Aspen, CO to Rifle, CO: We spent 40 miles on a bike path following the river out of Aspen. It was pretty amazing to not have to worry about cars at all. Preston and I rode a pretty leisurely pace all day. Had lunch at mile 40 in a town called Greenwood Springs (or glenwood, or something, I don't know). Dipped my toes in the river for a bit then headed back on the road. Pretty uneventful the rest of the way. It definitely started to get a lot hotter now that we've descended quite a bit. We are definitely headed towards the desert. We stayed at a firehouse the two nights we were in Rifle. The guys at the fire department were really awesome. They let us spray each other with the fire hose. We also filled up this pool thing. They were just really cool guys.
Build day in Rifle: We did a bunch of random tasks at the build site here. I did a lot of deconstruction with Lizzy, Kim, Sarah and Angela. Just swinging around a big sledge hammer all day. Afterwards, a group of us decided to bike 12 miles out to Rifle Falls. B$, Natalie, Katie R, Sebass, Tyler, Paul, Varun, Beth, Brad and Micheal all headed down that way. It was quite awesome, but sad that we couldn't do any swimming while there.
Rifle, CO to Meeker, CO: The firefighters wanted to get a good group shot of all of us in front of the firetruck before we left so we hung around for a bit. Preston and I got on the road and it was blazing hot pretty early. Only a 40 mile day, but the first half was all climbing. The second half had some crappy roads they were doing construction on, but it was still a decent ride. The church here has been amazing. Great food and great hospitality.
We're leaving Colorado with a bang tomorrow by doing 112 miles into Vernal, Utah. Should be an intense day. Hopefully, better than our last long day.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Henryetta, OK to Aspen, CO
Alright, so I've definitely neglected this thing for a while. So here is my attempt to catch you up. I'll start with today which was the best day I've had on this trip so far, so lets just get this thing started.
Twin Lakes, CO to Asssspen, CO: AMAZING! EPIC! Other great words! Today was such a great day. We have been planning and worrying about this day the whole trip. Our highest elevation and longest climb in the books. It was hard leaving Twin Lakes in the morning just because of the scenery. We snaked our way through the mountains for about 13 miles heading up, and then the switchbacks and major climbing started. I managed to do this 17 mile climb in 2 hours which I was quite excited about. Once at the top I decided to stick around at the summit at 12,095 ft to wait and cheer on everyone else as they came up the mountain. When I was half a mile away from the summit I was thinking about what I had just done. I rode my bike from the ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Now, I am riding over the Rocky Mountains. At that moment, while looking back at the valley I had just climbed I couldn't help but cry. Tears of joy of course. I'm just amazed at everything that has happened on this trip.
Alright, enough of that. After hanging out and taking pictures, it was time to head down the mountain. Which meant a 5,000 ft descent into Aspen for 20 miles. It was awesome. I wasn't planning on stopping on the way down but B$ and Karen flagged me down at a pull off. This is when I jumped off of my first 30ft cliff into a river. This river also happens to be snow melt and freezing cold! After drying off, Karen and I rocketed into Aspen. Such a great day.
Hartsel, CO to Twin Lakes, CO: A great day as well. Amazing descent into Buena Vista, then crazy headwinds into Twin Lakes. Rode with Preston for the first time in a couple of weeks.
Colorado Springs, CO to Hartsel, CO: Biked through Garden of the Gods. Lots of climbing most of the day. Went through two 'passes'. Overall it was a good ride. Rode with Carroll from lunch to the host. The last 15 miles were into lots of headwinds though. Stayed in a really small community center. Some people ended up sleeping outside, and those that stayed inside were packed like sardines.
Colorado Springs for a week: Spent a full week in Colo. Spgs. Blitz Build all week long. Fourth of July in Colorado! A view of Pikes Peak the whole time. Angela re-joined the group.
Pueblo, CO to Colo Springs, CO: Uneventful day, just like I wanted. Dirt road for a bit. Raced a couple of llamas or something. Just biked.
Walsenburg, CO to Pueblo, CO: Horrible day. 40 miles of headwinds in the morning on ZERO sleep. Bonked by mile 20, threw up at mile 30, in the van at first lunch at mile 40. This is also the day Angela had her accident. I'm not going to go into much detail. It was just a horrible day.
Trinidad, CO to Walsenburg, Co: Great day. 40 miles up, 40 miles down. Awesome! Went through Cucharra Pass and felt great. Amazing views, amazing ride. Mint chocolate fudge from Karen at the bottom, yum yum.
Day off in Trinidad! Promenade de Trinidad.
Des Moines, NM to Trinidad, CO: Climbed Capulin Volcano. Could see the Rockies in the distance. Then we biked to them. Long roads with some good tailwinds at times. Crossed the border with Travis, Lizzy, Craig, Katie R, Melissa and B$. Only spent one day in New Mexico.
Dalhart, TX to Des Moines, NM: Rode in with Preston. Cold morning. Could see mountains in the distance. Weird change from seeing flat for so long.
