BrauerPower's Epic Ride - The Emails
-------------------------------Monday, June 13, 2005 9:43 AM
As you probably know, I'll be headed out for a long bicycle ride soon. I'm flying into Portland, Oregon on Friday evening, and will set out back to Minneapolis on Sunday the 19th. I'll be going through Bend, OR, Park City, UT, Winter Park, CO, the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota, and finally home. My goal is to be back in town around July 23rd.
I will be using this new email address to send out occassional updates on my tour. If you'd like to get ahold of me, shoot me an email. I probably wont access it much more than once a week, but that will depend on how wired the small towns of the Wild West are. I will also have my cell phone (612.532.1460) for more urgent messages, but I don't expect to get service for much of my ride.
If you have a different email address you'd like me to use, let me know and I'll update my list.
Attached is a picture of my bike as I'll be riding it, sans food and extra water.
As you probably know, I'll be headed out for a long bicycle ride soon. I'm flying into Portland, Oregon on Friday evening, and will set out back to Minneapolis on Sunday the 19th. I'll be going through Bend, OR, Park City, UT, Winter Park, CO, the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota, and finally home. My goal is to be back in town around July 23rd.
I will be using this new email address to send out occassional updates on my tour. If you'd like to get ahold of me, shoot me an email. I probably wont access it much more than once a week, but that will depend on how wired the small towns of the Wild West are. I will also have my cell phone (612.532.1460) for more urgent messages, but I don't expect to get service for much of my ride.
If you have a different email address you'd like me to use, let me know and I'll update my list.
Attached is a picture of my bike as I'll be riding it, sans food and extra water.
See you in a month!
-Mike
--------------------------Wednesday, June 22, 2005 8:02 PM
Howdy folks--
I've arrived safely in Bend, OR after 2 1/2 days on the road. Nothing serious to report. Some ups and downs, both literally and figuratively. The uphills are hard, the downhills are a blast. I did 64 miles on Monday and got to the middle of nowhere on the Clackamas River. Day 2 was 93 miles and was my first day of serious climbing. I'm glad it wasn't at altitude. I just did 28 miles today into Bend and met my friend Dave Wilke at the Deschutes Brewery. So today is a bit of a rest day, and tomorrow I start across desolate Eastern Oregon.
I'd like to attach some pictures that I've taken, but haven't yet figured out where to download them off my camera.
More to come in a week or so....
-Mike
-------------Friday, July 01, 2005 2:50 PM
Greetings from Mormon Land!
Warning! This email is pretty long. Make sure you're
at work when you read this!
I arrived safely in Park City on Wednesday evening and
am taking a nice 4 day break from the road. I've
ridden for 10 days and covered just shy of 800 miles. I'm a little over 1/3 of the way home. I've had a
bunch of really great days and a couple pretty crappy
ones. Here's a synopsis:
I hung out in Portland for a the weekend before
hitting the road. Cheever picked me up from the
airport late Friday night, and we had some beers and
rode around a little bit. Saturday morning he took
off for Seattle, so I was on my own to explore the
city and get some stuff for my trip. I went to REI,
found the Rogue Brew Pub, got a bike map of the city,
and rode around some. Saturday evening I hooked up
with Nick Sande's friend Kari, and she took me to a
backyard BBQ at a friends house. I had some beers and
sausage and met some cool folks. Around 9:00pm I took
off to meet my cousin Molly at a bar across the river
from downtown. We barhopped a bit and had a good
time. Unfortunately her favorite brew pub
(Tugboat's?) was closed. I guess I'll have to go
there next time.
Sunday I rode around and took a bunch of pictures of
the bike around town. I also visited River City
Cycles, a really cool shop. I particularly liked
their ~$5000 pizza-getter bike, with custom Sycip
frame, racks, fenders and chainguard (see pics). Cheever got back in the late afternoon and we rode
around and enjoyed the gorgeous day and fine Pabst
Blue Ribbon lager. We went to a pub with some great
vintage motorcycles hanging up, and naturally an Evil
Kneivel helmet. We also went to the Yamhill Pub,
Cheever's home away from home.
Monday morning I hit the road, albeit later than I was
planning (surprise surprise). It was a nice ride
along the river through the city to the burbs. As I
mentioned in my previous email, I did 64 miles the
first day and 92 the second through the awesome (and
hilly) Cascades. Wednesday afternoon I rolled into
Bend and took the afternoon off to hang out with my
friend Dave (in Oregon visiting relatives). We drank
a few pints at the Deschutes brewery (gotta be one of
the best breweries in the nation). We hung around
downtown, visited a bike shop, got some supplies, and
ate some dinner. We camped at a state park right
outside of Bend, which was rather crowded, but they
had SHOWERS!
Thursday morning I set off across the Eastern Oregon
high desert. I was worried it would be wicked hot out
there, but it was mostly in the 70s and 80s. I was
also worried about road construction, as there was a
sign in Bend claiming road work for the next 250
miles. This wasn't bad either as it was just
occasional bridge work. No long stretches of with no
shoulder or anything like that.
The high desert is beautiful, and fortunately pretty
flat. I had 4 passes to go over, but none of them
were huge. Usually around 30 minutes to climb them. And the downhills---ahhhh. 5-10 minutes of coasting
at 40 mph! The hills will be bigger over the next
week, but bigger climbs mean longer downhills. I
camped 2 nights in Oregon. Both times I just pulled
off the road and pitched my tent. The first night I
was surrounded by sage brush and grass, and they've
had a wet spring which meant the plants were in full
bloom and my allergies were killer. My eyes swelled
up to what felt like grapefruits, and I was blowing
snot out like a slurpee machine. I took an
antihistamine and went to bed. The second night I
found an awesome spot along a river well off the road.
It was fantastic, but naturally it rained that night.
My last day in Oregon was pretty tough. The first 30
miles were great, as I followed the Malheur River down
into the flats. I was flying, averaging over 17 mph. Then the headwinds came, and my final pass. My legs
were weak and I was struggling as I rolled into Vale,
OR. I took a long break, ate a burger and drank some
beers. When I got out of the bar, it was super windy
and a storm was rolling in. I had to press on, so I
rode across a killer cross wind (my bike was leaned
over the whole time) and had some rain for the first
time on my trip. After 12 miles of crosswind I turned
directly into the wind--at least by now the rain had
stopped. I pulled into Nyssa, OR (right on the ID/OR
border) and assessed the situation (in a taven,
naturally). The locals didn't know what the weather
was supposed to do. I could've pressed on, but light
was getting short and I really didn't want to get
soaked. I noticed there was a motel (that was actuall
still in business) on my way into town, and the locals
at the tavern seemed fun, so I decided to stay. I met
a guy who thought I was crazy for riding cross
country, but then I found out he was a professional
bull rider. Everybody's crazy in their own way. Had
a great time at the tavern, and round about midnight
decided it was time to take a shower and go to sleep.
