So, so, so nice to be with Rae again. There was plenty to do: finish master bathroom wall, fix irrigation leaks in sideyard & under driveway, clean backyard & windows for Rae's party, hang mirrors, rebuild rear wheel (twice!), install new tires, chain & chain ring, clean bike drivetrain, & watch grandkids! Rae got into Antioch's PhD program! We have to pay & there's no teaching or research positions so we hope to hear good news from Gonzaga but it is so great that she's been accepted! I'm so proud of her MBA, now this! Very exciting! I left reluctantly & as late as possible so I could maximize Rae time. She did a really nice job of reassuring me & loving me - just what was needed! Rain & wind in AZ & NM became lots of soft, slippery snow in CO. I bought some $3 thrift store shoes to keep my feet warn - the flipflops were not so useful when trying to put chains on the van's tires!
May 22:
101 miles to Limon, CO. 730-6. Up at dawn (6am) to attach trailer & start a long day. No one recognized me at Copper Kitchen where I had breakfast before catching the train back on May 10 - no facial hair maybe or is my ego too big? Ego. Loaded up poptarts, propane, & fig cookies then headed east on 50 for 14 miles, then onto 71 north forEVER. It was a light swirling crosswind through mile 65 then it became a distinct headwind, & the climbing, though gradual, was mind-numbingly persistent - every horizon had another one beyond & above it. My legs became very tight, especially the left inner hamstring, & I struggled to go 3-4 miles at a time the last 20 miles or so. My head was in a bad space & I broke down twice sobbing that I just wanted to go home. Rae was decent consolation when I described it after I got into Limon but ... well, not rallying. What I think I need to hear is first sympathy then an enouraging rallying cry. Intimidated by the approaching storm clouds & desparate for a long night's sleep, I checked into the Knight's Inn. Powerade & a hot bath didn't ease the aching & I kept cramping when I tried to stretch. Weed, hot Chinese take-out, a goodnight call to Rae & I fell into bed at 9 totally exhausted. Tomorrow's more of the same - another 73 mile blank stretch - with the added bonus of thunderstorms. Yeaa!
May 23:
86 miles to Ft. Morgan, CO. 930-430. Thank goodness: wind & road were aligned & in phase so I sailed in 5 mile intervals all day. Those tired, tight legs nearly had the day off. I slept in til 830, thinking that the little sleep I got the previous night hadn't helped my mental or physical stamina performance - errr, I mean their crumbling - yesterday. The Knight's Inn Continental breakfast sucked but free made it taste better. Same terrain as yesterday, without the gradual climb, & same weather - just a South wind instead of North. I'd pulled over at a nice picnic area in Last Chance (homes but nothing else) fir leftover Chinese from last night to find a cookout some wide load (wind turbine blades! Yes!) truckers & the pilot car drivers were having. They immediately invited me over for hot links in corn tortillas & a Bud Light. Fun, funny, & super nice, they wished me well as I pedaled off: "Be safe, you crazy fucker!" I pulled over 20 miles later - after unsuccessfully trying to intice some horses to come to the fence for the apples I pilfered from breakfast - to see if the car on the side of the road needed a hand. Paul & I quickly found the coolant leak (I've got a lot of experience with that, unfortunately) & used one of the hose clamps I carry to fix it (seriously, these things are awesome for lashing weird shit on or to the bike or trailer). A fellow biker, he was stoked I pulled over because (well, I always do) he had a bike on top. Haha! I rode the 73 open miles into Brush feeling very good, considering how I felt last night. Getting the 9 miles into Ft. Morgan before the lightening, black clouds, & heavy rain rolled in was gratifying. Another motel night - I'm still too soft. A hot, hot bath loosened the legs & I had a great stretch. OKC let Nowitzki tear them a new asshole to come back from 13 down to tie it in the last 4 minutes of regulation. Then they lose in OT. Doh! How 'bout this?! I found out today that Phil Hardiman put the FLASK story in the May 21st Scottsdale Republic (thanks to fellow referee & Republic business writer, Peter Corbett) & I also got a request for more information from PBS Stories. Cool! Lots of rain forecast for tomorrow - hmmm ...
