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Bike from Oregon to Virginia, June/July 1999 Day 26: Riverside (encampment), Wyoming to Walden, Colorado As you can see, we made it Colorado! State line races seem to have gone the way of the dinosaurs along with my taking pictures of all other cyclists we meet as now there are simply too many. Leaving camp this morning it seemed as if we had finally left the wind behind us but as the sun arched further into the sky the god damn wind bitch awoke and began to blow us over (right to left). From what the east to westers are telling us though, we are pretty much through the wind. Yesterday we pulled into Riverside and promptly checked out the town park. Trees, swings, slides, picnic tables, clean restrooms, yes, it had it all plus a "no camping" sign. Disappointed, we rode back into town and to the RV Park. The red haired manager with a scraggly beard told us it would be $14.50 for a site plus $2 for each additional person plus 8% tax. As he stood in the doorway waiting for our response we just stood silently, knowing exactly what the others were thinking. It was like an episode of Star Trek. Kevin was thinking "if we have to pay $17 to camp I can't eat tomorrow" while Ned thought "I have a very strong opinion on the subject but I will not say anything unless directly asked" and finally I was thinking "this guy's an idiot, no way is he getting my money". Mr. Red Hair finally became fed up with our silence and told us to ring the bell when we made our decision or enjoy the 50 mile ride to Walden. We rode 1 mile to "encampment" where we pitched our tents for free! Leaving encampment this morning I saw the sign "State Line 27 Miles" and was off. Unfortunately for me though, I broke a spoke about 7 miles from Colorado. Although it didn't stop me I am worried about ruining my wheel before I can get it fixed in Kremling tomorrow (50+ miles away). The first settlement (not nearly big enough to be a town) we came to in Colorado was Cowdry and the general store turned out to be a real gem. High ceilings, wooden floors, comfy chairs, a selection of used books, fishing gear and a café awaited us. The proprietor was a young man about our age in overalls and a tee-shirt but don't begin to get the mental picture of a farmer or hick in your head. This guy would blend perfectly in Berkeley. We all ordered breakfast wraps (3 eggs, potatoes, fresh salsa and sour cream) for $3.75 and found them delicious. We added the third egg as a 25 cent option. As he cooked and while we ate Tom Waits and his mournful music (but in a good way) came through the speakers. As we left I even noticed a recycling bin! Once again, a real unexpected gem in the rough.
Once we arrived in Walden, Kevin and Ned told me they didn't want to go any further (we had planned on going another 20 miles) which was fine by me. I miss you! Love, Casey. PS, I can't wait to pick up the cookies you sent me in Canon City. Day 27: Walden, Colorado to Kremmling, Colorado Today we covered 64 miles before noon and towards the end I was ready to put my fist through something. You see, today roads came without shoulders but with plenty of big trucks not willing to give you any room. That bothered me but worst of all was once again the WIND! We awoke at 5:00 am and were on the road around 6:30 am but even then the wind was blowing lightly. By 7:30 am it was blowing full force. You see, today we rode 64 miles with wind in our face or blowing us from the side. By the time we rolled into Kremmling I was fed up. If this wind continues I will be driven insane and return to you a loon whom must have drool wiped from my face while I sit in a corner bobbing my head mumbling, "against the wind, I was driven mad against the wind". No joke, towards the end of today riding was no fun at all! I think a pint of Ben & Jerry's is waiting for me at the supermarket. Deserve it I do. Write like Yoda I can. Better I feel. Ned went shopping for dinner and came back with some unappetizing choices: a BIG can of ravioli, frozen corn, fresh broccoli and brown rice. Supper is a sorry affair when Chef Boyardee is on the menu, however, I have no right to complain since I didn't help with the shopping this time. Additionally, the rice never fully cooked due in large part to not accounting for being at over 8000 feet in elevation. At least we had salt and pepper for the veggies. But all was not lost; ice cream was on my mind and Ned's too. No pint of Ben and Jerry's was consumed but we did finish off every bit of a half gallon of Dryers chocolate. Yay! Since seven miles from the Colorado border I have been riding with a broken spoke. Performance is affected very little but the wheel is now prone to un-repairable destruction so I was happy to roll into town today as the map said Kremmling has a bike shop. Perhaps bike shop is too strong of a word. Action Sports sells some bikes but also roller blades, hockey stuff, and other stuff. While getting directions to the shop while in town a local told me "2 blocks this way then 1 block that way but it probably won't be open because the owner has a "real job". And sure enough the hours on the door were essentially 5:30 to 7:30 pm everyday. Well, that was around noon and when I showed up 5 and 1/2 hours later I found John to be very friendly and helpful but totally incompetent. No way in hell would I let him touch my bike. Just have to make it 38 miles tomorrow to a real bike shop in Silverthorne. Hope the wheel holds out. Kremmling as a town isn't much but they do have a nice little area where you can camp for free behind the old fire station. Green grass occupies an area of about 40 square feet, surrounded on 2 sides by buildings and waist high chain link fence on the other two sides. Additionally there is a 12 square foot covered area with a picnic table. Restrooms are clean, just around the corner and actually work (unlike the toilets in the Walden park). Because of the covered area, tonight I plan on sleeping under the stars; if any rain threatens I will move under the enclosure. Indeed, I have been writing this while lying on my sleeping bag, on my ground sheet, on the lawn, while watching the sun set over the Rockies through the chain link fence.