When I stepped out, I noticed I had a flat rear tire,
my first of the trip. Damn. I pumped it up a bit and
rode to the motel. I forgot that I was in Nyssa, OR,
because the motel had closed for the night and wasn't
taking any more guests. Double damn. I really wanted
to get out of Oregon at this point, so I rode across
the river and found a spot on the edge of a farmer's
field in some trees. I didn't have the gumption to
set up my tent, so I just got out my sleeping pad and
bag and went to bed. At least I was in Idaho.
The next morning I fixed my flat and took off. 1 mile
later, another flat. The rim tape had shifted and
exposed a spoke hole. I changed my route a bit so I
would go through a bigger town that might actually
have a bike shop. Of course I got another flat as I
rolled into this town (this time on account of a HUGE
thorn). Nampa, ID is a bigger town, but its still
small enough that the only bike shop in town was
closed on Sundays. Oh well. My legs were feeling
like crap--no dinner and a bunch of beer will do that
to you. Of course I had a headwind too as I rode into
some rain. Ah the joys of being on your bike
everyday....Eventually I was back into the middle of
nowhere. I made a stop in the town of Murphy, ID. I
got some water and talked to the locals a bit. One of
them had just been in St Cloud visiting relatives. I
don't know what it was but after talking to these
folks I felt a lot better. Nothing special was
said--just the usually pleasantries. But I just felt
refreshed for some reason, and the winds had died down
and the rain had blown over. I ended up going the
full 90+ miles I had planned on originally.
It was now Monday, and I had 2 more days til Park
City. It started out swell. Got a good greasy
breakfast in Grand View, ID and hit the road in some
light rain, which didn't last more than a half hour. I had another flat (this time a small piece of metal)
but that didn't faze me much. I took a rest stop at
Bruneau Dunes State Park, the tallest sand dunes in
the US (480 feet tall). I rode along the beautiful
Snake River valley. I had lunch in Glenn's Ferry. Then things got ugly. I had a flat on the way out of
town (rim strip again). Then another. And another. And another. It was now 3 hours after I finished
lunch and I hadn't gotten out of town. I bought some
duct tape to replace the rim strip. Hit the road (on
I84 actually) and still had a slow leak in my rear
tube. I was now down to 1 patch, and had 60 miles to
go to Twin Falls, where I knew I could find a bike
shop. I tried hitch hiking for a bit (something I've
never done), but the Glenn's Ferry exit isn't a very
busy one. I went back to town and inquired about a
bus to Twin Falls. No dice. The motel still had
rooms, so I had that as an option. There was a sign
for a mobile bicycle repair guy, but he was over 40
miles away. I decided to try hitch hiking again for a
while, and if that didn't work I'd stay in this shit
town and figure out what to do the next day. After
hanging out by the freeway entrance a few minutes, I
saw an 80s VW Vanagon camper bus coming, and I KNEW it
was my only chance. Thankfully, the woman actually
stopped. Her name was Ryland, and she was road
tripping, headed back home to Durango. She was happy
to have a bit of company and drove me the 50 miles to
Twin Falls. I found a motel in "Old Town" and finally
was able to calm down a bit. Watching TV I saw Fiona
from Mpls on a Discovery channel show about Lance
Armstrong. (Fiona--you did fine!) That was weird.
Tuesday morning I went to the bike shop and got some
new tubes, rimstrips and patches and got my bike
rolling again. Hit the road kind of late (3ish), but
still covered alot of ground thanks to a tailwind
<gasp!>. It was one last night in Idaho, and around
noon on Wednesday I crossed into Utah rode on the
straightest road I've seen yet (about 20 miles without
a curve). I rolled into Brigham City (north of Salt
Lake City) around 6:00, where Amy met me and drove me
up to Park City, where I now sit.
Overall, its been great. My legs have been strong,
the weather has been better than I could ask for. All
told, it probably hasn't rained for more than an hour
total while I've been riding. And it hasn't been hot
either. I've seen a ton of country that I've never
seen before, and you REALLY get to see it cruising
along at 15 mph or so. I've met some nice folks. And
even when things have been going badly, its always
worked out OK in the end. I hope my luck continues.
Now I have 4 days off in Park City. Lots of relaxing
and hot tubbing will be had. I also just had a full
body massage this morning. I'm hoping to go for a
mountain bike ride tomorrow, and visit Snowbird as
well. Its like I'm on vacation or something. Monday
I will hit the road again and head towards Winter
Park, CO. I've got a couple huge passes ahead, but
also some hot springs and more gorgeous country. I'll
be taking a day off in Winter Park as well, probably
next Saturday.
I have a bunch of pictures to share. I'm going to
work on putting up a hosted photo site this afternoon.
I'll send a link when its ready.
I hope everybody is doing well and enjoying your
summer, wherever you are.
-Mike
PS: Some observations thus far:
1) Salsa rim tape SUCKS!
2) The bigger the pickup, with the bigger the wheels
and suspension, the more likely you are to see it in a
big town, not the country side.
3) Cell phones work almost everywhere in this country
4) Small town America is where cheesy t-shirts go to
die (ie. "I'm lazy, obnoxious, unemployed, etc....but
I'm FUN!" and "Spooning leads to forking")
5) Its hard to breath at 7200 ft
6) Triathletes are assholes...I saw at least 50 cars
with tribikes headed to Bend for a tri, and not ONE of
them waved at me.
7) The best time to ride is aroun 7:00 pm. Very
little traffic for some reason.
8) Why is the most beautiful state in the US (Utah)
run by the biggest wackos in the US (Mormons)?
9) There's lots of fake breasts in Park City.
-----------------------------------------Saturday, July 09, 2005 2:34 PM
Howdy diddily doo, neighbors!
I'm drinking a Molson and relaxing in Winter Park
Colorado. I'm taking a day off and hanging out with
my cousins Pat (and wife Caroline) and Sean. Its a
beautiful summer day and we'll be hitting the alpine
slide and the resort shortly.
Park City was a great time. I felt like I was
actually on VACATION. Its great riding my bike
everyday, but it was even better to have a few days
just to relax, drink some beers, and explore around a
bit, without the pressure to ride 80 some miles.
I got in Wednesday evening, and Amy picked me up in
Brigham City, north of Salt Lake City a ways. It was
much nicer than having to ride through the hellish
burbs of SLC. Had a great pizza dinner and some beer
and had a relatively early night. Amy had school on
Thursday and Friday, so I was left to my own devices. I got a massage, checked out the Wasatch Brew Pub,
stopped by the bike shop to tune up the rig, and did
plenty of relaxing. Thursday evening Amy and I did a
nice hike on the trails right outside of our place. Friday evening I picked up a mountain bike from the
shop, and went out for an exceptionally tasty steak
dinner in downtown Park City. If only I could eat
like that everyday.
Saturday we went for a mountain bike ride right in
town. They have a ton of trails all through the area.
Some at the ski areas, others owned by the city, and
a fair amount that actually go through private land. The city has some sort of development rule that makes
it in the best interest of the developer to keep or
put public use trails on the land. We rode about a 12
mile loop from our place out on gravel trails and out
to the city owned single track. It was a nice little
ride. I didn't want to do anything too epic as I've
got to save my energy for big days on the road. Later
in the day we drove down to Snowbird ski area. It was
July 2, and they were still open for skiing! I talked
to a guy at the base, and he had gotten in over 3000
vertical feet in one run by hiking up above Alta! We
took the tram to the top, where they still had easily
1000 feet of snow open. We had a little picnic lunch
with our leftover steak and some beer. It was
beautiful up there, although walking through snow in
sandals is a little cold.