Spearman, TX to Dalhart, TX: Tailwinds galore. Rode with Paul, Zac, Angela, Sarah and Varun until lunch. Met up with Preston at the gas station about 30 miles out. Rode the last 30 miles above 20mph the rest of the way. AWESOME!
Arnett, OK to Spearman, TX: Bad day. 8 mile gravel road. Hot, Windy and long. 96 miles. Started out awesome. Watched a train progress across the scenery for a while. Crossed the border...then just got worse. I wished I had my car several times. Preston and I were going nuts.
Watonga, OK to Arnett, OK: Probably flat and boring. I can't remember.
Oklahoma City, OK to Watonga, OK: Probably flat and boring.
Two build days in OKC: Built two days there. Did framing which was awesome. Also did laid some sod down and some other random things. Breakfasts at the boat club.
Henryetta, OK to OKC, OK: My first century day. Had to add a few extra miles into the city, but nothing too bad. Long day anyway. Pretty good ride.
Twin Lakes, CO to Asssspen, CO: AMAZING! EPIC! Other great words! Today was such a great day. We have been planning and worrying about this day the whole trip. Our highest elevation and longest climb in the books. It was hard leaving Twin Lakes in the morning just because of the scenery. We snaked our way through the mountains for about 13 miles heading up, and then the switchbacks and major climbing started. I managed to do this 17 mile climb in 2 hours which I was quite excited about. Once at the top I decided to stick around at the summit at 12,095 ft to wait and cheer on everyone else as they came up the mountain. When I was half a mile away from the summit I was thinking about what I had just done. I rode my bike from the ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Now, I am riding over the Rocky Mountains. At that moment, while looking back at the valley I had just climbed I couldn't help but cry. Tears of joy of course. I'm just amazed at everything that has happened on this trip.
Alright, enough of that. After hanging out and taking pictures, it was time to head down the mountain. Which meant a 5,000 ft descent into Aspen for 20 miles. It was awesome. I wasn't planning on stopping on the way down but B$ and Karen flagged me down at a pull off. This is when I jumped off of my first 30ft cliff into a river. This river also happens to be snow melt and freezing cold! After drying off, Karen and I rocketed into Aspen. Such a great day.
Hartsel, CO to Twin Lakes, CO: A great day as well. Amazing descent into Buena Vista, then crazy headwinds into Twin Lakes. Rode with Preston for the first time in a couple of weeks.
Colorado Springs, CO to Hartsel, CO: Biked through Garden of the Gods. Lots of climbing most of the day. Went through two 'passes'. Overall it was a good ride. Rode with Carroll from lunch to the host. The last 15 miles were into lots of headwinds though. Stayed in a really small community center. Some people ended up sleeping outside, and those that stayed inside were packed like sardines.
Colorado Springs for a week: Spent a full week in Colo. Spgs. Blitz Build all week long. Fourth of July in Colorado! A view of Pikes Peak the whole time. Angela re-joined the group.
Pueblo, CO to Colo Springs, CO: Uneventful day, just like I wanted. Dirt road for a bit. Raced a couple of llamas or something. Just biked.
Walsenburg, CO to Pueblo, CO: Horrible day. 40 miles of headwinds in the morning on ZERO sleep. Bonked by mile 20, threw up at mile 30, in the van at first lunch at mile 40. This is also the day Angela had her accident. I'm not going to go into much detail. It was just a horrible day.
Trinidad, CO to Walsenburg, Co: Great day. 40 miles up, 40 miles down. Awesome! Went through Cucharra Pass and felt great. Amazing views, amazing ride. Mint chocolate fudge from Karen at the bottom, yum yum.
Day off in Trinidad! Promenade de Trinidad.
Des Moines, NM to Trinidad, CO: Climbed Capulin Volcano. Could see the Rockies in the distance. Then we biked to them. Long roads with some good tailwinds at times. Crossed the border with Travis, Lizzy, Craig, Katie R, Melissa and B$. Only spent one day in New Mexico.
Dalhart, TX to Des Moines, NM: Rode in with Preston. Cold morning. Could see mountains in the distance. Weird change from seeing flat for so long.
Spearman, TX to Dalhart, TX: Tailwinds galore. Rode with Paul, Zac, Angela, Sarah and Varun until lunch. Met up with Preston at the gas station about 30 miles out. Rode the last 30 miles above 20mph the rest of the way. AWESOME!
Arnett, OK to Spearman, TX: Bad day. 8 mile gravel road. Hot, Windy and long. 96 miles. Started out awesome. Watched a train progress across the scenery for a while. Crossed the border...then just got worse. I wished I had my car several times. Preston and I were going nuts.
Watonga, OK to Arnett, OK: Probably flat and boring. I can't remember.
Oklahoma City, OK to Watonga, OK: Probably flat and boring.
Two build days in OKC: Built two days there. Did framing which was awesome. Also did laid some sod down and some other random things. Breakfasts at the boat club.
Henryetta, OK to OKC, OK: My first century day. Had to add a few extra miles into the city, but nothing too bad. Long day anyway. Pretty good ride.
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