CO is Disappearing Fast

Hartsel to Salida was a cold start and a hot finish. Got the climbs out of the way in the morning, and peaked out Ute Pass for a ripper descent for 12 miles into Salida. We had a casualty along the way though - Karen took quite a fall, knocked herself out. She was taken to the hospital in the lunch van, and seems to be OK but is very stiff and sore.

Salida rocks. I almost moved here - it was my 2nd choice after Durango when looking at CO relo choices back in the day. Great river, great bike scene - we spent a little quality time at Absolute Bikes and left smiling (and with a bunch of stuff).

We camped in a decent little trailer park off of Highway 50. We went out for a few beers and called it a night around 10. Come 3 AM, I could hear someone, or something, moving our coolers and food boxes around. Turns out it was a bear - Mose got up to chase him off, which sent him right to my tent. I opened the flap just in time to look up at him running past me close enough to hear him breathing. Finally a bear sighting - but a little closer than I would have liked.

After Salida, a few of us opted for some single track on Monarch, rather than slog the roads. And it was the right choice. Jordan, Glen, Vinnie and I headed up and over, then down Agate Creek, which comes out on the road a couple miles above our destination in Sargents.

Turns out that we were in a RV park in Sargents that had the side lot reserved for us. By the time we rolled in, there were already a lot of tents set up. What nobody seemed to want to do was take over one of the two teepees that were in the middle of the tent spots. So, Vinnie and I each moved into one. It took a little sweeping and handiwork, but made them livable. And the added bonus was that they had gas fireplaces in them - a little propane and the place was perfect. We made a few people jealous of the fine digs.

Next up? Del Norte - a rest day and a chance to see my wife for the first time since this adventure started!

Argh falling behind...

OK - we left off on our way to Kremmling. Another wet day with some amazing views. At one point in the afternoon, we came out on a hill 2000' feet above the Colorado River. I literally teared up, it was so amazing. Then we dropped all the way to the river, crossed it at Radium, and started the huge climb up the other side.


We had been dry up until now... only 10 miles to go down a huge descent ... but the rain wouldn't wait. The skies opened and it rained hard all the way down. Crap.

Pulled into Kremmling and the sun came back out, but too late as we were all soaked and covered with mud from head to toe. We had a nice little campground on the edge of town. The town itself was dead - we grabbed a couple beers at the local bar to catch some Monday Night Football, and practically had the place to ourselves.

The next day was a cold one, and a wet one. The rest of the gang took off in the cold and mist, but a few of the smarter ones went to the local coffee shop. After an hour, the sun was out and it was 15 degrees warmer so off we went to Steamboat.

We met a couple of other trekkers on the road - a Dutch woman (who lives in Norway) with her dog, and her friend from Oregon. Some awesome views along the way (of course) and on to Frisco. I rode most of the day with Vincent and we kept a good pace going. I was starting to bonk when we got to Silverthorne, and then - like a vision - we spotted Wendy's. Double meat double cheese at 3 PM? Heck yeah. Oh, and large fries and drink. Boom.

Up the dam, along the lake, and into Frisco Best Western for 2 nights with a rest day in between. We made the mistake of hitting the liquor store when we got there, and the next thing you know we are eating Mexican food and drinking margarita's, then downtown for open mic at Prost. After we closed another bar (a bit fuzzy what bar it was), staggered home and crashed.

With a throbbing head, we ventured up to Breckenridge the next day on the free bus to check it out. After a nap back at the hotel, my kiddos showed up from Boulder and Denver and we had a great dinner together. Great to see my kids and hang out!

After a good nights sleep, we were off to Hartsel. There was fresh snow on the hills above Breckenridge, and Boreas Pass was full of aspens turning yellow. Probably one of the prettiest days that we have seen so far.

Hartsel was pretty cool. We stayed at this old ranch, along a cool little river full of trout. The groundskeeper was a super guy. He even let us hang out with his little orphan buffalo. Pretty cool!

A pretty brisk morning after that. More to come.

Putting Wyoming behind us

The rest day in Rawlins was pretty uneventful. In fact, Rawlins is probably uneventful on most days. The only attraction there is an old prison.

So, it was great to pull out after our rest day and get heading south. It was also great to head back to where there are trees, after hundreds of miles of sage.

And the trees were great. We went through a section called Aspen Alley, and the leaves are definitely changing. The days feel like Autumn days for sure.