Sunday we drove a little further south to Sundance. We didn't really know what to expect or do, but Amy
was interested in checking it out. We pulled in and
the parking attendant told us there was a huge wedding
that was winding down, so some of the base area was
closed to the public. He wouldn't tell us who was
getting married, but did say that they had booked 3
bands over the weekend including Maroon 5 and Hootie
and the Blowfish. Not my type of music, but damn,
must of been some high rollers there. The parking guy
felt bad that the wedding was taking up so much of the
resort, so he gave us free lift passes to go up top.
Sundance was easily one of the most beautiful places
I've ever been. Huge exposed peaks and cliffs,
wildflowers, a waterfall, and great views of the
canyon and surrounding peaks. We were both pleasantly
surprised. From the top we did a 2 mile hike to
Stewart Falls and back. It was a huge waterfall,
easily over 100 feet tall. We had another picnic
snack at the falls and hiked back, which included
crossing a really cold and fast moving mountain
stream.
From Sundance we drove up to Cascade Springs, which is
further up the same canyon. The road up there was
epic. Truly a mountain road. About 1.5 lanes wide,
many switchbacks and 180 degree turns, and through
huge aspen groves. I was thinking the springs would
be a hot springs, but unfortunately it was not. It
was an awesome natural spring though, with many
different pools and limestone terraces, and plenty of
wildflowers and other plants and wildlife.
Monday was time to hit the road. I really didn't want
to leave, so instead of leaving bright and early, I
hung out with Amy through the afternoon and drove
about 35 miles out of town to start my ride. We drove
to the top of a pass on the way east towards Colorado.
After a long goodbye, I hit the road DOWNhill. It
was 42 miles downhill with a tailwind. I stopped
after 8 miles and I was averaving 35 mph. After about
12 miles of solid downhill twisty road, it flattend
out and followed the Duchesne river the next 30 miles.
At the end of the 42 miles, I was averaging 22.3 mph!
Then I had to turn across the wind, and the wind now
slowed me down considerably. I only made it 6 more
miles. I found a campground on the property of a
restaurant/store and set up for the night. I had a
fire (only the 2nd one of my trip) and could see some
fireworks from Roosevelt, UT about 20 miles away.
The next few days were across the high desert of Utah
and Western Colorado. Everything went pretty smooth,
with the exception of some killer headwinds now and
again. But I stayed on schedule pretty much. On
Wednesday, I had a huge day, with GIGANTIC rollers
between Dinousaur and Maybell, CO along US40. It
flattened out and I got a tailwind so I made up some
time. Unfortunately, the area I was hoping to camp in
was entirely private land. It was getting dark, but I
decided to press on to Craig, knowing I could find a
campground or motel. I rolled in around 9:40, after
103 miles total that day. The only kampground was a
KOA, and I didn't feel like giving them $25 for a
crappy campspot, so I got a $35 motel room and vegged
out watching bad cable TV.
Thursday was a quick 40 mile ride into Steamboat
Springs. I found a pub with some good beers, had some
food and called some loved ones. Later in the
afternoon I met up with Kent Eriksen, a friend of
Fiona's and the guy originally behind Moots Cycles. He was doing some landscaping at his new shop along
with his brother in law Craig. We had a few beers and
then headed up to his amazing log home about 6 miles
out of town. It was a really cool home and property. Lots of aspen trees, a stream nearby, and Strawberry
Hot Springs just down the road. He also had
constructed a pedal powered chairlift, which was super
cool. Unfortunately its in a state of disrepair, so I
couldn't try it out. Check out the pics of it. Kent
and his wife Katie were gracious hosts, and we had
some pizza for dinner and watched then end of the
tour. It was a great pit stop. Thanks Fiona for the
hookup.
Friday I face my first major mountain pass, Rabbit
Ear's, right out of Steamboat. About 8 miles out of
town the road pointed up. It was 7 miles at a 7%
grade, which means I climbed a half mile in vertical
in just 7 miles. I took me 2 hours (with a couple
breaks) to get to the top. A cool 3.5 mph average. It really wasn't too bad, as I was having visions of
needing to hitchike up the thing. Once up top, the
road rolled across the top of the range for a while,
with amazing views, streams, mountain meadows, etc. I
took a break for a while at a parking area, and ended
up meeting a fellow named Jack whose also an
acquaintance of Hurl's. He's hung out with some of
the Mpls crew, both in Fruita and back and Single
Speed worlds in 2000. Small world.
I crossed the continental divide and started downhill.
Unfortunately, its not as steep going down the other
side. And of course I had a headwind. It was a long
slow rolling downhill to Kremmeling, where my cousin
Pat picked me up. I wanted to ride all the way to
Granby, but the climb and the ensuing headwind took a
lot out of me, so he drove out to meet me. We went
back to the hotel where he works, and while he
finished up working I hot tubbed it for a bit and
found the bar. Last night Pat, Sean and I went out
for some beers and naturally ended up closing the bar.
I'm enjoying the day off, and will hit the road
tomorrow, heading north towards Wyoming. I can't
believe I'm already this far.
My computer quit in Utah, so I don't know my exact
mileage off the top of my head, but its somewhere over
1100 miles, which puts me a little over halfway home. I'll be trying to bump up my average mileage a bit
over the remainder of the ride, which shouldn't be a
problem, because as they say its all downhill from
here. I'll be posting more pics to the web shortly,
so go check those out too.
See you soon--
-Mike
----------------------------Wednesday, July 13, 2005 2:32 PM
Howdy cowpokes-
I'm currently sweating to death in Laramie Wyoming. I'm taking an unplanned rest day, as my legs have just
had NOTHING in them the last few days.
I took an extra day off in Winter Park, because I had
the time and really didn't feel like hopping on the
bike again. Saturday Pat and I did the alpine slide. It was awesome. They've never looked that fun to me
in the past, but I was flat out wrong. Its hazardous
for the chipmunks and marmots in the area, but fun
times for everyone else. That evening Sarah Guthrie
(Arlo's daughter) was playing at the folk festival in
town. It was nice, but got cold, windy and rainy by
the end of the show. Saturday night we saw Huge in
Germany, a metal/80s rock cover band. They dress to
the nines--tight leather and all--and invoke the
spirits of AC/DC and Dokken quite well.
On Sunday Pat and Caroline and I drove up to Rocky Mtn
Natl Park and took in the sights. Its gorgeous up
there, although really hard to breathe at 12000+ feet.
We drove through most of the park, including a one
way (uphill) dirt road back up to the top.
Monday it was time to hit the road again, and go over
what I though would be my last pass of the trip. I
rode north out of the Winter Park area, through the
Routt Natl Forest. It was great to be in the trees
and the climb really wasn't too bad. Once I got to
the other side the wind was a blowin' right in my
face. It was a really rough go of it for a while. My
legs were moving but I wasn't going nearly as fast as
I would've liked. I limped into Walden, CO for a
crappy dinner at the bowling alley, and rested as best
I could. I made it about another 20 miles past there
and camped in the Roosevelt Natl Forest.