4:00 am will come tomorrow along with the chime of my watch's alarm. Due to our bad experience with the wind and traffic today we plan on donning our spandex 1 hour earlier than usual. Writing down the exciting and even the mundane events of the day is a great way to bid adieu to the sun. I very much regret not doing the same on our European adventure, especially considering all the time we spent on trains, waiting for trains, etc. For my book I suppose I should start keeping track of what we are eating and how much. For lunch today (I shopped) we had: sandwiches with 1 pound of turkey, 3 roma tomatoes, 1 head of lettuce, 1 avocado, 1 large container of vanilla yogurt, celery (that we dipped in peanut butter which we always have) and 3 pears. Time for bed. Day 28: Kremmling, Colorado to Frisco, Colorado Yea, finally, this is how I expected Colorado to be. 4:00 am rolled around and we rolled out of our sleeping bags. Camp was packed up and 4 hard boiled eggs apiece were consumed along with an ear of corn. Still in darkness, we began rolling. It was 5:15 am. As we climbed higher and higher into the Rockies the sun slowly began to shine on the snow capped peaks to our right, then on the river valleys and finally on my face. By 8:00 am we had ridden 38 miles and gained about 2000 feet in elevation. We were in Frisco and wanted to go no further. Yesterday we stopped riding because the wind blew the life out of us; today the cranks stopped churning because we are in too beautiful an area to ride through. What made the ride so nice; let me count the ways. First their was no wind, second would be the sunrise, third place goes to the wildflowers and fourth and perhaps most important was the bike path. From Silverthorne to Breckenridge one can get off the autobahn and instead ride on a bike path just like on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz or Venice Beach in Southern California. The path winds its way through pine forests, along a reservoir and all the while you have magnificent mountain views. Today we rode on the path from Silverthorne to Frisco and tomorrow we will take it to Breckenridge.
Frisco is a tourist town and as such is very nice but what I liked most about it was that bicycles probably outnumber cars. People of all shapes and sizes were riding all kinds of bikes everywhere. I think I could live here (it is only about an hour from Denver). Oh yes, finally, after riding over 130 miles missing a spoke I was able to locate a bike shop with someone competent enough to replace the missing strand and true my wheel. Happy day. Kevin and Ned have gone to the health food store for a late lunch; I wonder what they will bring back? Supper consisted of corn elbow pasta with tomato sauce and hummus with bread. I don't believe we will buy corn pasta anymore! Day 29: Frisco, Colorado to Hoosier Pass, Colorado Plenty of camping stops abound in the Frisco area but as we have gotten a taste of "a gratis" living they were promptly ignored. Instead we set up camp about 70 meters from the bike path, about a 5 minute walk to town. Of course we knew that camping wasn't allowed… Aforementioned dinner was prepared at a picnic table only about 1 minute by foot from our stealth hideout. Blood pressures rose when we saw the police car cruising down the bike path and stopping as if to find the rouge campers. As it turns out, he was either dense or considerate as to the plight of under-funded cross country cyclists. Our only company that night was a little rain. Normally we enjoy awaking around 5:30 am and pounding out 20 or 30 miles before really waking up. Exceptional locations call for rules to be broken. Mr. Sun was our alarm clock this morning and instead of charging through the miles I made a conscience effort to slow down and cruise. You see, Frisco is connected to Breckenridge by a wonderful 8-mile bike path that wound through pine forests, flowering meadows, etc. With my hijacked American flag sticking out of the back of my sleeping bag I just took it all in. Breckinridge saw fit to throw a parade and festival to celebrate our arrival (or perhaps it was the 4th of July). Anyway, we arrived just in time and finding no seating we took to the street with our rears and gave the parade marchers less room. Our spot turned out to be a judicious choice as we where right in front of the announcers. Typical radio personalities yes, but they did a great job. One photo I couldn't pass up was of the marching band from Sandwich, Illinois.
