Day 36 – Lizard Head Pass? It’s All About the Grocery Store in Dolores

I probably should talk about the bloody red cliffs and rambunctious crystalline San Miguel River lining the route up to Lizard Head Pass (again, this one looked easier on the elevation profile than it actually was – why must this happen? BUT I was zonked from the 117 mile previous day, and, as per usual after extra-arduous rides, I don’t sleep well. My body can’t turn itself off.). Or about the two West to East cyclo-travelers I met (Mitch and Steven – two sweet guys from Indiana who were so friendly and chatty that it lifted my exhausted mood. Within a half-hour chat, we exchanged about 50 stories/warnings/triumphs/mutual-admirings about our respective trips with laser speed and accuracy). Or about the wind. Or about the rain. Or about the overabundant yet odd accommodations I stayed at in Dolores, CO – the last stop in Colorado – checked in by Lars, a Swede who lived in Mar Vista when he first came to the US. (Recognizing his accent I almost said: “My [Volvo] mechanic is Swedish!” but decided: not cool).

What was the high point of Day 36, a relatively short one at 71 miles, was the grocery store where I assembled an evening meal, the next morning’s breakfast, and snacks for the next few days. This store (I can’t remember the name – but if you’re ever in Dolores, CO, it’ll be obvious) reminded me of a mini-Shopper’s Corner, a reference for those of you who lived in Santa Cruz. For the rest of you: Shopper’s Corner is (was?) a supermarket in Santa Cruz (not surprisingly based on the above sentence) where you could get locally grown organic produce and Fruity Pebbles. Although cold cereal is something I do miss from regular life, it’s not a practical travel companion, so I didn’t indulge. But I did buy a bag of locally grown organic spinach, and a homemade banana bread, and hard boiled eggs for the morning, and a bag of my and Jami’s favorite chips ever (Sesame Blues, oh how I miss you now you’re gone again!), a cooked piece of tilapia AND a chicken breast, some bottled green tea, and other stuff possibly too boring to mention.

As time ticks by and much of the food is getting better, I am truly becoming more and more obsessed with what I’m eating. Hungrier and hungrier. When mountainous climbs are multiplying daily, the weather is trying to freeze, pummel and drown me, it’s hard to care about anything else.