And then - finally - COLORADO!

Later in the day, we arrived at Brush Mountain Lodge. Divide riders know this place well, because Kirsten the owner is a true 'trail angel' and takes good care of them, particularly the racers in June. It was great to meet her in person after reading so much about her.

Of course, it rained late in the day. So, another night pitching a wet tent in a wet field, and getting up to put on wet clothes and start riding in the mud.

This time, it was Rien's bike that exploded in the mud. Day over for him.

The skies stayed clear that day, and we made it to Steamboat Springs. The group headed to Strawberry Hot Springs for a little soak, but I wanted to see my old buddy Lou who lives in Steamboat, so went that way.

Off to Kremmling tomorrow. Hope it stays dry.

The Great Basin Century

We woke up in Atlantic City to cold and rain. I had set the alarm for 5AM because I wanted to be riding by 6 given the long miles that day.

After packing up my stuff and dressing in a lot of layers, I staggered down to the truck for some 'breakfast' - an energy bar and a cup of coffee. I stuffed a bunch of bars in my backpack, along with some dry clothes, and headed out alone in the dark.

I made it 100 yards up the hill and my chain broke.

I took the bike back to the truck and we fixed the chain. I started out again - it was still dark. After climbing for about 30 minutes and reaching a paved road that I didn't expect to see, I realized that I had left town on the wrong road. Back to town in the rain and dark, right past where I started 45 minutes earlier, and out the other side of town on another steep climb. Now it is getting light and I have lost the early advantage. Only 3 others were even trying this ride, and they were now in front of me. They were the 3 strongest riders, so I figured I would be on my own all day, with 100 miles of nothing in the Great Basin. And I was right.

It rained off and on all morning. Temps started in the 30s and peaked in the 40s. And it was windy - very windy. Around noon, I can over a hill to see our support van, much to my surprise. Glen had come out to set up a lunch stop for the riders brave enough to go out that day, but had gotten stuck in the mud and had turned around to try and get out of the basin on another road.

I had enough food and water with me, so I kept going. And I quickly saw how they got the van stuck. The road had turned to muck. Not mud, muck. As soon as you rode into it, it stuck to your tires and every other part of your bike, and stopped you cold. The only choice is to find a stick, scrape off the worst of it, hoist your bike on your back, and carry it past the mud. And this happened 5 times in the next 10 miles.

Eventually, the roads started to dry out. And then at around mile 60, my chain broke again. I fixed it, hopped on my bike, and discovered that my front derailleur was broken as well. I took if off the bike, and was able to manually move the chain to whatever front ring (usually the small one) I needed.

Off I went again. At about mile 90, my GPS died so I had to rely on my maps and a rough guess on my mileage so that I knew which turns to make.

The good news was that I saw so many pronghorns that it became routine. One herd was running so close to me that I could actually hear their hooves on the dirt. And the capper was a herd of wild horses, led by a huge black stallion.

After 100 miles, I finally made it to pavement. Luckily, the van was there, and Glen had a sandwich and a cold beer waiting for me. Off to Rawlins.

Our last night in Wyoming

Well... in blog time, that State went FAST. But on the bike, lots happened. Long days and poor internet access mean that I haven't posted in a long time - sorry.

So, where did we leave off... Jackson? Seems like a long time ago...

The rest day was great. But it is always a good feeling to get rolling on the bike again. We rolled out of Flagg ranch under stormy skies and temps in the 40s. North along Jackson lake where normally there is one of the most amazing views of the Tetons, but that day they remained hidden behind the clouds.

As we left the park, I ran into George Holroyd, who recently retired and is riding from Seattle (where he lives) to Miami (where he was born). He thought it should take about 70 days. Check out his blog through the link on his name... a great adventure. In fact, there are a lot of touring cyclists in this part of the country as a lot of routes criss cross through here.

My route cut across Buffalo Valley and into the backcountry. Really nice country. After a few hours I popped back out on the main highway to climb Togwotee Pass and ran into George again. He was pretty excited about the Grizzly sow and two cubs that he saw aling the roadside - he had pics. This is becoming a trend - we bust our humps in the backcountry and everyone sees all the cool wildlife along the highways that we are trying to avoid!

We veered off onto another backroad after the pass - wow, just wow, some mind blowing scenery.

