. It's a nutty name for some wild times and a huge line-up of events, ranging from WW rodeo to a long wildwater race for the enduro athletes of that sport. It's America's oldest/longest WW event! http://fibark.net. It's the "first in boating" event on the Arkansas. Just like TD is first down the Divide!

I literally bumped into Matthew Lee last year as he zipped through Salida. It was the only time we've met. My family and I were on a crazy cross-country road trip -- a month camping with 4 out of a sedan! I hadn't thought of TD in weeks. As we started through Colorado, the race suddenly occurred to me. I pulled over into a hotel parking lot and checked the Leaderboard while poaching some wifi. Whattaya know, it looked like ML would be crossing our highway in a few hours! I had to be delicate with the family in telling them "You know, if we just get back in the car right now in three hours of driving we just might get to meet a ... SUPERSTAR OF CYCLING!" I was pretty excited. I'd never actually SEEN the TD despite reporting on it at my OYB website for years (http://outyourbackdoor.com). The family is jaded and cynical about their dad, but they almost believed me that something interesting was in store. Sure enough, when we got to Salida, there he was! ...Working on his bike in the great Absolute Bikes. I had a coffee with him while he scarfed a lunch in the cafe next to the shop. We had a great spaced-out chat. I'd just driven 4,000 miles, he'd just biked 2,000... (I then posted pics and vid at my site and YouTube -- oh, here's the old link: http://www.outyourbackdoor.com/article.php?id=1228.) He and I had met before via email -- he'd read a dirt-road mt-bike culture book by Victor Vincente of America (another hero!) that I publish and he'd taken the time to let me know he liked it. That was neat enough! It was also cool to see his buffed-out bike-rig in person -- I recall some camo-type features -- and a pic of his baby boy in his map case. The family did enjoy just gaping at Matt, then waving as he tooled away.

...And Salida was a lovely town to visit.