Day 36 & 37

Took Monday "off" and worked. Tuesday: Salida, CO to Montrose, CO. 129 miles. 9,700' ascent.

Today's ride was the most challenging I've ever faced. For me, it was epic. I was committed to camping short of Montrose if I felt any stress in my Achilles, Patellar, etc. The stress never came...just tired legs. So I rode 129 miles through the Colorado Rockies. Highlights included climbing the 11,300' Monarch Pass; coasting down a 6% grade road, uninterrupted, for nine (!) miles; two add'l 1,000' climbs; and a merciful, fifteen mile descent into Montrose. I've only about 60 miles to go until Grand Junction, CO, where I'll end this segment of my journey. I'll be meeting some friends there for several days of mountain biking, including a 24 hour race in Moab, UT, before heading home. Life is good... 

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Day 35

Pueblo, CO to Salida, CO. About 95 miles & 6,300 feet of climbing. Perfect weather!

What an awesome day of riding. The scenery was breathtaking, and the weather perfect. My legs were a bit tired. What a welcome change from the High Plains. I felt like I was in Kansas, though, when I got lunch: a vegetable burrito, which consisted of vegetarian hamburger "meat", iceberg lettuce & tomatoes wrapped in a burrito and topped w/ unmelted grated cheese. No beans.

The food in Salida was better. What a lovely little town; I'll take Monday off here to give the legs a rest and catch up on work. Lots of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and Amica's, a great little micro brewery and wood fired pizza place. I stumbled across Simple Hotel & Hostel, a cozy, clean, friendly lodge right in town. $22/night 1st night's stay; $11 for the 2nd night! This place has it all over the boxy, cookie cutter hotels and run down motels typically on offer. Kimberly, the mountain bike touring host, gave me intel on where to go in town, and where to camp between Salida and Montrose, 130 miles away through the Rocikes and the next town where lodging's available. I traded stories w/ Dave, who was in town for the weekend from Boulder to mountain bike. He gave me all sorts of sport nutritional provisions for my ride and reminded me how much I'd likely love living in Boulder.

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Day 34

Eads, CO to Pueblo, CO. Just over 115 miles. Cool weather.
Left before sunrise w/ rain gear on. It was raining heavily as I prepared my ride, but let up by the time I was under way. I had a nice tailwind most of the way, and made good time. No flats! Pueblo consisted of a sleepy downtown, with ample evidence of planned civic restoration. I stopped at a bar, had a few beers, and met Lincoln and Brad. Brad crashes cars on the weekends; demolition derby. Lincoln, after wrapping up a 1 hr, 13 min phone call, suggested I take Rt 50 instead of 96 to Salida. I checked into the Comfort in, amidst strip mall hell, and was briefly locked out of my room. Somehow the latch closed along w/ the door; it  s/ only engage when someone in the room engages it. I managed to open it w/ a credit card. I had penne marinara for dinner at a "casual dining" spot, and was pleasantly surprised that the pasta was not overcooked, thought the sauce was of course too sweet; worked for me, though.

I was glad to arrive in Kansas; it was flat. I'm happier still to be at the foothills of the beautiful Rockies.

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Day 33

Leoti, KS to Eads, CO. About 80 miles, clear skies, pleasant temperatures. Crossed into the Mountain time zone from Central shortly before leaving KS behind for CO.

I worked furiously until FedEx arrived 'round 1:30 with my new rim strips. They worked like a charm.  Not a single flat today. What a relief. Despite a late start I made it to Eads, CO. This is extraordinarily desolate country. I didn't notice a single restaurant along the way and only a few, tiny, grain elevator towns.

The landscape changed noticeably shortly after crossing into Colorado. It's less intensively tilled, remarkably flat for long stretches, and dominated in areas by what appears to be sage brush. Between burying my head in work this AM and trying to make Eads before sundown, I met almost no one today. So happy to be riding w/o flats!

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Day 32

Dighton, KS to Leoti, KS. About 50 miles. Great weather; highs in the 70s or so.

Met some interesting people along the way, including a couple in a van who slowed down to invite me to stay at their place in Leoti. It's not unusual for people take in cyclists along this well established route, but I wasn't planning on staying in Leoti. When I arrived in town, their daughter, Abigail, flagged me down. She lead me to their home, where I met her two sisters and chatted w/ her dad for a bit before heading out towards my destination further west. Tire went flat again...

Nothing but tube problems all day. Patched my tire another 8 or so times today, the result of a faulty rim strip. I was a hair's width away from hitching to Pueblo again, but one call to Jim Vance turned everything around. He stopped whatever he was doing, cycled to James Vincent's bike shop, bought me two rim strips and other supplies then FedExed them. I checked into the Hi Plains Motel and settled in for the night. Thank you Jim!

Oh, these pictures really capture a part of my Kansas experience: "bull hauler" truck and horrible food. A disproportionate number of the bull hauling truckers, as Joe from Hornets Nest Cafe in Dighton calls them, find sport in buzzing bikers. Not motor cyclists, I'm certain. Their large, low to the ground rigs generate a powerful blast of air in their wake. One came so close to me while I was changing a tire today he knocked over my bike and pannier. Fortunately most drivers, especially truckers, fail to see the sport in dangerously hazing cyclists and tend to give wide berth.

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Day 31

Flew into Garden City, KS on Tuesday. 


I went through 8 tires patches yesterday, Wednesday, all but one as dusk approached. Two seemed to be the result of a old rim liner that I "fixed" with duct tape, and the rest from nasty prickly things - "goat heads" they're called - in what passes for grass. I rode about 80 miles, back to The Spot where I had ended the second leg of this journey. I intended on riding west from Garden City if I had no luck hitching a ride to The Spot, but after a half assed attempt to catch a ride, I hopped on my bike and cycled there. I would have preferred a ride, but I'm glad I started from where I had stopped. I'm in good spirits, but worried about running out of patches.

Met some good people yesterday. Kathryn and Fred, proprietors of the B&B in Garden City; Joe & his wife, owners of the pizza shop in Dighton, and Pastor Howard, who invited me to "camp" in his church, where I took a shower in a sink. I'm trying to experience this leg of my trip like most other TransAmers...sans hotels (at least some nights). 

Today I'm feeling particularly grateful for good friends, new and old! Also: for a well functioning tire pump, a contrast to the last leg of my journey.

Sent from my phone. Please pardon the tpyos. 

Sent from my phone. Please pardon the tpyos. 

Day 30

Garden City, KS.

I'm back on the road! Flew into KS yesterday. I'm killing time waiting for the post office to open so I can ship a borrowed bike case back home. Thanks for the loaner, Andrew. After that I'll attempt to hitch hike to this spot, precisely where mechanicals forced an end to the last segment of my ride and motivated me to hitch hike 250 miles to Pueblo, CO.

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