Headed to USAC
10.12
Currently we are driving through Ouray, Colorado. It’s in the lower part of the state, just North of Durango. Not sure what you do for fun in Ouray but there are some serious cliffs surrounding the place. Ultra-sketch road coming here. Ken and I were both very gripped driving around corners w/no guardrails or shoulders, just a white line that falls off thousands of feet to the valley below. There’s a hot spring in Ouray but we don’t have time to stop. Our motivation is to get back down out of the mountains (we’re at 11,080 ft here) before the sun sets.
The last couple days have been great for the film. Yesterday we stopped in Cortez and interviewed John Tomac on his 700 acre farm. He was loading bales of hay and it was great texture for the shot. John had some great commentary and even showed us his bike-shed full of the original prototypes of Tomac frames. He seems like a very down-to-earth person and was gracious to give us some of his time. The aspens are in full peak of color. Blue skies and yellow dotted mountainsides have been a constant backdrop. Then we caught up with Todd Wells and his wife Meg in Durango. We shot Todd’s interview on the hillside of Fort Lewis College overlooking the town. Again, terrific scenery. We then had dinner with Todd and Meg at Steamers and crashed at Todds house. He’s really set up with a nice place right in town. I was surprised by how cool Durango seemed. It was one of the few places I’ve been that I knew instantly I could spend a lot of time in. With the Animas river cutting through the center of town offering killer fishing and kayaking and the surrounding mountains the potential for fun seemed huge. Healthy looking people there too, and very polite. Every stream Ken and I see we talk about the kayaking potential. I miss boating - been a long time that I’ve been out of my boat.
Today we woke up and drove to Elka’s killer house outside of town to catch up with Shonny. After a beautifully lit interview we all headed into town for lunch. Elka introduced us to a woman who is on the Durango Film Festival committee and she got us stoked to show the film in town. Next year for sure.
Now we’re heading out of Ouray towards Gunison to meet up with JHK’s mechanic Dan. Feels good to know we have a place to crash the next couple nights. If the weather holds, we’ll get more than we came for, and that’s a huge relief. USA Cycling called this morning and said they’d give us the interview we asked for so we’re really stoked about that as well. Should be a super productive trip. It’s just too bad there hasn’t been more time for riding - well, at least for Ken (I would have been able to at least score some killer fly-fishing in Durango). My neck is in really bad shape these days and I’ve been reduced to wearing one of those funny looking soft collars. I’ve ditching vanity for less pain, tho it doesn’t help much.
