Wow, sorry about the negativity of that last post, but you'll be glad to know that I think Kansas rocks. I'm in Newton, KS right now where I'll be staying tonight and tomorrow night at the residence of Heidi and Liz, two women who did the ride last year. We met Heidi at a bead shop right next to the health food store in town. (Yay for health food stores!)
So let me recap the last few days...
From Pueblo, we went to Ordway,CO where we stayed with Gillian. She rocks. She let us sleep in her spare beds, futons, couches, etc. She let us do laundry and use the internet and cook in her kitchen. It was 50 miles from Pueblo to Ordway, so I went for a run as soon as we got in to Gillian's. It was so hot, but I had fun running through the sprinklers at the park. Wow, park sprinklers, I do have to say, are one of my new favorite things, you know, like whiskers on kittens and stuff. Gillian saw me leaving to go for my run and she said, "Wow, you are hardcore." So I smiled and flexed for her.
From Ordway, we went to Eads, CO where we ran into the Adventure Cycling group heading west. They invited us to stay at the fairgrounds with them. They were a very interesting and dynamic group of 15. I bet they have some DRAMA! Anyway, we slept on the floor in the fairgrounds building that night and they fed us dinner (I had some of the salad, but the shrimp and chicken gumbos were out of the question for me!) I also got two cans of HALT! Dog Mace from a couple guys: they said we'll need it in Kentucky. I hope not.
From Eads, Paul and I rode all the way to Scott City, KS which was 105 miles. Cheers to another century and more park sprinklers! Oh, and in Eads, Dave, the guy we met way back at Ochoco Reservoir in Oregon, caught up to us. While we were dallying around on Ken's retired guy schedule, Dave was cruising through Fort Collins, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Colorado Springs, and just happened to rejoin the route and catch us. So, he met up with Paul and I in Scott City. The others (Derek, Linus, Nix, and Kev) stayed behind for a weak 60 miler in Tribune. Well, Kev and Nix did 95 miles that day because they were impatient and left before the rest of us and got themelves lost. Oops! We felt bad for them! Paul and I hope the group catches up to us in Newton in the next couple days, but we are also feeling ready to bust off with Dave and really cruise now. No point sitting around in wheat and corn fields when there's riding to be had!
From Scott City, Dave, Paul, and I jammed out almost 120 miles to Great Bend, where we rested comfortably in a Travelodge and ate Tofutti Cuties! Yes, Paul is going vegan again with me through Kansas. Yay Paul! There was a bike shop in Great Bend that was cool and full of friendly people who gave us a nice confusing and scenic route to take out of Great Bend, but we avoided a lot of traffic, which was good. Oh, and Molly, if you're reading this, I sent you another box from Great Bend (surprise!). I decided to drop some of my winter clothes, extra maps, and the book I had just finished reading.
From Great Bend, we took a short day, about 50 miles, down to Nickerson, KS where I went for another run, and was stopped twice by locals asking directions to the ball fields. You'd think in a 1200 person town that everyone would know where the ball fields are, but apparently not. The best part was that I could actually give them directions because we were camping in the park right there. There was a little league tournament going on, so we got some popcorn and watched the 10-12 years old game. It was so intense! The home team made a serius comeback and tied the game up at 13-13, so they had to play an extra inning and then lost 18-13 or something like that. Bummer...We were cheering for the local kids, calling out their names and all. It was good fun. That was last night actually, and then around 3 am we got hit by a LOUD thunderstorm. I was huddled in my tent in lightning position hoping that the tree right above me didn't come crashing down on me, and praying that a tornado didn'tcome lift me away. Nothing like camping in a storm, yeah!
Today, we rode from Nickerson here to Newton. Rest day tomorrow, so I'll go for a little run. This Newton is a cute little town. We've passed through lots of cute towns in Kansas. Sterling and Hesston stick out for me. The people in Kansas have been sooo nice. They stop and chat, ask if we need anything, etc. The weather has been HOT! The winds were rough for a couple days, but not too bad today. The first couple hundred miles in Kansas consisted of a lot of corn fields, wheat fields, and feedlots. If were weren't smelling pesticideds, we were smelling cow shit. But it's gotten much better since just before Great Bend. And just so y'all know: Kansas ain't so flat. There's some nice rolling hills, and some gradual not very steep climbs. Nothing major, so I like to stay in a hard gear and pretend I'm racing. I stand up for the attack and then ride it out. We make great time in this state! Who wants to race me when I get home?
Oh, yes, and I forgot to mention...It's a good thing I sent those 6 extra pounds to Molly because Heidi directed us to a discount store here in Newton where they had Clif and Luna bars 10 for a dollar, and I went a little crazy. Clif products have become a new food group for me. Yikes!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Over the Rockies to Pueblo, CO
Okay, so I haven't posted anything since Dubois, WY. Right now I am writing this from Pueblo, CO on a rest day.
