Breckenridge, Colorado
No time to post pictures today, so I (heidi) am doing a blog update instead...
After our last post in Lander we headed out of town and made it about 15 miles before realizing that we were set to hit a thirty mile stretch of climbing (with no water or camping options) in the middle of the afternoon with fatigued muscles and minds, as well as a fierce headwind. Instead, we opted to camp at the very base of the climb at the Sleeping Bear RV Park, where we were able to journal and do some bicycle maintenance. We left early the next morning and made it through the thirty mile stretch with much better mindsets and less achy bodies. We had hoped to make it all the way past Muddy Gap, but by mid-afternoon the winds once again decided our course of action, and we ended up staying in the only motel in Jeffrey City, Wyoming, a former uranium mining town, next door to Mike and Liz. We made frozen pizzas as a group at the cafe and retired early, hoping to hit the next seventy mile stretch to Rawlins early in the morning.
We left Jeffrey City a little after 8 am and rode to Muddy Gap, where we ran into Geoff, a TransAm'er that Liz's parents had hosted in Newton earlier this summer, and three other cyclists going east to west. (Geoff, if you read this, let us know how your trip is going!) We stopped at the gas station for vittles and once again crossed the Continental Divide at Muddy Gap. Thirty miles or more later, we again climbed to and crossed the Continental Divide and had a mostly downhill ride into Rawlins, where we stayed in an RV park on the outskirts of town.
Leaving Rawlins we had to take the interstate for some miles before we could turn off to go south to Riverside, a seventy mile day. In Riverside, we camped in the Lazy Acres campground with Mike and Liz and Conrad, a London-ite headed for the west coast on the TransAm. We had a potluck dinner all together of taco soup, Kathmandu curry and chocolate and swapped stories of the road. The next day, we got off to a later start (it's so cold when we wake up anymore!) and headed south for the Colorado border and Walden.
We had a long climb out of Riverside and rolling hills most of the day. At one point we headed downhill (videotaped it this time!) and were greeted with a view of some distant mountains, which we soon realized were the Colorado Rockies. We made it to the border for lunch with Mike and Liz and continued to Walden. Almost immediately we could see a change in our surroundings - different plants on the side of the road, rock formations, and aspen trees replaced the sagebrush and prairie grasses as we climbed to a higher elevation. We made it to Walden with a terrific tailwind and set up camp in the city park. Mark Smith drove out from Fort Collins to see us, and we shared a dinner of rice and beans and oreos before he had to leave to drive back. Soon there were five cyclists camped at the park - us, Mike and Liz, and Justin from Athens, Georgia, who is biking the TransAm west and visiting farms and ranches along the way as he does research on sustainable agriculture.
Unfortunately, Liz and I left our bikes and bags in the path of the sprinkler last night, and we awoke to find our stuff covered in a thick layer of ice. Nothing was hurt, but I did have wet shoes and gloves this morning!
Several days ago, I found out my grandmother was admitted to Hospice care in Wichita. Since Liz's parents are in Colorado on vacation currently, they were able to pick us up from Walden this morning and drive us to Breckenridge today so that we are able to summit Hoosier Pass before I leave Thursday morning by bus for Wichita to be with my family. Liz will stay with her family and camp here for a few days before returning to Newton as well. We are planning to bike this part of the route again, possibly next year, but we won't be able to return to Colorado after going home because winter will be arriving in the Rockies soon. After our rest in Kansas, we will be continuing to the east coast as planned.
After our last post in Lander we headed out of town and made it about 15 miles before realizing that we were set to hit a thirty mile stretch of climbing (with no water or camping options) in the middle of the afternoon with fatigued muscles and minds, as well as a fierce headwind. Instead, we opted to camp at the very base of the climb at the Sleeping Bear RV Park, where we were able to journal and do some bicycle maintenance. We left early the next morning and made it through the thirty mile stretch with much better mindsets and less achy bodies. We had hoped to make it all the way past Muddy Gap, but by mid-afternoon the winds once again decided our course of action, and we ended up staying in the only motel in Jeffrey City, Wyoming, a former uranium mining town, next door to Mike and Liz. We made frozen pizzas as a group at the cafe and retired early, hoping to hit the next seventy mile stretch to Rawlins early in the morning.
We left Jeffrey City a little after 8 am and rode to Muddy Gap, where we ran into Geoff, a TransAm'er that Liz's parents had hosted in Newton earlier this summer, and three other cyclists going east to west. (Geoff, if you read this, let us know how your trip is going!) We stopped at the gas station for vittles and once again crossed the Continental Divide at Muddy Gap. Thirty miles or more later, we again climbed to and crossed the Continental Divide and had a mostly downhill ride into Rawlins, where we stayed in an RV park on the outskirts of town.
Leaving Rawlins we had to take the interstate for some miles before we could turn off to go south to Riverside, a seventy mile day. In Riverside, we camped in the Lazy Acres campground with Mike and Liz and Conrad, a London-ite headed for the west coast on the TransAm. We had a potluck dinner all together of taco soup, Kathmandu curry and chocolate and swapped stories of the road. The next day, we got off to a later start (it's so cold when we wake up anymore!) and headed south for the Colorado border and Walden.
We had a long climb out of Riverside and rolling hills most of the day. At one point we headed downhill (videotaped it this time!) and were greeted with a view of some distant mountains, which we soon realized were the Colorado Rockies. We made it to the border for lunch with Mike and Liz and continued to Walden. Almost immediately we could see a change in our surroundings - different plants on the side of the road, rock formations, and aspen trees replaced the sagebrush and prairie grasses as we climbed to a higher elevation. We made it to Walden with a terrific tailwind and set up camp in the city park. Mark Smith drove out from Fort Collins to see us, and we shared a dinner of rice and beans and oreos before he had to leave to drive back. Soon there were five cyclists camped at the park - us, Mike and Liz, and Justin from Athens, Georgia, who is biking the TransAm west and visiting farms and ranches along the way as he does research on sustainable agriculture.
Unfortunately, Liz and I left our bikes and bags in the path of the sprinkler last night, and we awoke to find our stuff covered in a thick layer of ice. Nothing was hurt, but I did have wet shoes and gloves this morning!
Several days ago, I found out my grandmother was admitted to Hospice care in Wichita. Since Liz's parents are in Colorado on vacation currently, they were able to pick us up from Walden this morning and drive us to Breckenridge today so that we are able to summit Hoosier Pass before I leave Thursday morning by bus for Wichita to be with my family. Liz will stay with her family and camp here for a few days before returning to Newton as well. We are planning to bike this part of the route again, possibly next year, but we won't be able to return to Colorado after going home because winter will be arriving in the Rockies soon. After our rest in Kansas, we will be continuing to the east coast as planned.
posted by Heidi & Liz at 9:46 PM
2 Comments:
It seems that you are getting a life-time experience!!! I hope you are rolling your video camera!!!
Djordje
Hi Liz and Heidi -- you're probably home in Kansas by now. Mike and I both have a little stomach bug and will be finally attempting the pass tomorrow. There might be snow, but we are going for it! Aloha... see you Missouri I hope?
Liz.
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