I slept long and hard that night, hoping I could get
some strength back. Unfortunately, it was more of the
same. I struggled to get in 45 miles yesterday. I'm
not sure if its the altitude (I was sleeping at over
9000 ft in Winter Park) or the duration of my trip,
but its been a tought couple of days.
I rolled into Laramie last night around 7:00, and went
straight to the brewpub. A guy named Jeremy had
emailed Nick at Surly saying I should call him if I
was in the the area, so I did. It ends up he used to
work with our dear friend Simon up in Medora and
Fruita. He's definetely a Surly friend. We had too
many beers and a little whiskey and tequila along with
his girlfriend Amy. I woke up feeling pretty rough
this morning, and decided to take the day off. It
puts me behind schedule a bit, but I'm not too worried
about that. My Amy will be coming through this neck
of the woods this weekend, so if I need to make up
some time I can get a ride for a distance. Or just
not come back to work. We'll see.
Here's hoping for a better week--
-Mike
----------------------------Friday, July 15, 2005 2:45 PM
Howdy cowboys/girls-
Wyoming is windy as hell. Serious.
I haven't gotten too far. I'm now in Cheyenne, the capital of the least populated state in the Union. Sadly I haven't seen Dick Cheney running around, so I haven't been able to punch him in the nuts.
My legs still feel like crap, so I'm trying to entertain myself for a day here until Amy arrives tonight. She's heading home from Utah and should be rolling through this evening. Tomorrow we'll drive up to the Black Hills/Badlands, and probably camp out for a night before hitting the road again. I'll have her drop me off somewhere in the middle of a cornfield, and she'll continue on home. No shame here, I've got plenty of miles in, and honestly it hasn't been very fun riding the last few days. And the wind has been out of the North and East since I've left Winter Park, the EXACT opposite of what I need. So I'll take a ride for a bit to get me a little closer to home and ready to finish off the last week.
I really don't know if its the altitude (today is the first day under 6000 feet in over a week) or if all this riding is catching up to me. I'm guessing altitude just because I really haven't pushed myself too hard overall, I've just done a lot of long relatively slow days. We'll see when I get below 5000 feet tomorrow. My legs do feel stronger overall, but they're just fatigued. Ah well.
Riding from Laramie to Cheyenne was actually decent. There is a small mtn range between them, with many exposed rock formations and tons of loose boulders scattered and stacked about, no doubt left by the glaciers. But the wind was only at my back for about 3 miles overall. <sigh>
I'm looking forward to being home, but really want to finish this ride off right and ride into Minneapolis and probably straight to Dulono's for pizza and beer. I really love summer in the Cities, and I'm sure I've missed a lot of fun and misadventures during my big adventure. I'll make it up in August as best as I can.
Email will likely be sparse until I get home as I'm not going through anymore major cities. There is the possibility of a local library somewhere in South Dakota, but thats assuming they actually still fund libraries there.
Hope all's well at home, and I'll see you in about a week!
-Mike
--------------------------------------Friday, July 22, 2005 2:37 PM
Whats that smell? Don't worry, the chicken in your fridge is OK, its just me after rolling through 90 degree heat across SD and MN.
I made it home to Minneapolis last night about 6:30 after 90 miles of headwind--but I wasn't going to let a little wind keep me from home. I sure as hell wasn't going to spend the night in Norwood Young America.
I last left you hanging on the edge of your seat in Cheyenne Wyoming. I had a rest day there while I waited for Amy to come through on her way home from Utah. It was an exciting day, as I got a professional haircut for the first time in about 6 years. She even shaved my neck with one of those cold steel blades! I got hailed on on my way to the movie theater in town which was pretty sweet, and treated myself to popcorn and soda as I watched the Star Wars movie. (meh--take it or leave it) I actually had some decent pizza and caught a little bit of a rockabilly band at one of the local bars. Oh yeah, I also bought myself a souvenier--a gin-u-wine Cowboy hat. The Stetsons were a little pricey, so I got myself a nice knock-off. Amy rolled in around 10:00pm and we went to bed in the wonderful Ranger Motel. ($28 a night! And showers that work!)
Saturday morning I ate at an IHOP for the first time. Underwhelming as I suspected. We drove north out of Cheyenne across the rolling grasslands of Eastern Wyoming. I'm glad I wasn't riding, as the temperature broke 100 degrees up near the SD border, and it was windy as hell. And it would've been a headwind. We stopped in Hot Springs, SD for a dip in the hot springs pool, a place I had once gone as a youngster. The water was actually cooler than the air, as its about 89 degrees and the air was 105. It was a fun place, with a big pool with waterslides and a natural rock bottom. After a couple hours of goofing off we had a mediocre steak dinner and hit the road again. We rolled into Badlands Natl Park right around dusk and set up camp in the back entrance campground. It was still windy as hell (out of the SW at this point) but I figured it would die down overnight. HA! As I found out, the wind never stops in SD. It was a gorgeous night though, with a bright moon, a
nd a number of meteors, including one HUGE one that arced far across the sky. We slept oustide for a while until it got a little too windy, and moved to the tent. I hardly slept at all--the 30+ mph winds kept me up most of the night. I thought the tent might blow over, but a nice tent is well worth the investment--she held strong.
Sunday morning we went to Wall, SD and checked out the infamous Wall Drug. I also hadn't been here since my formative years. We got some breakfast and took the mandatory cheesy photos, and hit the road. We drove for a ways across SD, and I got out in Kimball. You know Kimball, right? Its right next to nowhere. By the grassy hill. Anyway, it was time to get back on the bike and finish this trip. My legs felt good for about 20 miles, then I started to hit the wall again. Damn. I had a bit of a tailwind but it wasn't helping me much. At this point I really wanted to quit. Was I in it for fun, or the challenge? Because I wasn't having ANY fun at all, and the prospect of another 3-400 miles wasn't too appealing. And the challenge factor was high, both mentally and physically. I knew I couldn't quit quite yet, so I rolled into the next town and was elated to see they had a free campground in the city park, with showers and everything. Its funny, everytime things h
ave been going poorly, something happens (even little things like this) to boost my spirits and everything ends up OK. Wessington Springs is a nice little town, and the folks at the bar were friendly (although the town drunk was a little annoying). Another boost to my spirits was the Grain Belt Premium they had at the bar. I KNEW I was getting close if I could get a Premo.
The next day I got a late start, as I was exhausted from the day before. But once I got on the road, I flew. It was all tailwind, all the way. Even though I didn't get on the road til 2ish, I still covered 70+ miles, and my legs felt pretty good. I got to a nice state park and camped out once again. Another great moon, and a great sunset as well.
Tuesday I finally got to Minnesota, but not with out a fight. It was a stiff cross wind out of the south all day long. But I made it to Pipestone eventually. I stopped in the local pub and had a couple beers. Met some nice locals and got the lowdown on a campground in a town 14 miles up the road. So I finished the day off with a tailwind and another great sunset. I also rode right through Buffalo Ridge, which is GIGANTIC wind farm out on the prairie, appropriately enough right outside of Holland, MN. There are literally hundreds of turbines spread out on this ridge, going as far as you can see in either direction. I had read about this place, and was glad to see it in person.
