Part 7

Well it's official - that bubble that was about to pop on April 16 when I left North Carolina has officially popped. Since my last blog Dre has gone off on his own and is about 200 miles ahead of me at this point, and I'm trying to discover what it feels like to rough it on my own. I've been fortunate, though, to not have to truly rough it as I've had great luck in finding places to stay. I've experienced some interesting swings in weather and have seen some beautiful scenery. I've slowed my pace down slightly due to the afternoon weather trends, but have enjoyed the break from high mileage. Now that I've finished the Transamerica trail and begun the Western Express the finish line seems to be within sight, or maybe that's just a mirage forming in the desert that lies in the days ahead.. We'll find out..

Day 30 - it felt amazing to have the day off today. I'm sure my body has appreciated the break. I was able to get in a quick tuneup on my bike and hang out with my uncle for a bit. He was able to pick up the spare part for my pannier so I was able to fix that - I hope. Also, when I left NC I accidentally forgot to bring my bike mount for my gopro - fortunately my uncle was able to bring that down as well - just in time for the best footage of the trip. I grabbed some lunch with my uncle along the river walk here in Pueblo, then we explored town a bit - CSU-Pueblo, a bit of my route tomorrow and the Shamrock Brewing Company. After we checked out the town, my uncle dropped me off and headed home. I don't think I drank enough water today and I'm not feeling that well so I've fixed my pannier and am hitting the bed early, hoping for some great weather to welcome me into the Rockies.

Day 31 - well so much for picture perfect weather to welcome me into the Rockies - I got a bit of everything today - sun, wind, rain, snow and sleet. Things started off beautifully this morning in Pueblo, but the weather started playing games with me as soon as I headed up my first climb. It rained for about 5 minutes - just enough to scare me into putting my rain gear on. Then once I took my rain gear off it started snowing and sleeting - so back on went the jacket and pants. After about 20 mins it stopped and cleared up - I just left my gear on this time. As I approached my final climb for the day it started sleeting again but only for about 15 or 20 mins. I was hoping to make it into Cotopaxi today, but when I made it into Westcliffe the wind had picked up and the cloud cover towards Cotopaxi kind of put me in a bind. I grabbed some lunch and talked it over with some of the locals and the general consensus seemed to be that it would be best for me to stay here in Westcliffe (7,888 ft elevation) - so I've shacked up for the night. The weather is still toying with me, though - since I've gotten here its rained and cleared up on about 3 or 4 separate occasions. Tomorrows forecast looks pretty good in the morning so I'm going I shoot for a pretty early start and head for Salida, CO, or if I'm feeling really good (and the weather is decent enough) I'll look to get over Monarch Pass - the highest peak of my entire trip - 11,312 ft. Overall my first day of riding into the mountains wasn't too bad. My legs felt a bit heavy early and it was hard to get spinning at times, but after a couple hours I warmed up pretty well. I had a nice 2 mile stretch of 8% grade early that was tough but for the most part the climbs weren't too bad. The altitude made it tougher for sure and staying hydrated was a lot more challenging than I anticipated, but overall I think I fared pretty well. This was just day number one, though, so we'll see how things go tomorrow.

Day 32 - today was a great day for riding and a fairly easy ride to boot. It was a shorter day at about 45 miles into Salida, CO with the first half being slightly downhill and the second half being slightly uphill. I got an early start at around 7 am because it looked like a there was a chance of showers around noon which made me debate whether or not to cross Monarch Pass today, but I decided to hold off until tomorrow when the weather should be nice - actually it looks like the next several days will be nice weather. I saw some beautiful scenery today as I got deeper into the Rockies - the 'Sangre de Cristo' mountains were awesome. I made it into Salida around 11 and checked out a couple shops while I waited on my host for the night to meet me downtown. We rode back to his beautiful home that overlooks the town and has an amazing view of the mountains. I was able to get a shower and a nap and catch up on some current track and field news. My hosts Harry and Myra are awesome. I found them on warmshowers. They're going out to a dinner party for the evening, but are still allowing me to stay at their house and have actually given me a key to their car (a sporty looking Audi) so that I can run to town for some dinner - I'm not so sure I would be so trustworthy of a complete stranger with a car this nice, but to each his own - I'm grateful regardless. The weather looks nice for tomorrow so I'm going to get another early start and see how far I can get after the pass.

Day 33 - well I successfully made it up and over the Monarch Pass today. After about an hour of essentially flat riding it took about 1 hour and 20 minutes to climb about 12 miles at around a 6% grade and all of about 20 minutes to descend the 10 miles down the other side. In crossing the pass I also crossed my 2nd continental divide - the great divide. I got started a few minutes later than I wanted as I got caught up talking to my hosts before I left. I was set on making it to at least Gunnison, CO and in the back of my mind was hoping for Montrose. The late start and the winds that picked up after I crossed the pass pretty much decided for me that Gunnison was the destination so I cruised into town. It was about 67 miles of riding when it was all said and done. When I got in town I started asking around for the local hostel or any cyclist friendly lodging. Some people directed me to a local bike shop where one of the workers told me how to get to the hostel. However, across the street I noticed that a Catholic Church was letting out so I walked over and spoke with the priest and he is letting me sleep in the basement for the night - score! Once I got that straightened out I headed down to a Safeway grocery store and grabbed some dinner. I've since come back and have been lounging at the church fretting over how I'm going to map out the next few days. You see getting through Colorado should be fine, but I made the mistake of looking ahead and realizing that once I get to Utah I'll have some steeper climbs (6-15%) and several loooong stretches without services - the main one of concern being a ~120 mile stretch with the only services being 5 miles off route about 80 miles in. I guess it's a good thing I saw this early so that I can go ahead and be preparing for it, but at the same time now that's all I'll be thinking about. Anywho, I'm going to shoot for an early start tomorrow and am headed for Montrose or Ridgway. I'd like to get to Ridgway, but I'll see how I'm feeling. The weather should be nice - evidently the trend out here is calm in the mornings with winds and chance of rain picking up in the afternoons - so as long as I get out early I think/hope I should be fine.

Day 34 - Today's ride went pretty well. I got an early start at around 645 just in case I decided to shoot for Ridgway. I was pedaling really well from the start and felt good all the way to the finish. I ended up making it to Ridgway where I'm staying with another warmshowers host, Wyndham. This guy has seriously toured everywhere on earth except for the United States (Japan, Nepal, Australia, and all through Europe and South America). He and his roommates are super laid back and have a nice house with an awesome view of the mountains. The weather was perfect today - started out pretty chilly probably in the 30s, but got up in the 70s or 80s by about halfway through. I saw some amazing scenery along the Blue Mesa this morning and had a couple of sweet descents down the mountains - one of which I was able to catch on video. I met a couple of German cyclists (Anna and Martin) today as I passed through Montrose - they are heading east to New York from LA. We talked for about half an hour and briefed one another on the terrain ahead - I also now have a place to stay in Sweden if I ever make the trip to Europe. The only mishap today came when I found that the grocery store in Gunnison wasn't open yet, so I decided to grab a small sandwich and just hold off on breakfast until the next town and eat a full meal at the local restaurant - 45 miles later I found out that the restaurant was closed. Fortunately, though, I had some food in my bag so I was able to tide myself over for another 20 miles into Montrose. I also got some more (insert sarcasm) great cyclist hospitality today - with no shoulder to ride on, I was stuck riding in the road, and I guess someone didn't like that I had to ride in the road, so I got a middle finger over the seat out the back window, and because that probably wasn't enough he made sure to give me one more out the drivers window also. I waved and kept pedaling.

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