May 24:
76 miles to Loveland, CO. 9-730. Jeff & Marty were in the next booth at breakfast & were talking biking so I ended up sitting with them for awhile & getting helpful frontage road beta for getting out of Ft. Morgan. One front & one trailer flat this morning - thankfully before the rain started. It was a steady, light rain from mile 15 all the way to Kersey at mile 50, on & off into Loveland. No wind, though, so perfectly tolerable. I chatted with a lovely young woman at the Kersey Cafe where I drank a bucket of coffee & ate a cheeseburger. I noticed bruising on her arm & asked about it ... then suggested that she could definitely find a better boyfriend than that. Poor thing. Justin & Jason at the Loveland Trek bike store were awesome! Since I ended up having to stop several times to empty water from my Gortex over-mittens, I'd stopped in to find something better & they sold me top-of-the-line waterproof gloves at 50% off. Then they looked up & called a few cheap hotels, gave me two tubes & AAA batteries free, & talked touring until the shop closed at 7. I got pissed at the old Chinese ladies at two motels when they wouldn't drop their rates for cash & ended up calling the Jade Inn. JD was so excited about what I was doing that he said I was destined to stay there & gave me a huge cash discount ("I never go under $60 but let's do $40"), asking in return that I rinse & wipe my filthy bike & trailer before pulling them into the room ("I just cleaned the carpets, bro."). I'd felt a worsening bike wobble the last few miles & it went real bad just as I pulled into his parking lot in the increasing intensity rain & discovered that I'd broken a spoke on the rear wheel I'd rebuilt in Phoenix. So instead of a hot bath & stretching, I replaced the spoke (Yea! I brought spares!) & re-tuned the wheel. Whew! I'd love to go through Estes again & ride through RMNP but don't know yet if the road's clear - Quinn's gonna check & call in the morning. An old high school friend living in Denver, Mike Melonis, has been following the trip & gave me a call tonight. It was great to catch up but I confused him by citing the wrong dates in a recent message & he won't be able to ride with me tomorrow. Bummer but it was funny to discover that we'd overlapped residence in Phoenix in the early 90s & probably were on the same trails pretty often! Kissing Rae in a week is something to look forward to! Bummed that the SD400 camera's no longer turning on ... I don't want to get another camera but the smartphone one's just not that good. Mmmm, thoughts of Rae soothe me once again ...
May 25: 52 miles to Virgiana Dale, CO. 1030-7. Wierd day. I slept in again, hoping to delay making a decision about my route until I got beta on RMNP road conditions from Quinn. I was finishing breakfast at Perkins (chains suck, the food's awful) when she texted that while the road was clear, the workers weren't letting anyone through. I'd been agonizing over this since arriving in Estes Park last week. I really, really want RMNP on the FLASK ticklist of National Parks & really wanted to see peaks laden with snow & avalanches roaring & 30 foot snowbank cuts. The fact that it would be colder, harder, longer, & nearly devoid of people was giving me pause but last night after piecing the rim back together, I'd resolved that I really wanted to be in that wonderland. Bummed it didn't happen ... but it's still a fantastic adventure ahead! I was a little demotivated, though, from the news & had a hard time making progress today. The camera stopped working a few days ago & I decided I needed a functioning, high performance camera for the Rockies. I found a good one (similar to my old one & looks like it'll take not only the SIM card but also the battery!) on craigslist & met James in Ft. Collins around 1130. Nice kid. Then I went to a fabric store to get snaps to close the gap between my rain top & pants when I'm bent over riding. Damn things didn't work & I tore a small hole in the pants. So at Albertsons I found some velcro & I'll use my sewing kit to patch the hole & attach the velcro. Then to a smoke shop to find a functioning windproof lighter (mine works < 10% of the time), which they didn't have but the stoner behind the counter gave me his spare. Too f'in cool! I then stopped at McDonalds (free wifi) to re-check the weather & pick off the Dollar Menu (I know, I know). Rosemary introduced herself & her husband, James, as they were leaving with the now familiar, "Are you the one going to Alaska?" (I really dig the bigger sign on the trailer - it gets seen even on the road.) They were driving around the country celebrating their 50th year together. Absolutely adorable couple: sweet, good listeners, affectionate (she was stroking his hair with this dreamy look on her face!), willing to share, & energetic. They wanted the blog address & to take a picture of me in front of my bike. They were nice enough to pose for me under their umbrella - that's right! Rain! Yea! So now it's 2pm & I've done 17 of the 83 miles I'd planned to Laramie, WY. I've been so soft this week that I just resolved to strike out, have fun, & plan on remote camping. The rain quit soon & there was a very helpful S wind for the first set of real climbs on the trip. Nothing like Mt. Evans, Berthoud, Rabbit Ears, or RMNP so I consider it a gentle introduction. The front tire flatted as intermittent periods of sunshine finally made breaks in the clouds & I put in a tube-in-of-repair first -"Dangit, Noni!," as my grandson, Phin, would say. Virginia Dale exists on the map & has a sign but ... not even a cluster of houses. There is a dirt road - maybe they're all off thataway. Beautiful country, though, with spectacular views of the snowy peaks of RMNP, antelope, red bluffs, trees, & sculpted hills. I found a great spot right off the road & down a little so it's nicely isolated & not trashed. I set up the tent because I was already cold. Fantastic stretch as the sun bent through trees to make it's way to the horizon. Dinner was peppers (that I brought from our garden!), garlic, onion, rice, & foil salmon - very decent meal. Turns out that whole grain Fig Newtons make you fart as much as the regular ones do but they don't taste nearly as good. Quinn & Wes will join me tomorrow! They are likely to catch me before I make the 30 miles to Laramie. Their company is so nice & in these circumstances, where it's obvious I'm still apprehensive about how hard some of these days have been, what's ahead, & this wierd weather, well ... I am really gonna enjoy it! Brandon, a buddy of Steve's at Roosters (official sponsor with a $150 donation! Woohoo!), has kinfolk in Jackson Hole so Rae & I may(!) get to stay in a nice guesthouse for a night or two! Fingers crossed! I'm SO looking forward to seeing her a week from now! Excited! Glad the day ended so beautifully after such a tepid, sluggish start.