Around here I met another tourist--although you wouldn't have guessed it by looking at him. He was stopped on the side of the road, so I stopped to make sure he didn't need anything. He was a 50ish fellow, riding a 25+ year old Schwinn World Sport 10 speed with a bent up rack and a single small duffle bag. He had on a beat up t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. He was holding a phone book (!?!?) in his hand. Ends up he was from Mpls as well, heading home. He said he lived at 9th and Portland, so I think he lived in a halfway house or a flophouse hotel or the like. He had tried to ride out to Yellowstone (!), but the winds and laziness held him up and he only got as far as Pierre, SD. Right on brother.
I rolled into Ruthton, MN around dusk and met another tourist. This fellow probably 35ish, and wearing jeans and a tshirt. He was riding a Cannondale mountain bike, with a small seatpost mounted bag and a small handlebar bag, with a cop-issue MagLite for a headlight. He was also a strange bird, telling me about getting hassled by the cops, and how we was riding to Sioux Falls, SD and then taking a bus to Rapid City. There was some other reason in there why he was out riding, but he didn't seem to want to tell me. Riding away from something? He rolled on and I set up camp.
I knew I was close now, and hoped for just 2 more days of riding. On Wednesday I rode through Marshall, Redwood Falls, and ended up in Fairfax. Not a very nice town--lots of drunk teens cruising around and looking like they had nothing better to do than hassle me. Fortunately the park I stayed in was on the south side of town, away from all the "action." I had met my halfway house friend earlier on the road again, and he ended up in the same park I did. He camped a ways away from me (not a bad idea in case the cops showed up--only one of us would probably get in trouble. It really wasn't clear if it was legit to camp there).
Finally it was time for the last leg of my big journey. I had about 90 miles to go. Naturally it was a headwind. Only 5-10 mph, but its amazing how much even a small headwind will slow you down considerably. I spent most of the day low on the handlebars, staring just at the road in front of me, trying to make time. Fortunately I got a really early start, as I didn't sleep well the night before and was anxious to get home. Getting breakfast that morning I also realized I was approaching the daily grind again, as the news was on and they were talking about traffic in the cities---something I haven't though about in a long long time. And I read the paper and realized how much had happened while I've been on the road, but how little things really change. Oh Karl Rove is in trouble. New Supreme Court nominee. Deaths, destruction. Its all the same even though the headlines change topics now and again. Sigh.
I finally felt like I was home once I hit the bike trail in Victoria. I had a couple of beers at Floyds and then hopped on the trail. I was already feeling irked by the city, as riding on Hwy 5 had sucked (212 detour, narrow shoulder, etc) and already dealing with honking cars (not at me fortunately) and impatient people. Argh! Oh well, I'll be used to it again in a few days I suppose. Once I hit the trail I flew home. It was flat and well protected from the wind. Cruised by the super-homes and yatchs on Minnetonka. Flew by old men on aerobar equipped bikes. Finally hit the paved trail in Hopkins and could barely see the skyline through the trees.
I rolled up to Bryn Mawr about 6:30. Joe was home, and I had him take a picture. Sadly he didn't have any beer, so I begged my friendly neighbor Kelly Mac for a cool down beer. I had my Dulono's for dinner. Hot damn thats good pizza.
It feels great to be home--the last 2 weeks were quite challenging on the bike, and I just wanted it to be over at points. But overall it was great. It hit me last night on the trail, that, damn, I just rode my bike (mostly) across this country. Its a good feeling, and I couldn't help but feel superior to the people driving around me. I've got a lot more stories to tell, and hope to tell them to you when I see you, hopefully soon. Its great to be back, although I'm sure I'll want another vacation by Thursday or so.
I'm at the library right now and am about to run out of time, so I'm cutting this message short for now. I've got some more observations to write down, and some closing thoughts and stats. I also have a bunch of pics to post up--look for those later this weekend or next week.
I hope to see you soon. Split Lip Rayfield (my favorite heavy metal bluegrass band) is playing tonight at Lee's Liquor Lounge if you wanna get out of the house and have a few beers. Otherwise I'll see ya when I see ya.
-Mike
-Mike
--------------------------Wednesday, June 22, 2005 8:02 PM
Howdy folks--
I've arrived safely in Bend, OR after 2 1/2 days on the road. Nothing serious to report. Some ups and downs, both literally and figuratively. The uphills are hard, the downhills are a blast. I did 64 miles on Monday and got to the middle of nowhere on the Clackamas River. Day 2 was 93 miles and was my first day of serious climbing. I'm glad it wasn't at altitude. I just did 28 miles today into Bend and met my friend Dave Wilke at the Deschutes Brewery. So today is a bit of a rest day, and tomorrow I start across desolate Eastern Oregon.
I'd like to attach some pictures that I've taken, but haven't yet figured out where to download them off my camera.
More to come in a week or so....
-Mike
-------------Friday, July 01, 2005 2:50 PM
Greetings from Mormon Land!
Warning! This email is pretty long. Make sure you're
at work when you read this!
I arrived safely in Park City on Wednesday evening and
am taking a nice 4 day break from the road. I've
ridden for 10 days and covered just shy of 800 miles. I'm a little over 1/3 of the way home. I've had a
bunch of really great days and a couple pretty crappy
ones. Here's a synopsis:
I hung out in Portland for a the weekend before
hitting the road. Cheever picked me up from the
airport late Friday night, and we had some beers and
rode around a little bit. Saturday morning he took
off for Seattle, so I was on my own to explore the
city and get some stuff for my trip. I went to REI,
found the Rogue Brew Pub, got a bike map of the city,
and rode around some. Saturday evening I hooked up
with Nick Sande's friend Kari, and she took me to a
backyard BBQ at a friends house. I had some beers and
sausage and met some cool folks. Around 9:00pm I took
off to meet my cousin Molly at a bar across the river
from downtown. We barhopped a bit and had a good
time. Unfortunately her favorite brew pub
(Tugboat's?) was closed. I guess I'll have to go
there next time.
Sunday I rode around and took a bunch of pictures of
the bike around town. I also visited River City
Cycles, a really cool shop. I particularly liked
their ~$5000 pizza-getter bike, with custom Sycip
frame, racks, fenders and chainguard (see pics). Cheever got back in the late afternoon and we rode
around and enjoyed the gorgeous day and fine Pabst
Blue Ribbon lager. We went to a pub with some great
vintage motorcycles hanging up, and naturally an Evil
Kneivel helmet. We also went to the Yamhill Pub,
Cheever's home away from home.
Monday morning I hit the road, albeit later than I was
planning (surprise surprise). It was a nice ride
along the river through the city to the burbs. As I
mentioned in my previous email, I did 64 miles the
first day and 92 the second through the awesome (and
hilly) Cascades. Wednesday afternoon I rolled into
Bend and took the afternoon off to hang out with my
friend Dave (in Oregon visiting relatives). We drank
a few pints at the Deschutes brewery (gotta be one of
the best breweries in the nation). We hung around
downtown, visited a bike shop, got some supplies, and
ate some dinner. We camped at a state park right
outside of Bend, which was rather crowded, but they
had SHOWERS!