Camp that night was at Lava Mountain Lodge. Great little spot with a bar. Watched a little Monday Night Football then off to bed. The campground had too many rednecks that wanted to party late, then get up and start their diesel trucks around 5. Not a good night's sleep.

The next morning, we had some initial paved miles and downhill. Another cold start. Just before we turned onto dirt, I blew out my rear tire. I think I ran over some debris in the entrance of a construction site. Pretty big hole. I ended up patching it with duct tape and glue, and putting a tube in it. Fingers crossed that it would hold, as we were into the wilderness and a lot of climbing after that. The tire held until lunch, when I stole a tire off of Jordan's (one of the crew) bike.

Spent the afternoon riding with Jakob, Karen, and Frank on the back and we stopped a lot to see the views which were amazing. When we came out on the pavement with 20 miles to go, we were directly into a stiff headwind. Luckily, we had hooked up with Rob, and he and Jakob pulled us across. The last few miles into town were gravel, and the mag chloride truck was still ont he road. We pulled into camp in Pinedale completely covered with salty muck.

Pinedale turned out to be a nifty little town, with a great brew pub that we just had to check out. Camp was in an old (almost abandoned) KOA on the edge of town.

The next morning, lots of pavement to start. I jumped on with Rien and Wilbert and we peletoned until I couldn't take the pace, but it gave us all quite a head start on the rest of the group. The dirt section included a lot of historic sites, including crossing the Lander Cutoff Trail. Lots of history around these parts.

The day ended with the stiffest headwind that I can remember struggling through, especially in the rain which was hitting me so hard in the face that it actually hurt. But eventually we made it to Atlantic City, a quiet little burg in the middle of nowhere.

It looked like camping was going to be cold and wet, so the folks who were in before me (because they quit at lunch and got in the sag van) had taken over a small cabin with bunk beds and a shower. I decided to see what else was around, and talked this bar owner into renting me his A frame cabin which had just been vacated by 'a disgruntled employee'. It had 2 beds and a pullout couch, so the Hermosa crew crashed there as well.

We found a really cool restaurant bar next door called the Miner's Grubstake. It is run by this couple named Laurel and Dale, and they serve a mean Ribeye. Definitely stop by if you are through that way.

I am pretty sure that the cabin was haunted. The guy told me so when he was showing me around. Lots of strange noises in the night, and we all had weird dreams. No wonder with so many deaths over the pioneer years.

The next day through the Great Basin was full of highs and lows. But I will save that story for later - and add photos - time to go ride.

Wyoming!

Wow - Idaho came and went pretty durn fast.

I am sitting in Jackson, WY in a sweet little coffee shop enjoying the warmth, dryness, wifi, tunes, and oh yeah the lattes.

Yesterday saw us leaving Idaho behind. We had spent the night 8 miles off course (why?) in Ashton, ID. Yet another town that time forgot. Surrounded by wheat and potato fields (yep, Idaho potatoes, go figure). We did have some fun though. When we rolled into town, Vincent and I wanted ice cream. I didn't realise how BAD Vinnie wanted it though. Check out the before and after on this 6 scoop of Huckleberry bowl of bellyache!

Then it was time to hit camp for, uh, dinner.

In the morning, we rolled back through farmland and into the hills. Definitely a photogenic day.

We had to hire a guide to take us through the National Park at our destination - what a ripoff.

Great little campsite. Mose, Glen and I headed down the airport to pick up our newest member - Detlef - coming in to join us from Germany. We had some time to kill, so polished a pitcher off on the deck of Dornan's in Moose Junction and watched an amazing alpenglow sunset over the Tetons.

Anyway - back to today. We brought Gery to town as she is leaving us to fly to Italy for a wedding and then back home to Australia. Poor girl.

OK - time to go catch the last half of the Patriots with Mose so I can cheer against them.

Idaho!

Wow. Montana is finally behind us. We have 2 days of riding into/through Idaho - and it is awesome.

We started yesterday from Lima, and headed east on a steady climb along Lima Dam Rd up to Lma Reservoir, and spotted a flock of Trumpeter Swans which were pretty cool. After stopping for lunch, a wicked little rainstorm moved in. Rien and I rode through it, which might or might not have been the smart thing to do. We were trying to ride the roads before they turned into muck but we had to really ride through some crap weather.

