so, I write in a journal everyday and make sure to remind myself of the ridiculous things that happen along the way. I wish I could write them all down but I better go to sleep soon.
However, to tell you of my day today would suffice for you to understand my state of mind which is teetering somewhere between happiness and peace with a little bit of spice added for good measure. I woke up and felt like making pancakes. That happened, with the added pleasure of orange juice and peaches in yogurt. I'm a Taurus, and food makes me very very happy.
We finally fully cleaned our clothes at the laundrymat and were glad to hang dry them on Kirsten and Evan's clotheline in front. We eventually, with Kirsten's guidance, meandered our way through the city on this amazing bike path that followed the creek, went through the residential areas, passed through the university and high schools, and landed us in downtown. I was very impressed with Boulder's system of bike paths....Davis could learn from this town. We happened to be here on a Wednesday, one of the days Boulder has its Farmer's Market, which I have been personally reading about for quite some time given its zero waste recycling program. I spoke with the market manager and was able to get some contacts to see if the Davis Farmer's Market can move in the same direction.
In the summer, if you're in Boulder, you'll expect a short rainstorm to come in the afternoon, around 4 or 5pm. so it rained on us, Kirsten called Evan and asked him to take our clothes off the lines at home, which was very cool of him to given he needed to get to his class in Denver. We ducked in the Russian Tea House, an amazingly beautiful building filled with handcarved support beams, and painted mosaics on every wall. We sat down and had tea there and I learned that this building was a gift from Boulder's sister city in Tajiskstan (I know I butchered that one but please comment on this with the correct spelling). we went back to the farmers market and saw a performance of interpretive dancers doing incredible and funny acts with a bucket of water. they eventually incorporated me into their dance, which was alright with me after I had my yerba mate fix.
When we returned back to the homestead, Kirsten gave me her favorite banana bread recipe, which I made with her help and tried some mead that her friend made.
What i learned from this rest day is that I may one day come back to Boulder to experience life here as a resident. I haven't had such a positive feeling about a city as much as I had with this one. I also gained an appreciation for getting to know Kirsten and Evan, who both are amazing people and hosts and made this day special for me.
so it's 1:45am and Ima going to a sleep!!! By the time you hear from me again, we may well be across Kansas already. can't wait to have some of that famous pie.
by the way, I'm planning, upon my return to Davis, to give a slide-show/anecdotal/interpretive "dance" of this 4,600 mile journey, so stayed tuned for the time and place (probably some day between September 23-27, in one of the UC Davis Tri-Co-operative houses).
love,
derek
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Boulder or bust...and on the road again
Just a note: The pics are posted roughly from most recent to most ancient, although they aren't perfectly in order, so if you want to follow along, start at the bottom of those Derek posted this evening.
Sorry about the crazy long delay in blog updates, but daylight hours are precious and 6 days a week spent pedaling hard leaves little time for library drop-ins and leasurely internet access. I guess it's been over two weeks now since Missoula, but I can't even decide if it seems like yesterday or an eternity ago that we were there. From Renee's lovely abode, we headed south through the Bitteroot Valley of Montana. The ride was mostly flat, but mountain ranges surrounded us on either side. It was fairly picturesque, although smoke from the summer fires that regularly plague the surrounding region put a bit of a damper in the view at times, but we still got some descent scenery. Ths region is known for the high quality of its natural grasses for cattle grazing...giant haystacks are found throughout.
The climb out of the valley led us across the Continental Divide for the first time and Eastward towards Yellowstone! Shortly after crossing into the park, we hit the Wyoming state line...and continues on into our 5th state.
A few days before hitting Yellowstone, our afternoons began to be characterized by short (but intense!) mountain thunderstorms which make riding a bit of a hassle and sometimes too dangerous to do. But the do produce some pretty awesome rainbows...
After spending a night in the oldest national park in the world, we spent the day viewing the geysers, etc, and then biked on to Grand Teton National Park to the south. In the short stretch of road between the two parks, during a bit of a storm, we saw a black bear crossing the road right in front of us. It wasn't too interested in us, and was kind of scared of a car passing by, so it took off pretty quickly without mauling us or stealing our dehydrated powdered beans...but it was still pretty exciting.