A lot has happened since Dubois. We left Dubois and we had a horrid headwind and it was so cold that my fingers and toes were in pain until they went numb. We got into Jeffrey City that night, which was by far the most bizarre town we've been to. It was an old uranium mining town that went under in the 80's, so it was completely abandoned, save a bar/restaurant. We camped under some old pavilion near an abandoned Lion's Club building. The strange thing about the town is that it looked like people picked up and left in a hurry. The building we went into had stuff strewn about like reading glasses, old six packs of coke, paperwork, old newspapers, etc. It looked like people just dropped everything and ran out in a panic, but according to the woman who owns the bar, people just slowly left when the work stopped. Anyway, I have lots of great photos of that place.
From Jeffrey City, we went on to Rawlins, WY where we took a rest day and saw Shrek 3, which was funny, but not as funny as Shrek 2. We were supposed to go bowling as well, but I opted out since I left my socks at the campground and wanted to get some studying done. The winds all through Wyoming were against us and brutally unforgiving, but since that hail storm and that cold morning leaving Dubois, it's been nothing but sun!
We crossed into Colorado about 5 days ago. In the past week or so, we've been meeting lots of cyclists. In Rawlins, we met Peter, who rode with us for a day. In Kremmling, CO we met two twins, Brandy and Brenda riding from Alabama to West Yellowstone, MT where they live. We met lots of cyclists going the opposite direction in the past couple days. All this meeting of cyclists leads to an update on the group. We are now 6: Karli, Paul, Kevin, Nicola, Linus, and Derek. We met Linus and Derek in Yellowstone, and actually started riding with them back in Lander, WY. They are great guys; I love having them along. Bryan left the group a couple days ago in Breckenridge, CO to ride south to the Telluride bluegrass festival. We also met a guy named Holland on the way to Kremmling, CO and he rode with us until Breckenridge, and then branched off with Bryan. So, now it's the 6 of us.
Back to the journey...riding through Colorado was great. From Kremmling, we rode through Silverthorne, where Bryan, Paul, and I stopped at the Outlets and went on a shopping spree at the Pearl Izumi outlet. I was so excited, but spent too much money (yikes, credit card bills!) I also got a pair of running shoes at the outlet mall and went for a run this morning around the park and through the neighborhoods here in Pueblo. It felt great to run again and not have any tendon problems! Okay, so from Silverthorne, we rode on to Breckenridge where we stayed in this really cute hostel owned by a lovely British couple. I took a nice relaxing dip in the hot tub there. We met some crazy coked out vegan girl and I enjoyed an awesome vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookie from a local bakery. I also wandered into the North Face store, but quickly left before I spent any more money. Breck was pretty cool for a tourist/resort town.
From Breck we rode up Hoosier Pass, our highest climb on the whole trip at some 11,500 feet. It was a good climb with switchbacks and it felt great to be at the top where the air is so thin and pure! Then it was down down down at high speeds before we had to climb a few more passes. That day, Paul and I decided to bust ahead of the group for our first century of this trip, and we did 100 miles into Canon City. The people in Canon City were absolutely unfriendly and creepy, so that kind of sucked. From Canon City to Pueblo, the temps have been scorching hot, the people have been jerks, and Paul and I decided that eastern Colorado pretty much SUCKS! We've also heard horrible things about Kansas, Missouri, and Kentucky from cyclists heading west, so I'm bummed that there's not much to look forward to until Virginia.
Yesterday was the first day in the 41 days that I've been on this trip that I was feeling down and ready for it to be over. Frustrations with asshole drivers, rude people, and trouble finding a place to sleep all added up for me. But today the rest of the group showed up at the city park where we ended up being able to camp in Pueblo which was a relief since we didn't hear from them for a day and a half since Paul and I shot ahead and I'm feeling rejuvenated after my run this morning. Linus also cleaned and tightened my rear cassette and helped me change my chain, so I'm excited. It'll be like riding a whole new bike!
Tomorrow we head to Ordway, CO where we hope to stay with a woman from New Zealand who we've heard puts up cyclists. She lets them camp in her yard, do laundry, use internet, etc. Then it's on to Kansas. Wish us well with those winds!