After the parade we went to the market and bought lunch (fried chicken, cinnamon/raisin bread, cream cheese, apples and cookies) and dinner (spaghetti, frozen corn, carrots and zucchini) and then set off for the 10 mile trek up to Hoosier Pass at elevation 11,500 feet. This would be the highest point on the entire trail so we were a bit apprehensive. As it turned out the grade was mild so the climb was quite easy. At the summit, after a photo or two, we headed up a dirt road. Several days earlier I had suggested that we camp on the summit. Kevin was for it but Ned was a bit undecided. With perfect weather and spectacular views there was no doubt in anyone's mind. We found a place below the tree line for camp and then each set out on our separate ways. Kevin and Ned rode their mountain bikes up the fire road while I walked. Quickly I passed the tree line, and then I reached snow and finally a plateau that I will describe below. I've said it before and I will say it again; we have been fortunate on this trip. Normally you have thunderstorms each afternoon in this area and in fact we did have one yesterday. Today (currently it is just after 7:00 pm) we have had nothing but blue skies and cool breezes. You are the only missing piece to this fantastic puzzle that I can't wait to complete.
Ooh, ahh, feel the breeze and sun on my bar back. Take a deep breath, do you smell the goodness? Close your eyes, now open them, what do you see? Straight ahead at the horizon are some of the Rockies and below them are the not visible cities of Frisco and Breckenridge. Once again close your eyes, take 5 deep breaths, feel the sun and the wind, turn your head left and open your eyes. What do you see? First the sun, casting its light on eight 14,000 foot peaks and reflecting off of perfectly still pure white pillows of water vapor. Scattered about all the peaks are patches of snow, clinging to the hillside in defiance of our star. Again close your eyes but now breathe silently, listen to the buzz of the flies, the distant wind, a chirp of a bird; to your left are brown mountains with very little snow, here the sun has won. Behind you, the Rockies end and the plains begin. And finally close your eyes and look at where you are seated. It's a peak of about 13,000 feet, to high for trees. Hearty plants have taken advantage of the poor rocky soil and found their niche among the crumbling mountain. Delicate white flowers, no bigger than the fingernail on my pinky grow out of what seems to be moss. Blue, yellow, purple and pink flowers also abound, interspersed with various grasses. Until we reach the Appalachians this is our last night in the mountains, to which I don't know how to say goodbye.
Day 30: Hoosier Pass, Colorado to Canon City, Colorado First off, the pronunciation is "canyon city" and secondly, it is at an elevation of a bit more than 5000 feet. Gee, we started the day at our campsite around 12,000 feet so that means we had about 7,000 feet of nice downhill. Yes, it sounded good to us too and even started out that way until… the wind. Putting the day down on paper will bring back too many bad memories. Let me put it this way, yesterday by unanimous decision was the best day of the trip, today would have to be one of the worst. Note to anyone: avoid the general store and city park in Fairplay, Colorado. The former is expensive and will not allow you to use their restroom. Lacking water, garbage cans and a restroom the latter is even worse. We ended up filling our water bottles from a local house only to find 5 miles down the road that the water was disgusting. If you don't get the picture let me try to sum it up: 90 to 100 degree weather, head wind, water so nasty I dumped out 1 bottle and only sipped the other one when my throat became so dry I couldn't swallow, and of course memories of yesterday. Day 31: Canon City, Colorado to Fowler, Colorado Yesterday an unfortunate choice was made. A few miles out of Canon City I saw it, as did Ned. Later we all wished we hadn't. "KFC", read the sign, which wouldn't have caused any of us to double take but below it read "buffet". Although we only paid $5.59 each we really paid the price, not being accustomed to the greasy food. This morning our departure from Canon City was delayed as I was expecting a package from you at the post office. Before it opened I was waiting in line, only to discover the package had not yet arrived. Woe is me. Truly we have left the mountains. Even our maps no longer show the elevations of the cities we are going through. Today we rode through rolling plains with 90 degree plus heat and of course a head wind. Things became so bad that I yelled at Kevin for poor riding technique (suddenly stopping in front of me without pulling over to the right) that made him mad, resulting reciprocal verbal abuse. Anyone knowing Kevin and myself and our mild mannerisms can appreciate what the day did to us. Finally we made it to the RV park in Fowler which turned out to be right next to a community pool, open from 1 to 5 pm. It was 6:00 pm. Luckily a family had rented the pool area for their 14-year old sons birthday and the mother (Shelly) had seen our sorry state and told the lifeguard she didn't mind if we swam. Yay! Not to be party poopers we rode over to the "Loaf 'N Jug" and bought Ryan a water gun and some water balloons. Newspaper was a good substitute for wrapping paper and soon we were in the