We spent a rest day last Tuesday in the Grand Tetons, recooperating and preparing for our next big climb...up 9600 ft. high Togwotee pass. We got pretty creative with Derek's hair and safety traingle signs. As if everyone didn't already know we were from California...
Well our big climb of Togwotee and reaching the top was kind of bittersweet. We hit road construction a mile or two from the top and they wouldn't let us ride up. Instead, they stuck our bikes in the back of the pilot truck and took us most of the rest of the way up the hill. Another truck took us down about 6 miles on the other side. This was especially disappointing because it was the highest point we had reached, and, as far as we knew at the time, the highest we were going to climb.
On the other side of the pass, we met up with Dena! She's with us for a couple of weeks. We broke her in pretty quickly with some big days...right through central Wyoming and into COLORADO!
Well, not quite that easily. The night before entering our 6th state, we spent the night in Saratoga, Wyoming. They have hot springs and a free public hot pool located in town. We really wanted to go take a dip, and, even though we knew we werent' allowed to, we decided to try to camp in the woods behind to pool. Around 12:30 at night, we awoke to the shining of a flashligth and a cop saying "Alright, you aren't allowed to camp here...get up...that's a $210 fine" and telling us where the nearest campground is. He said he would be back to check on us later and took off, never to be seen again. But we packed up and took off to spend the rest of the night at the campground and avoid the fine.
At some point in there I got a flat after going over a big bump. This was my second of the trip, but I was sort of waiting for it to happen. The first was in my back wheel and was also caused by a big bump. When I went to change that tire, I realized that, in all my silliness, it had not occurred to me to get bigger tubes when I change tires for 1 1/8 in to 1 1/4 in width. I knew the same thing would happen in my front eventually, but I decided to just wait and deal with it when it popped. Well it tok about 1500 miles, but now both my tubes are properly sized and, assuming I don't run into any unfortunately placed nails on the road, I should be good to go.
Shortly after entering Colorado, we got off the TransAmerica trail to head to Boulder. We decided to take the scenic route through Rocky Mountain National Park. We got the town the of Granby pretty easily (53 miles from Walden, where we had spent our first night in Colorado), which is where we left the trail. According to the oh-so-reliable road map of Colorado that we were using for off-route travels, it is 39 miles from Granby to Estes Park on the other side of Rocky National and roughly 30 from there to Boulder. We figured we would bike in a few miles and do the rest the next day. It wouldn't be very many miles, but we knew we had quite a climb in front of us.
Well, upon leaving Granby, a roadsign informed us of the fact that it was actually 62 miles from there to Estes park, making it over 90 to Boulder. Now this wouldn't be so bad because we still had a few hours of daylight left and the entire next day to bike, except for the little elevation change: Granby was at about 8000 feet and the top of the pass that we had to climb was over 12000!
Well, we made the best of it anyhow. We biked 16 miles past Granby that night and camped in the woods, and then hauled ass the next day: along the highest paved through highway in the United States!
Near the top, there were signs welcoming us to the Alpine Tundra, and holy crap it was freeeezing cold up there. To top it all off, we arrived at the top just in time for the daily afternoon thunderstorm...so our 25 mile descent into Estes Park was chilly. But bundled up, held onto our break levers for dear life, and prayed that we could avoid any run-ins with cars like the Subaru which had apparently ran off the road and into a tree before we passed it or the line of touristmobiles stopped in the middle of the roadso the occupants could view the elk by the side of the road.
But we made it...and the ride into Boulder after that as relatively pleasant. Ate a big pizza dinner, and came home to my old friend Kirsten's house to lay down our heads and take a rest day.
And we're back on the road in the morning....and onto Kansas!