A lot has happened since Dubois. We left Dubois and we had a horrid headwind and it was so cold that my fingers and toes were in pain until they went numb. We got into Jeffrey City that night, which was by far the most bizarre town we've been to. It was an old uranium mining town that went under in the 80's, so it was completely abandoned, save a bar/restaurant. We camped under some old pavilion near an abandoned Lion's Club building. The strange thing about the town is that it looked like people picked up and left in a hurry. The building we went into had stuff strewn about like reading glasses, old six packs of coke, paperwork, old newspapers, etc. It looked like people just dropped everything and ran out in a panic, but according to the woman who owns the bar, people just slowly left when the work stopped. Anyway, I have lots of great photos of that place.
From Jeffrey City, we went on to Rawlins, WY where we took a rest day and saw Shrek 3, which was funny, but not as funny as Shrek 2. We were supposed to go bowling as well, but I opted out since I left my socks at the campground and wanted to get some studying done. The winds all through Wyoming were against us and brutally unforgiving, but since that hail storm and that cold morning leaving Dubois, it's been nothing but sun!
We crossed into Colorado about 5 days ago. In the past week or so, we've been meeting lots of cyclists. In Rawlins, we met Peter, who rode with us for a day. In Kremmling, CO we met two twins, Brandy and Brenda riding from Alabama to West Yellowstone, MT where they live. We met lots of cyclists going the opposite direction in the past couple days. All this meeting of cyclists leads to an update on the group. We are now 6: Karli, Paul, Kevin, Nicola, Linus, and Derek. We met Linus and Derek in Yellowstone, and actually started riding with them back in Lander, WY. They are great guys; I love having them along. Bryan left the group a couple days ago in Breckenridge, CO to ride south to the Telluride bluegrass festival. We also met a guy named Holland on the way to Kremmling, CO and he rode with us until Breckenridge, and then branched off with Bryan. So, now it's the 6 of us.
Back to the journey...riding through Colorado was great. From Kremmling, we rode through Silverthorne, where Bryan, Paul, and I stopped at the Outlets and went on a shopping spree at the Pearl Izumi outlet. I was so excited, but spent too much money (yikes, credit card bills!) I also got a pair of running shoes at the outlet mall and went for a run this morning around the park and through the neighborhoods here in Pueblo. It felt great to run again and not have any tendon problems! Okay, so from Silverthorne, we rode on to Breckenridge where we stayed in this really cute hostel owned by a lovely British couple. I took a nice relaxing dip in the hot tub there. We met some crazy coked out vegan girl and I enjoyed an awesome vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookie from a local bakery. I also wandered into the North Face store, but quickly left before I spent any more money. Breck was pretty cool for a tourist/resort town.
From Breck we rode up Hoosier Pass, our highest climb on the whole trip at some 11,500 feet. It was a good climb with switchbacks and it felt great to be at the top where the air is so thin and pure! Then it was down down down at high speeds before we had to climb a few more passes. That day, Paul and I decided to bust ahead of the group for our first century of this trip, and we did 100 miles into Canon City. The people in Canon City were absolutely unfriendly and creepy, so that kind of sucked. From Canon City to Pueblo, the temps have been scorching hot, the people have been jerks, and Paul and I decided that eastern Colorado pretty much SUCKS! We've also heard horrible things about Kansas, Missouri, and Kentucky from cyclists heading west, so I'm bummed that there's not much to look forward to until Virginia.
Yesterday was the first day in the 41 days that I've been on this trip that I was feeling down and ready for it to be over. Frustrations with asshole drivers, rude people, and trouble finding a place to sleep all added up for me. But today the rest of the group showed up at the city park where we ended up being able to camp in Pueblo which was a relief since we didn't hear from them for a day and a half since Paul and I shot ahead and I'm feeling rejuvenated after my run this morning. Linus also cleaned and tightened my rear cassette and helped me change my chain, so I'm excited. It'll be like riding a whole new bike!
Tomorrow we head to Ordway, CO where we hope to stay with a woman from New Zealand who we've heard puts up cyclists. She lets them camp in her yard, do laundry, use internet, etc. Then it's on to Kansas. Wish us well with those winds!
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Oh, what a day!
Okay, forget that bit about not hearing from me until Colorado. I'm am writing from the public library in Dubois, WY, and I have 20 minutes to do it, so here goes...