ever so refreshing and rejuvenating water watching the local teenagers put on a show at the diving board. The situation only improved when Shelly told Ned and myself (Kevin had already left) to help ourselves to the BBQ. Two hotdogs, two handfuls of chips and two cups of fruit punch later I left. Today we met a guy named Kenny who is from Virginia and riding west to east. He is an interesting fellow and I enjoyed the company of the 45-year old who carries a machete and "had a cyst cut off one of my nuts". As an interesting side note he told us that the first person to ride cross country did it in 1893 on one of the bikes with a huge wheel in front and a small one in back. According to Kenny, this cycling pioneer took about 100 days for his journey. Day 32: Fowler, Colorado to Eads, Colorado Old and run down are words that describe the café in which I sit (in Sugar City, Colorado) as well as its patrons. Not yet 8:00 am, I have already ridden about 25 miles, alone and with a heavy heart. Not only do I miss you very much but I also find myself growing tired of the ride. Kevin and Ned have been great for the entire trip, but we have different agendas. After the ride, Kevin will go back to school, so he is in no real hurry to complete his summer adventure although he does have his girlfriend waiting for him. Ned, unattached at the moment, has just graduated and plans on getting a job somewhere on the east coast, so likewise, he isn't in much a hurry either. I quit a job that I didn't like to go on this ride and my future is uncertain when I return to the Bay Area. Yet I don't have the patience to ride for only 5 hours a day through the mid-west. In hindsight, I would have enjoyed spending more time in Yellowstone, or the Grand Tetons. Locals tell us that it will reach close to 100 degrees today, yet I had difficulty getting the group out of camp this morning. Regrettably, I feel I must break from the group and cover some serious distances. After a month on the road I am strong and ready to pound out high miles through the plains. Traveling only 80 miles a day isn't sufficient for me. As there isn't much to see and/or do I wish to get through this area as quickly as possible, covering 100 miles per day, perhaps 120 miles or more. My only real difficulty in breaking from the group is that we only have one set of maps. Of course most of the information on them is superfluous so I shouldn't have much difficulty getting the pertinent information (distances between towns, locations of grocery stores, camping sites, etc). Early on in the ride there was much talk of what we would do once we arrived on the east coast. We talked of riding around Washington D.C or Manhattan. The more I travel with Kevin and Ned the more I realize I don't want to do that. I have already found my globetrotting soul mate, you! Seconds pass and the sun arches further up the sky. As the earth and air warm I grow more melancholy. What causes someone to want to undertake such an adventure? Perhaps the better question is why don't I hitchhike or take a bus to a nicer area of the country? When I was injured early on I considered the bus/auto route and am very glad I didn't follow that path. Now, once again, I must look deep within myself. Yes, stubborn is a very apt word to describe myself. Is now the time to break from my usual self and go ahead or even go home? Sticking with the group is another option, silently suffering. Clearly I am unhappy. I was still waiting for Kevin and Ned in Sugar City and quite crestfallen so when the machete yielding Kenny arrived I decided waiting an hour was long enough and rode off with him. Kenny had camped with us in Fowler and told me Kevin and Ned had left camp before him. Since they hadn't passed me they must have stopped for breakfast somewhere. Anyway, riding with Kenny and just riding in general turned out to help me. As we pedaled out of Sugar City we chatted about this and that until I heard Kenny say "wow". For the most part I had been riding with my eyes fixed down to the road but his exclamation caused me to raise my head; it was quite a site. To our left, right and straight ahead was flat plains as far as the eye could see. For the first time their where no trees, bushes or landmarks of any kind. Just grass, and for the first time I saw the beauty of the plains, albeit in a desolate sort of way. What a busy day. By 1:00 pm I had already covered over 80 miles and was at the local community pool in Eads enjoying lunch. Pool hours are from 1:00 to 5:00 pm and I plan to stay the entire time; swimming, relaxing, writing and waiting for the wind and heat to die down. Around 5:00 or 6:00 pm I plan to be back pounding the pavement, riding until the sun goes down. Tomorrow I plan on starting my ride with the sun, taking a midday siesta, and once again riding until dark. While at the pool, I used their phone and ordered Adventure Cycling maps for myself. They will be delivered to Alexander, Kansas that is well within a week's ride of here (I hope). After hanging up the phone I felt like a real jerk with my intentions of abandoning the group. It was especially bad since I ordered the maps behind the backs of Kevin and Ned. They know that I want to go further each day but I haven't sat down with them to talk about it directly. I feel like a sneaky weasel and they don't deserve that treatment.
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