Sorry about the crazy long delay in blog updates, but daylight hours are precious and 6 days a week spent pedaling hard leaves little time for library drop-ins and leasurely internet access. I guess it's been over two weeks now since Missoula, but I can't even decide if it seems like yesterday or an eternity ago that we were there. From Renee's lovely abode, we headed south through the Bitteroot Valley of Montana. The ride was mostly flat, but mountain ranges surrounded us on either side. It was fairly picturesque, although smoke from the summer fires that regularly plague the surrounding region put a bit of a damper in the view at times, but we still got some descent scenery. Ths region is known for the high quality of its natural grasses for cattle grazing...giant haystacks are found throughout.
The climb out of the valley led us across the Continental Divide for the first time and Eastward towards Yellowstone! Shortly after crossing into the park, we hit the Wyoming state line...and continues on into our 5th state.
A few days before hitting Yellowstone, our afternoons began to be characterized by short (but intense!) mountain thunderstorms which make riding a bit of a hassle and sometimes too dangerous to do. But the do produce some pretty awesome rainbows...
After spending a night in the oldest national park in the world, we spent the day viewing the geysers, etc, and then biked on to Grand Teton National Park to the south. In the short stretch of road between the two parks, during a bit of a storm, we saw a black bear crossing the road right in front of us. It wasn't too interested in us, and was kind of scared of a car passing by, so it took off pretty quickly without mauling us or stealing our dehydrated powdered beans...but it was still pretty exciting.
We spent a rest day last Tuesday in the Grand Tetons, recooperating and preparing for our next big climb...up 9600 ft. high Togwotee pass. We got pretty creative with Derek's hair and safety traingle signs. As if everyone didn't already know we were from California...
Well our big climb of Togwotee and reaching the top was kind of bittersweet. We hit road construction a mile or two from the top and they wouldn't let us ride up. Instead, they stuck our bikes in the back of the pilot truck and took us most of the rest of the way up the hill. Another truck took us down about 6 miles on the other side. This was especially disappointing because it was the highest point we had reached, and, as far as we knew at the time, the highest we were going to climb.
On the other side of the pass, we met up with Dena! She's with us for a couple of weeks. We broke her in pretty quickly with some big days...right through central Wyoming and into COLORADO!
Well, not quite that easily. The night before entering our 6th state, we spent the night in Saratoga, Wyoming. They have hot springs and a free public hot pool located in town. We really wanted to go take a dip, and, even though we knew we werent' allowed to, we decided to try to camp in the woods behind to pool. Around 12:30 at night, we awoke to the shining of a flashligth and a cop saying "Alright, you aren't allowed to camp here...get up...that's a $210 fine" and telling us where the nearest campground is. He said he would be back to check on us later and took off, never to be seen again. But we packed up and took off to spend the rest of the night at the campground and avoid the fine.
At some point in there I got a flat after going over a big bump. This was my second of the trip, but I was sort of waiting for it to happen. The first was in my back wheel and was also caused by a big bump. When I went to change that tire, I realized that, in all my silliness, it had not occurred to me to get bigger tubes when I change tires for 1 1/8 in to 1 1/4 in width. I knew the same thing would happen in my front eventually, but I decided to just wait and deal with it when it popped. Well it tok about 1500 miles, but now both my tubes are properly sized and, assuming I don't run into any unfortunately placed nails on the road, I should be good to go.
Shortly after entering Colorado, we got off the TransAmerica trail to head to Boulder. We decided to take the scenic route through Rocky Mountain National Park. We got the town the of Granby pretty easily (53 miles from Walden, where we had spent our first night in Colorado), which is where we left the trail. According to the oh-so-reliable road map of Colorado that we were using for off-route travels, it is 39 miles from Granby to Estes Park on the other side of Rocky National and roughly 30 from there to Boulder. We figured we would bike in a few miles and do the rest the next day. It wouldn't be very many miles, but we knew we had quite a climb in front of us.
Well, upon leaving Granby, a roadsign informed us of the fact that it was actually 62 miles from there to Estes park, making it over 90 to Boulder. Now this wouldn't be so bad because we still had a few hours of daylight left and the entire next day to bike, except for the little elevation change: Granby was at about 8000 feet and the top of the pass that we had to climb was over 12000!