We finally hit Red Rock Lake Wildlife Refuge, home to a whole ton of birds. We saw some of them. Then another wicked climb into over the Divide (5th time) into Idaho!

This is a strange State - but they love bikes! They even use them to get into their homes.

Some of the Euros got to try Smores for the first time... I think the face says it all...

And there was an awesome lake behind the campground...

There was a wicked windstorm during the night... had to sleep on the side of my tent to hold it down and make sure that I didn't end up in Kansas.

The next day (today) was a relatively easy day, with the second half along an old railroad track. It started a little rough with a lot of sand, but crossed some cool rivers on an the old railroad bridges. Oh, and there was a tunnel that was pretty cool as well...

But the highlight of the day was Vinnie polishing off an 8 scoop ice cream sundae at the little soda shop in Ashton ID at the end of the day. Wow. Just wow. And don't worry mom, he still ate all his dinner.

OK. Off to check out Friday nightlife here in BF Idaho.

Clark Canyon to Lima

The rain was great last night for a lot of reasons. First, for an awesome sunrise...

It made the sage and other plants explode with great smells. It took down the dust on the road that we followed all morning.

Unfortunately, it also made sections of the road pretty mucky. Wheels clogged up, shifters didn't shift, and shoes wouldn't click into the pedals. Going got slower.

Luckily, after lunch we hit some rockier sections of road and got rolling more to normal. The afternoon was a long descent through some cool canyon country, followed by a slog along the freeway to, you guessed it, another campground next to I-15. Yuk.

Wise River to Clark Canyon Reservoir

A relaxing morning on the bike heading to Elkhorn Hot Springs for lunch. Lots of wildlife, great temps.

The hot springs were a little worn down, but did the trick. Due to flooding of Bannack State Park, we had to scramble and find an alternative. The group campground on Clark Canyon Reservoir worked perfect. We stopped just outside Bannack anyway, and checked out the very cool pioneer graveyard.

It started to rain just as we rolled in, so we huddled under the group shelter for a couple hours, had dinner and then pitched tents.

Sunset was amazing.

Early to bed for everyone. Another day tomorrow.

Butte to Wise River

Butte in the rear view mirror. Hurrah.

Not feeling 100% today but toughed it out. A long climb in the AM, followed by an amazing descent to lunch, and another long climb - this one to 7800' which is a new record on this trip. Climbing towards CO!

There was a pretty gnarly descent on the way back down today. The guidebook says it is the toughest one on the trip. Only one person rode it :-)

The campground that was chosen tonight doesn't have a shower or a toilet - I guess they figure everyone with their RVs bring their own. They do however have some cabins. So I opted for running water and a real bed.

It also turns out that the next park that we are supposed to stay in has been wiped out by flash floods. So, working on a Plan B. Probably end up being a short day tomorrow, followed by a really long one on Wednesday to make up for it. It all works out.

More pics late - the internet connection here is pretty bad and I can't get them to upload.

Butte (the hole is silent)

Well... Helena was a treat. And we never realised how much until we got to Butte.

Before we left Helena, a quick trip to The Garage for a couple more spoke replacements. What a sweet place! And they managed to fit me in on zero notice. I love a great bike shop - and this one has a kegerator!

The ride yesterday had its ups and downs. And ups. And downs. We topped out at 7200' - a new height record. And the climb was a mix of everything - gravel, washboards, fire trails, some rocky steep stuff. Great views at the top, and a fast descent to lunch in Basin MT.

Afternoon climb was along the Interstate, mostly on an old railroad grade. We did go through a pretty cool old railway tunnel though...

With today being a rest day, a few of us decided to paint the town last night. Pool, foosball, college football, disco, biker bars (with karaoke), too many Fireball shots, a late night/early morning microwave feast at the local convenience store, and a sore head in the morning.

Needless to say, a quiet day today. We rode our bikes around and explored the town. Man, there are mines everywhere here. We went and stared at rocks in a little museum. Apparently, the hill (or what is left of it after the strip mining) is the 'richest hill on earth' - full of copper. Nice.

We are constantly looking for ways to mark progress, and Butte brought a new one. Interstates 15 and 90 intersect here. So, we are crossing I-90 off our list, and eventually the rest of them all the way down to I-10. We'll see I-80 in southern Wyoming.

Dinner at the local Perkins! And off to bed for what I predict will be a good night's sleep, despite being 100 feet from the Interstate.