Thursday morning I set off across the Eastern Oregon
high desert. I was worried it would be wicked hot out
there, but it was mostly in the 70s and 80s. I was
also worried about road construction, as there was a
sign in Bend claiming road work for the next 250
miles. This wasn't bad either as it was just
occasional bridge work. No long stretches of with no
shoulder or anything like that.
The high desert is beautiful, and fortunately pretty
flat. I had 4 passes to go over, but none of them
were huge. Usually around 30 minutes to climb them. And the downhills---ahhhh. 5-10 minutes of coasting
at 40 mph! The hills will be bigger over the next
week, but bigger climbs mean longer downhills. I
camped 2 nights in Oregon. Both times I just pulled
off the road and pitched my tent. The first night I
was surrounded by sage brush and grass, and they've
had a wet spring which meant the plants were in full
bloom and my allergies were killer. My eyes swelled
up to what felt like grapefruits, and I was blowing
snot out like a slurpee machine. I took an
antihistamine and went to bed. The second night I
found an awesome spot along a river well off the road.
It was fantastic, but naturally it rained that night.
My last day in Oregon was pretty tough. The first 30
miles were great, as I followed the Malheur River down
into the flats. I was flying, averaging over 17 mph. Then the headwinds came, and my final pass. My legs
were weak and I was struggling as I rolled into Vale,
OR. I took a long break, ate a burger and drank some
beers. When I got out of the bar, it was super windy
and a storm was rolling in. I had to press on, so I
rode across a killer cross wind (my bike was leaned
over the whole time) and had some rain for the first
time on my trip. After 12 miles of crosswind I turned
directly into the wind--at least by now the rain had
stopped. I pulled into Nyssa, OR (right on the ID/OR
border) and assessed the situation (in a taven,
naturally). The locals didn't know what the weather
was supposed to do. I could've pressed on, but light
was getting short and I really didn't want to get
soaked. I noticed there was a motel (that was actuall
still in business) on my way into town, and the locals
at the tavern seemed fun, so I decided to stay. I met
a guy who thought I was crazy for riding cross
country, but then I found out he was a professional
bull rider. Everybody's crazy in their own way. Had
a great time at the tavern, and round about midnight
decided it was time to take a shower and go to sleep.
When I stepped out, I noticed I had a flat rear tire,
my first of the trip. Damn. I pumped it up a bit and
rode to the motel. I forgot that I was in Nyssa, OR,
because the motel had closed for the night and wasn't
taking any more guests. Double damn. I really wanted
to get out of Oregon at this point, so I rode across
the river and found a spot on the edge of a farmer's
field in some trees. I didn't have the gumption to
set up my tent, so I just got out my sleeping pad and
bag and went to bed. At least I was in Idaho.
The next morning I fixed my flat and took off. 1 mile
later, another flat. The rim tape had shifted and
exposed a spoke hole. I changed my route a bit so I
would go through a bigger town that might actually
have a bike shop. Of course I got another flat as I
rolled into this town (this time on account of a HUGE
thorn). Nampa, ID is a bigger town, but its still
small enough that the only bike shop in town was
closed on Sundays. Oh well. My legs were feeling
like crap--no dinner and a bunch of beer will do that
to you. Of course I had a headwind too as I rode into
some rain. Ah the joys of being on your bike
everyday....Eventually I was back into the middle of
nowhere. I made a stop in the town of Murphy, ID. I
got some water and talked to the locals a bit. One of
them had just been in St Cloud visiting relatives. I
don't know what it was but after talking to these
folks I felt a lot better. Nothing special was
said--just the usually pleasantries. But I just felt
refreshed for some reason, and the winds had died down
and the rain had blown over. I ended up going the
full 90+ miles I had planned on originally.
It was now Monday, and I had 2 more days til Park
City. It started out swell. Got a good greasy
breakfast in Grand View, ID and hit the road in some
light rain, which didn't last more than a half hour. I had another flat (this time a small piece of metal)
but that didn't faze me much. I took a rest stop at
Bruneau Dunes State Park, the tallest sand dunes in
the US (480 feet tall). I rode along the beautiful
Snake River valley. I had lunch in Glenn's Ferry. Then things got ugly. I had a flat on the way out of
town (rim strip again). Then another. And another. And another. It was now 3 hours after I finished
lunch and I hadn't gotten out of town. I bought some
duct tape to replace the rim strip. Hit the road (on
I84 actually) and still had a slow leak in my rear
tube. I was now down to 1 patch, and had 60 miles to
go to Twin Falls, where I knew I could find a bike
shop. I tried hitch hiking for a bit (something I've
never done), but the Glenn's Ferry exit isn't a very
busy one. I went back to town and inquired about a
bus to Twin Falls. No dice. The motel still had
rooms, so I had that as an option. There was a sign
for a mobile bicycle repair guy, but he was over 40
miles away. I decided to try hitch hiking again for a
while, and if that didn't work I'd stay in this shit
town and figure out what to do the next day. After
hanging out by the freeway entrance a few minutes, I
saw an 80s VW Vanagon camper bus coming, and I KNEW it
was my only chance. Thankfully, the woman actually
stopped. Her name was Ryland, and she was road
tripping, headed back home to Durango. She was happy
to have a bit of company and drove me the 50 miles to
Twin Falls. I found a motel in "Old Town" and finally
was able to calm down a bit. Watching TV I saw Fiona
from Mpls on a Discovery channel show about Lance
Armstrong. (Fiona--you did fine!) That was weird.
Tuesday morning I went to the bike shop and got some
new tubes, rimstrips and patches and got my bike
rolling again. Hit the road kind of late (3ish), but
still covered alot of ground thanks to a tailwind
<gasp!>. It was one last night in Idaho, and around
noon on Wednesday I crossed into Utah rode on the
straightest road I've seen yet (about 20 miles without
a curve). I rolled into Brigham City (north of Salt
Lake City) around 6:00, where Amy met me and drove me
up to Park City, where I now sit.
Overall, its been great. My legs have been strong,
the weather has been better than I could ask for. All
told, it probably hasn't rained for more than an hour
total while I've been riding. And it hasn't been hot
either. I've seen a ton of country that I've never
seen before, and you REALLY get to see it cruising
along at 15 mph or so. I've met some nice folks. And
even when things have been going badly, its always
worked out OK in the end. I hope my luck continues.
Now I have 4 days off in Park City. Lots of relaxing
and hot tubbing will be had. I also just had a full
body massage this morning. I'm hoping to go for a
mountain bike ride tomorrow, and visit Snowbird as
well. Its like I'm on vacation or something. Monday
I will hit the road again and head towards Winter
Park, CO. I've got a couple huge passes ahead, but
also some hot springs and more gorgeous country. I'll
be taking a day off in Winter Park as well, probably
next Saturday.
I have a bunch of pictures to share. I'm going to
work on putting up a hosted photo site this afternoon.
I'll send a link when its ready.