Well, we made the best of it anyhow. We biked 16 miles past Granby that night and camped in the woods, and then hauled ass the next day: along the highest paved through highway in the United States!
Near the top, there were signs welcoming us to the Alpine Tundra, and holy crap it was freeeezing cold up there. To top it all off, we arrived at the top just in time for the daily afternoon thunderstorm...so our 25 mile descent into Estes Park was chilly. But bundled up, held onto our break levers for dear life, and prayed that we could avoid any run-ins with cars like the Subaru which had apparently ran off the road and into a tree before we passed it or the line of touristmobiles stopped in the middle of the roadso the occupants could view the elk by the side of the road.
But we made it...and the ride into Boulder after that as relatively pleasant. Ate a big pizza dinner, and came home to my old friend Kirsten's house to lay down our heads and take a rest day.
And we're back on the road in the morning....and onto Kansas!
daily mileage update since Missoula
Day 1 (7/2): 29.5 miles, Davis to Lake Berryessa
Day 2: 49 miles, Berryessa to Jim Town, CA
Day 3: 45.6 miles, to Indian Creek Campground (in Redwoods near Boonville)
Day 4: 44 miles, to Mackerricher Beach State Park just past Fort Bragg
Day 5: REST DAY!!!
Day 6: 55 miles, to Richardson Grove State Park
Day 7: 63 miles, to Fortuna RV camp
Day 8: 43 miles, to Clam Beach County Park
Day 9: 63 miles, to Crescent City (Orman Guest Ranch and Stables)
Day 10: 33 miles, to Brooking, Oregon Harris Beach State Park (WE REACHED OREGON!!!)
Day 11: 50 miles, to Humbug Mt. State Park
Day 12: 70 miles, to 8 miles north of North Bend
Day 13: 35 miles, to Honeyman State Park (near Florence)
Day 14: REST Day!!!
Day 15: 60 miles, to Junction City
Day 16: 15 miles, to Eugene Whitaker Hostel
Day 17: 55 miles, to Delta CAmpground USFS, 4 miles past Blue River
Day 18: 55 miles, to Indian Creek Campground, 6 miles before Sisters
Day 19: 81 miles!, to Ochoco Divide Campground
Day 20: 56 miles, to Dayville Presbyterean Church
Day 21: 53 miles, to Dixie Pass Campground
Day 22: 60 miles, to Oregon Trails RV Park in Baker City, OR
Day 23: REST DAY!!!, sadly, last day Rachel is with us.
Day 24: 84 miles, to Brownlee Dam, ID (WE REACHED IDAHO!!!)
Day 25: 78 miles, to New Meadows
Day 26: 64 miles, to Whitebird Swiftwater RV park
Day 27: 69 miles, to Lowell
Day 28: 68 miles, to Powell Campground
Day 29: 60 miles, to Missoula, Montana (WE REACHED MONTANA!!!)
DAY 30: REST DAY!!!
Day 31: 83 miles, to Sula Spring Gulch in the Bitteroot Valley
Day 32: 72 miles, to Big Hole Pass, camped at the Carrol Ranch info station
Day 33: 85 miles, to Alder, secretive free camping spot, so called KOA #"41"
Day 34: 54 miles, to South Madison BLM Rec Area campground
Day 35: 64 miles, to Yellowstone Madison Campground (WE REACHED WYOMING!!!)
Day 36: 76 miles, to Colter Bay campground in Grand Teton National Park
Day 37: REST DAY!!!
Day 38: 69 miles, to Dubois Longhorn RV site (Dena joined us!)
Day 39: 72 miles, to Lander
Day 40: 80 miles, to Mud Flats (we reached 2,000 mile point for our trip !!!)
Day 41: 86 miles, to Saratoga (our highest mileage day for the trip!!!)
Day 42: 70 miles, to Walden (WE REACHED COLORADO!!!)
