Author Archives: scottluria

Dillon to Georgetown, Colorado, Saturday, July 13, 2024. You boomers out there might remember the Truckers/CB radio craze of the 1970s, that added phrases like “Breaker one nine” and “10-4, good buddy” to the cultural lexicon. Much of it was inspired by the CW McCall hit Convoy, later made into a Sam Peckinpah movie, followedContinue reading “Loveland Pass, way up on the Great Divide. Biking on down the other side”

Leadville to Dillon, Colorado. Friday, July 12, 2024 We snickered as we drove through this tiny town in 1977, couldn’t believe they would really name a town that. Today, Climax, Colorado is technically a ghost town, although there is still an active mine there, the largest molybdenum mine in the world. Molybdenum is one ofContinue reading “Climaxing in Colorado”

Leadville, Colorado, Thursday, July 11, 2024. I don’t get why Lance Armstrong didn’t just move to Leadville. You may recall, his blood doping with EPO (erythropoietin) finally caught up to him, and his seven Tour de France victories were invalidated. But erythropoietin is a natural hormone your kidneys make as a response to low bloodContinue reading “Leadville: discrete blood doping for free”

Lost Man Campground to Leadville, Colorado. Wednesday, July 10, 2024. It seems a lot of state highpoints are named after people we’ve otherwise never heard of: Rainier, Borah, Marcy, Wheeler, Harney, Whitney to name a few. But you’d think that the highest mountain in Colorado, the highest of all the Rockies (including the Canadian Rockies)Continue reading “Elbert? What the heck is an Elbert?”

Aspen to Lost Man Campground, Colorado, Tuesday, July 9, 2024  I babied myself today. I knew I was beginning the hardest part of this whole trip, and I didn’t want to take any chances. This statistics are underwhelming, just 5,000 feet of climbing and 42 miles to my next objective, the Mt. Elbert trailhead. IfContinue reading “Partial independence”

Aspen, Colorado Monday, July 8, 2024 Ute City* was the original name for Aspen, as the Ute Nation had a center there when the area was first approached by prospectors in the late 1800s. Shortly thereafter, the Utes were expelled from Colorado as a consequence of the previously mentioned Meeker Massacre (now referred to asContinue reading “Ute City”

Glenwood Springs to Aspen, Colorado. Sunday, July 7, 2024 I love that expression. We used it in our medical training, to express appreciation for our mentors, superb clinicians who taught us so much, we felt like we were standing on the shoulders of giants. Today, it felt like I was doing the same thing. IContinue reading “On the shoulders of giants”

Rifle to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, Saturday, July 6, 2024 I know, the song goes Route 66, but US 66 is largely gone, just bits of it preserved for historical value. US 6, however, is very much alive, and dear to my heart. It starts at the tip of Cape Cod, in Provincetown, where I spentContinue reading “Get your kicks on Route 6”

Meeker to Rifle, Colorado, Friday, July 5, 2024 Rifle. Now that’s a peculiar name for a town. It’s named for Rifle Creek, which in turn was named because a rifle was found on its banks long ago. The creek is a tributary of the Colorado River, and I would follow the creek to the riverContinue reading “Rifle pointed at the Colorado”

Rangely to Meeker, Colorado. Thursday, July 4, 2024 Today was a quiet journey up the White River, with rolling hills that could’ve been Vermont, except for the sparsity of trees. No stops or particular points of interest along the way, another day in the glare of the hot sun, but this is Colorado, so IContinue reading “A Meeker Fourth”