May 26:
69 miles to Rock River, WY. 830-630. Repacking after last night's campout with the trailer set-up instead of the familiar panniers was confusing. I still don't know where I want everything & the dry bags are unwieldy. There was a rest area only 2 miles from where I camped - haha! The ride to the pass was shrouded in fog but pretty easy grade & not too long & I entered the vast open space of Wyoming with a fast downhill. It was mostly tailwind into Laramie, which has a super cool old downtown where Quinn & Wes met me for a very tasty vegetarian lunch that was recommended by the local bikeshop guys. Slate grey skies & a crosswind for 10 fun miles of Wes' company, then the same plus a little rain for 10 with Quinn, who, as usual, did some great clowning: donning a skirt & lifting her bike over her head & laying with her bike in front of the Cheyenne Massacre Trail sign! The tail of the storm system passed by as we parted company & I was unnecessarily optimistic that the wind woukd cease. Man, was it great to have some company on the road for a few hours! Almost as soon as they left the wind shifted & I struggled with hills & a chilly headwind for the last 20 miles into Rock River, a tiny, windswept town of 200. The bar was open so I plopped myself down with a Bud (take what you can get, right?) next to Forest, Daryl, & Rod, with Kristi serving. They worked fences & as ranchhands when the weather let them (Rod worked for his little brother, who was also Kristi's husband) & warmed to me enough to invite me to shoot darts, which is just one more game of skill with which I struggle. The bar - the only restaurant-type deal in town - offered Tombstone frozen pizza so I wolfed one down while inquiring about where to set up my tent. The wind had already picked up considerably & rain was forecast for later so they tried to talk me into the $50 local motel but I resisted. A few beers later, Rod offered up his couch for the evening & I gladly accepted the invitation. Joe, who'd seen me ride by & waved as he was driving a paving roller just outside of town, came in after he did the 36 mile roundtrip drive to the Medicine Bow ATM. Rock River's an ATM-less town that only accepts cash - go figure! He, Daryl, & I shot pool with a roughneck, Chad, & I demonstrated no prowess at this game, either. I'd made Kristi put the Bulls-Heat game on TV so got to see the Bulls give the game away in the last 4 minutes. Daryl's mom, Stacey, showed up & we chatted about her work at the K-12 school & Daryl's teenage hockey prowess til late. I went down the town's alley to Rod's house - a small narrow affair where the only interior walls surrounded the bathroom - & we chatted & got high before I fell asleep on the couch with him watching TV. He had a freezer full of elk, deer, & rabbit he'd shot & processed himself & 1/2 side of beef, which allowed him to get by on $500 a month. His house had cost onky $7500! Forest had made some breakfast burritos & his son brought them over late, & Rod made sure I knew I was welcome to some. How is it that toothless folks with so little are always so generous?
May 27:
Rod woke up around 4am but I pulled a pillow over my head til 6. He'd made some coffee & was nice enough to pour some for me when I finally stretched awake with the noise of howling wind. I thanked him again when he left for work but he came back not 5 minutes later to tell me I should stay the day because there was cold snow blowing. I left him some kind bud & $5 for his next beer, though, & packed everything up. I soon discovered that my Smith Optics sunglasses were gone! I searched my gear twice, walked the allcey back to the bar, & triple-checked outside Rod's house - no luck. Drag! I really dug those glasses from one of our few sponsors ... The first 2 miles turned out to be the best & fastest of the day because I was riding into only a cross/headwind. Top speed: around 10 mph. Then the road turned directly into the 35 mph W wind & I immediately had to drop into the smallest chainring. It was quite cold, too, so I put on more clothes: long underwear, riding tights, thermal top, riding jersey, puffy jacket, balaclava, heavy gloves, riding socks, wool socks, & toe covers. I made the 18 miles to Medicine Bow in 4 hours & had to walk about 2 of those. The bike was very hard to manage when gusts up to 50 mph often pushed me off the road. I had an omellette & lots of coffee to thaw out, called Rae to bolster my flagging spirits, then set off again. 2 miles took 1 1/2 hours & I became totally disheartened. I stuck out my thumb to see if I could get a ride to Rawlins where there was more than one hotel but turned back after 30 minutes with no takers (maybe you're expected to be completely self sufficient in Wyoming cuz no one even looked). Without pedaling (honest), wind pushed me back to Medicine Bow at 17 mph up a slight grade. Fierce, fierce wind here, which the locals say they like because it "keeps folks away." I've checked in to the Virginian for two nights because the wind forecast is the same or worse for the next few days. Rae gave me some great news to lift my spirits, though: she'll be leaving 2 days sooner to join me & seemed happy with the idea of rescuing me from the winds, since I definitely won't make the Tetons by the time she arrives. I'll sort out where to re-start after our visit. I am desparately longing for her company & the excitement of seeing her in just a few days has displaced a bit of the depression & anxiety the sense of failure from this taxing day created.
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