Day 43: 76 miles, to Grand Lake (10 feet from boundary of Rocky Mountain NP)
Day 44: 86 miles, to Boulder (we biked the highest road in the US,--12,183 feet!!!)
Day 45: REST DAY (staying with Sarah's friend Kirsten and Evan)
-Rough estimate of total miles (don't care enough to check the math)= 2,344 miles
-HAlfway finished with the mileage for this trip.
-More than halfway finished with the estimated time needed to finish the trip (we're done with the major hills/mountains of the US, the Great Plains will be much flatter and we may have tailwinds pushing us through Kansas, etc.)
Day 2: 49 miles, Berryessa to Jim Town, CA
Day 3: 45.6 miles, to Indian Creek Campground (in Redwoods near Boonville)
Day 4: 44 miles, to Mackerricher Beach State Park just past Fort Bragg
Day 5: REST DAY!!!
Day 6: 55 miles, to Richardson Grove State Park
Day 7: 63 miles, to Fortuna RV camp
Day 8: 43 miles, to Clam Beach County Park
Day 9: 63 miles, to Crescent City (Orman Guest Ranch and Stables)
Day 10: 33 miles, to Brooking, Oregon Harris Beach State Park (WE REACHED OREGON!!!)
Day 11: 50 miles, to Humbug Mt. State Park
Day 12: 70 miles, to 8 miles north of North Bend
Day 13: 35 miles, to Honeyman State Park (near Florence)
Day 14: REST Day!!!
Day 15: 60 miles, to Junction City
Day 16: 15 miles, to Eugene Whitaker Hostel
Day 17: 55 miles, to Delta CAmpground USFS, 4 miles past Blue River
Day 18: 55 miles, to Indian Creek Campground, 6 miles before Sisters
Day 19: 81 miles!, to Ochoco Divide Campground
Day 20: 56 miles, to Dayville Presbyterean Church
Day 21: 53 miles, to Dixie Pass Campground
Day 22: 60 miles, to Oregon Trails RV Park in Baker City, OR
Day 23: REST DAY!!!, sadly, last day Rachel is with us.
Day 24: 84 miles, to Brownlee Dam, ID (WE REACHED IDAHO!!!)
Day 25: 78 miles, to New Meadows
Day 26: 64 miles, to Whitebird Swiftwater RV park
Day 27: 69 miles, to Lowell
Day 28: 68 miles, to Powell Campground
Day 29: 60 miles, to Missoula, Montana (WE REACHED MONTANA!!!)
DAY 30: REST DAY!!!
Day 31: 83 miles, to Sula Spring Gulch in the Bitteroot Valley
Day 32: 72 miles, to Big Hole Pass, camped at the Carrol Ranch info station
Day 33: 85 miles, to Alder, secretive free camping spot, so called KOA #"41"
Day 34: 54 miles, to South Madison BLM Rec Area campground
Day 35: 64 miles, to Yellowstone Madison Campground (WE REACHED WYOMING!!!)
Day 36: 76 miles, to Colter Bay campground in Grand Teton National Park
Day 37: REST DAY!!!
Day 38: 69 miles, to Dubois Longhorn RV site (Dena joined us!)
Day 39: 72 miles, to Lander
Day 40: 80 miles, to Mud Flats (we reached 2,000 mile point for our trip !!!)
Day 41: 86 miles, to Saratoga (our highest mileage day for the trip!!!)
Day 42: 70 miles, to Walden (WE REACHED COLORADO!!!)
Day 43: 76 miles, to Grand Lake (10 feet from boundary of Rocky Mountain NP)
Day 44: 86 miles, to Boulder (we biked the highest road in the US,--12,183 feet!!!)
Day 45: REST DAY (staying with Sarah's friend Kirsten and Evan)
-Rough estimate of total miles (don't care enough to check the math)= 2,344 miles
-HAlfway finished with the mileage for this trip.
-More than halfway finished with the estimated time needed to finish the trip (we're done with the major hills/mountains of the US, the Great Plains will be much flatter and we may have tailwinds pushing us through Kansas, etc.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)