I hope everybody is doing well and enjoying your
summer, wherever you are.
-Mike
PS: Some observations thus far:
1) Salsa rim tape SUCKS!
2) The bigger the pickup, with the bigger the wheels
and suspension, the more likely you are to see it in a
big town, not the country side.
3) Cell phones work almost everywhere in this country
4) Small town America is where cheesy t-shirts go to
die (ie. "I'm lazy, obnoxious, unemployed, etc....but
I'm FUN!" and "Spooning leads to forking")
5) Its hard to breath at 7200 ft
6) Triathletes are assholes...I saw at least 50 cars
with tribikes headed to Bend for a tri, and not ONE of
them waved at me.
7) The best time to ride is aroun 7:00 pm. Very
little traffic for some reason.
8) Why is the most beautiful state in the US (Utah)
run by the biggest wackos in the US (Mormons)?
9) There's lots of fake breasts in Park City.
-----------------------------------------Saturday, July 09, 2005 2:34 PM
Howdy diddily doo, neighbors!
I'm drinking a Molson and relaxing in Winter Park
Colorado. I'm taking a day off and hanging out with
my cousins Pat (and wife Caroline) and Sean. Its a
beautiful summer day and we'll be hitting the alpine
slide and the resort shortly.
Park City was a great time. I felt like I was
actually on VACATION. Its great riding my bike
everyday, but it was even better to have a few days
just to relax, drink some beers, and explore around a
bit, without the pressure to ride 80 some miles.
I got in Wednesday evening, and Amy picked me up in
Brigham City, north of Salt Lake City a ways. It was
much nicer than having to ride through the hellish
burbs of SLC. Had a great pizza dinner and some beer
and had a relatively early night. Amy had school on
Thursday and Friday, so I was left to my own devices. I got a massage, checked out the Wasatch Brew Pub,
stopped by the bike shop to tune up the rig, and did
plenty of relaxing. Thursday evening Amy and I did a
nice hike on the trails right outside of our place. Friday evening I picked up a mountain bike from the
shop, and went out for an exceptionally tasty steak
dinner in downtown Park City. If only I could eat
like that everyday.
Saturday we went for a mountain bike ride right in
town. They have a ton of trails all through the area.
Some at the ski areas, others owned by the city, and
a fair amount that actually go through private land. The city has some sort of development rule that makes
it in the best interest of the developer to keep or
put public use trails on the land. We rode about a 12
mile loop from our place out on gravel trails and out
to the city owned single track. It was a nice little
ride. I didn't want to do anything too epic as I've
got to save my energy for big days on the road. Later
in the day we drove down to Snowbird ski area. It was
July 2, and they were still open for skiing! I talked
to a guy at the base, and he had gotten in over 3000
vertical feet in one run by hiking up above Alta! We
took the tram to the top, where they still had easily
1000 feet of snow open. We had a little picnic lunch
with our leftover steak and some beer. It was
beautiful up there, although walking through snow in
sandals is a little cold.
Sunday we drove a little further south to Sundance. We didn't really know what to expect or do, but Amy
was interested in checking it out. We pulled in and
the parking attendant told us there was a huge wedding
that was winding down, so some of the base area was
closed to the public. He wouldn't tell us who was
getting married, but did say that they had booked 3
bands over the weekend including Maroon 5 and Hootie
and the Blowfish. Not my type of music, but damn,
must of been some high rollers there. The parking guy
felt bad that the wedding was taking up so much of the
resort, so he gave us free lift passes to go up top.
Sundance was easily one of the most beautiful places
I've ever been. Huge exposed peaks and cliffs,
wildflowers, a waterfall, and great views of the
canyon and surrounding peaks. We were both pleasantly
surprised. From the top we did a 2 mile hike to
Stewart Falls and back. It was a huge waterfall,
easily over 100 feet tall. We had another picnic
snack at the falls and hiked back, which included
crossing a really cold and fast moving mountain
stream.
From Sundance we drove up to Cascade Springs, which is
further up the same canyon. The road up there was
epic. Truly a mountain road. About 1.5 lanes wide,
many switchbacks and 180 degree turns, and through
huge aspen groves. I was thinking the springs would
be a hot springs, but unfortunately it was not. It
was an awesome natural spring though, with many
different pools and limestone terraces, and plenty of
wildflowers and other plants and wildlife.
Monday was time to hit the road. I really didn't want
to leave, so instead of leaving bright and early, I
hung out with Amy through the afternoon and drove
about 35 miles out of town to start my ride. We drove
to the top of a pass on the way east towards Colorado.
After a long goodbye, I hit the road DOWNhill. It
was 42 miles downhill with a tailwind. I stopped
after 8 miles and I was averaving 35 mph. After about
12 miles of solid downhill twisty road, it flattend
out and followed the Duchesne river the next 30 miles.
At the end of the 42 miles, I was averaging 22.3 mph!
Then I had to turn across the wind, and the wind now
slowed me down considerably. I only made it 6 more
miles. I found a campground on the property of a
restaurant/store and set up for the night. I had a
fire (only the 2nd one of my trip) and could see some
fireworks from Roosevelt, UT about 20 miles away.
The next few days were across the high desert of Utah
and Western Colorado. Everything went pretty smooth,
with the exception of some killer headwinds now and
again. But I stayed on schedule pretty much. On
Wednesday, I had a huge day, with GIGANTIC rollers
between Dinousaur and Maybell, CO along US40. It
flattened out and I got a tailwind so I made up some
time. Unfortunately, the area I was hoping to camp in
was entirely private land. It was getting dark, but I
decided to press on to Craig, knowing I could find a
campground or motel. I rolled in around 9:40, after
103 miles total that day. The only kampground was a
KOA, and I didn't feel like giving them $25 for a
crappy campspot, so I got a $35 motel room and vegged
out watching bad cable TV.
Thursday was a quick 40 mile ride into Steamboat
Springs. I found a pub with some good beers, had some
food and called some loved ones. Later in the
afternoon I met up with Kent Eriksen, a friend of
Fiona's and the guy originally behind Moots Cycles. He was doing some landscaping at his new shop along
with his brother in law Craig. We had a few beers and
then headed up to his amazing log home about 6 miles
out of town. It was a really cool home and property. Lots of aspen trees, a stream nearby, and Strawberry
Hot Springs just down the road. He also had
constructed a pedal powered chairlift, which was super
cool. Unfortunately its in a state of disrepair, so I
couldn't try it out. Check out the pics of it. Kent
and his wife Katie were gracious hosts, and we had
some pizza for dinner and watched then end of the
tour. It was a great pit stop. Thanks Fiona for the
hookup.
Friday I face my first major mountain pass, Rabbit
Ear's, right out of Steamboat. About 8 miles out of
town the road pointed up. It was 7 miles at a 7%
grade, which means I climbed a half mile in vertical
in just 7 miles. I took me 2 hours (with a couple
breaks) to get to the top. A cool 3.5 mph average. It really wasn't too bad, as I was having visions of
needing to hitchike up the thing. Once up top, the
road rolled across the top of the range for a while,
with amazing views, streams, mountain meadows, etc. I
took a break for a while at a parking area, and ended
up meeting a fellow named Jack whose also an
acquaintance of Hurl's. He's hung out with some of
the Mpls crew, both in Fruita and back and Single
Speed worlds in 2000. Small world.