Today was our first bout with bad weather. We started with a cool, overcast morning, and as we gained elevation, it got colder and colder. Today we summitted our highest pass yet, and the second highest we will do all trip. I rode almost 15 miles on a 6% grade, and then had an additional 9 miles to the summit on a slightly lesser grade. When I got to the top (the others were ahead of me, except Bryan, who was behind), I hear thunder off in the distance, so I suited up for a cold, wet ride down. On the descent, I encountered some rain, but nothing too bad. Then there was about 6 miles of road construction where the road was nothing but gravel. Ugh, riding on gravel sucks. Well, at one of the flagger stops, this couple, Phyllis and Jerry, offered to drive me in their pickup to where the pavement started again, so I graciously accepted (turns out the pilot car was going to drive me through anyway). So, we're riding along, and when we hit the pavement, it starts pouring, and they were going to stop for lunch in Dubois, and offered to drive me all the way to Dubois. I first said, "No, I'd prefer to ride," but when the rain hit hard, I said "Oh, you can just keep driving." Then I saw Paul, Kev, and Nix up ahead, so I got out to ride with them. That's when the rain turned to bloody hail. (That bloody bit is some more of the British influence. By the way, I'm learning loads of new terms like knackered, shagged out, sod you, etc.) So, we got hailed on the last 20 odd miles into Dubois. It stung a little, but I survived. It is cold here and I went to an outdoor gear store here and got a pair of neoprene socks at a $5 discount, because the woman at the store really liked me. You all know how that charm works :o).
What else is new? We took two rest days in West Yellostone, rented a car and drove all around Yellowstone, where I saw Old Faithful erupt, lots of other geysers and thermal springs, an amazing canyon and waterfalls, lots of buffalo, bald eagles, coyotes, foxes, and elk. What a beautiful place. We also drove through Grand Teton National Forest and down to Jackson Hole. The Tetons, Jenny Lake, and Jackson Lake are spectacular sights as well. I also finally got to see a moose!
Yesterday as we left Yellowstone, Paul, Bryan, and I stopped and jumped off a 30 foot high cliff into Moose Falls. It was AWESOME!!!
Today while climbing the pass I met a guy named Jesse who had started riding in Virginia on May 2, and was making killer time: high mileage, no rest days. He lives in Berkeley in a cycling friendly co-housing set up. I got his contact info, and he told me to come visit when I move to Palo Alto in September. Yay for a new friend!
That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting tons. We should be crossing the border into Colorado in about 5 more days. Now we're moving!
Oh, yes, Bryan's girlfriend has been sending him care packages to post offices along our route. I'm wondering where my boxes of brownies and cookies are! Kidding, kidding.
Today was our first bout with bad weather. We started with a cool, overcast morning, and as we gained elevation, it got colder and colder. Today we summitted our highest pass yet, and the second highest we will do all trip. I rode almost 15 miles on a 6% grade, and then had an additional 9 miles to the summit on a slightly lesser grade. When I got to the top (the others were ahead of me, except Bryan, who was behind), I hear thunder off in the distance, so I suited up for a cold, wet ride down. On the descent, I encountered some rain, but nothing too bad. Then there was about 6 miles of road construction where the road was nothing but gravel. Ugh, riding on gravel sucks. Well, at one of the flagger stops, this couple, Phyllis and Jerry, offered to drive me in their pickup to where the pavement started again, so I graciously accepted (turns out the pilot car was going to drive me through anyway). So, we're riding along, and when we hit the pavement, it starts pouring, and they were going to stop for lunch in Dubois, and offered to drive me all the way to Dubois. I first said, "No, I'd prefer to ride," but when the rain hit hard, I said "Oh, you can just keep driving." Then I saw Paul, Kev, and Nix up ahead, so I got out to ride with them. That's when the rain turned to bloody hail. (That bloody bit is some more of the British influence. By the way, I'm learning loads of new terms like knackered, shagged out, sod you, etc.) So, we got hailed on the last 20 odd miles into Dubois. It stung a little, but I survived. It is cold here and I went to an outdoor gear store here and got a pair of neoprene socks at a $5 discount, because the woman at the store really liked me. You all know how that charm works :o).
What else is new? We took two rest days in West Yellostone, rented a car and drove all around Yellowstone, where I saw Old Faithful erupt, lots of other geysers and thermal springs, an amazing canyon and waterfalls, lots of buffalo, bald eagles, coyotes, foxes, and elk. What a beautiful place. We also drove through Grand Teton National Forest and down to Jackson Hole. The Tetons, Jenny Lake, and Jackson Lake are spectacular sights as well. I also finally got to see a moose!
Yesterday as we left Yellowstone, Paul, Bryan, and I stopped and jumped off a 30 foot high cliff into Moose Falls. It was AWESOME!!!
Today while climbing the pass I met a guy named Jesse who had started riding in Virginia on May 2, and was making killer time: high mileage, no rest days. He lives in Berkeley in a cycling friendly co-housing set up. I got his contact info, and he told me to come visit when I move to Palo Alto in September. Yay for a new friend!
That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting tons. We should be crossing the border into Colorado in about 5 more days. Now we're moving!
Oh, yes, Bryan's girlfriend has been sending him care packages to post offices along our route. I'm wondering where my boxes of brownies and cookies are! Kidding, kidding.
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