I crossed the continental divide and started downhill.
Unfortunately, its not as steep going down the other
side. And of course I had a headwind. It was a long
slow rolling downhill to Kremmeling, where my cousin
Pat picked me up. I wanted to ride all the way to
Granby, but the climb and the ensuing headwind took a
lot out of me, so he drove out to meet me. We went
back to the hotel where he works, and while he
finished up working I hot tubbed it for a bit and
found the bar. Last night Pat, Sean and I went out
for some beers and naturally ended up closing the bar.
I'm enjoying the day off, and will hit the road
tomorrow, heading north towards Wyoming. I can't
believe I'm already this far.
My computer quit in Utah, so I don't know my exact
mileage off the top of my head, but its somewhere over
1100 miles, which puts me a little over halfway home. I'll be trying to bump up my average mileage a bit
over the remainder of the ride, which shouldn't be a
problem, because as they say its all downhill from
here. I'll be posting more pics to the web shortly,
so go check those out too.
See you soon--
-Mike
----------------------------Wednesday, July 13, 2005 2:32 PM
Howdy cowpokes-
I'm currently sweating to death in Laramie Wyoming. I'm taking an unplanned rest day, as my legs have just
had NOTHING in them the last few days.
I took an extra day off in Winter Park, because I had
the time and really didn't feel like hopping on the
bike again. Saturday Pat and I did the alpine slide. It was awesome. They've never looked that fun to me
in the past, but I was flat out wrong. Its hazardous
for the chipmunks and marmots in the area, but fun
times for everyone else. That evening Sarah Guthrie
(Arlo's daughter) was playing at the folk festival in
town. It was nice, but got cold, windy and rainy by
the end of the show. Saturday night we saw Huge in
Germany, a metal/80s rock cover band. They dress to
the nines--tight leather and all--and invoke the
spirits of AC/DC and Dokken quite well.
On Sunday Pat and Caroline and I drove up to Rocky Mtn
Natl Park and took in the sights. Its gorgeous up
there, although really hard to breathe at 12000+ feet.
We drove through most of the park, including a one
way (uphill) dirt road back up to the top.
Monday it was time to hit the road again, and go over
what I though would be my last pass of the trip. I
rode north out of the Winter Park area, through the
Routt Natl Forest. It was great to be in the trees
and the climb really wasn't too bad. Once I got to
the other side the wind was a blowin' right in my
face. It was a really rough go of it for a while. My
legs were moving but I wasn't going nearly as fast as
I would've liked. I limped into Walden, CO for a
crappy dinner at the bowling alley, and rested as best
I could. I made it about another 20 miles past there
and camped in the Roosevelt Natl Forest.
I slept long and hard that night, hoping I could get
some strength back. Unfortunately, it was more of the
same. I struggled to get in 45 miles yesterday. I'm
not sure if its the altitude (I was sleeping at over
9000 ft in Winter Park) or the duration of my trip,
but its been a tought couple of days.
I rolled into Laramie last night around 7:00, and went
straight to the brewpub. A guy named Jeremy had
emailed Nick at Surly saying I should call him if I
was in the the area, so I did. It ends up he used to
work with our dear friend Simon up in Medora and
Fruita. He's definetely a Surly friend. We had too
many beers and a little whiskey and tequila along with
his girlfriend Amy. I woke up feeling pretty rough
this morning, and decided to take the day off. It
puts me behind schedule a bit, but I'm not too worried
about that. My Amy will be coming through this neck
of the woods this weekend, so if I need to make up
some time I can get a ride for a distance. Or just
not come back to work. We'll see.
Here's hoping for a better week--
-Mike
----------------------------Friday, July 15, 2005 2:45 PM
Howdy cowboys/girls-
Wyoming is windy as hell. Serious.
I haven't gotten too far. I'm now in Cheyenne, the capital of the least populated state in the Union. Sadly I haven't seen Dick Cheney running around, so I haven't been able to punch him in the nuts.
My legs still feel like crap, so I'm trying to entertain myself for a day here until Amy arrives tonight. She's heading home from Utah and should be rolling through this evening. Tomorrow we'll drive up to the Black Hills/Badlands, and probably camp out for a night before hitting the road again. I'll have her drop me off somewhere in the middle of a cornfield, and she'll continue on home. No shame here, I've got plenty of miles in, and honestly it hasn't been very fun riding the last few days. And the wind has been out of the North and East since I've left Winter Park, the EXACT opposite of what I need. So I'll take a ride for a bit to get me a little closer to home and ready to finish off the last week.
I really don't know if its the altitude (today is the first day under 6000 feet in over a week) or if all this riding is catching up to me. I'm guessing altitude just because I really haven't pushed myself too hard overall, I've just done a lot of long relatively slow days. We'll see when I get below 5000 feet tomorrow. My legs do feel stronger overall, but they're just fatigued. Ah well.
Riding from Laramie to Cheyenne was actually decent. There is a small mtn range between them, with many exposed rock formations and tons of loose boulders scattered and stacked about, no doubt left by the glaciers. But the wind was only at my back for about 3 miles overall. <sigh>
I'm looking forward to being home, but really want to finish this ride off right and ride into Minneapolis and probably straight to Dulono's for pizza and beer. I really love summer in the Cities, and I'm sure I've missed a lot of fun and misadventures during my big adventure. I'll make it up in August as best as I can.
Email will likely be sparse until I get home as I'm not going through anymore major cities. There is the possibility of a local library somewhere in South Dakota, but thats assuming they actually still fund libraries there.
Hope all's well at home, and I'll see you in about a week!
-Mike
--------------------------------------Friday, July 22, 2005 2:37 PM
Whats that smell? Don't worry, the chicken in your fridge is OK, its just me after rolling through 90 degree heat across SD and MN.
I made it home to Minneapolis last night about 6:30 after 90 miles of headwind--but I wasn't going to let a little wind keep me from home. I sure as hell wasn't going to spend the night in Norwood Young America.
I last left you hanging on the edge of your seat in Cheyenne Wyoming. I had a rest day there while I waited for Amy to come through on her way home from Utah. It was an exciting day, as I got a professional haircut for the first time in about 6 years. She even shaved my neck with one of those cold steel blades! I got hailed on on my way to the movie theater in town which was pretty sweet, and treated myself to popcorn and soda as I watched the Star Wars movie. (meh--take it or leave it) I actually had some decent pizza and caught a little bit of a rockabilly band at one of the local bars. Oh yeah, I also bought myself a souvenier--a gin-u-wine Cowboy hat. The Stetsons were a little pricey, so I got myself a nice knock-off. Amy rolled in around 10:00pm and we went to bed in the wonderful Ranger Motel. ($28 a night! And showers that work!)
Saturday morning I ate at an IHOP for the first time. Underwhelming as I suspected. We drove north out of Cheyenne across the rolling grasslands of Eastern Wyoming. I'm glad I wasn't riding, as the temperature broke 100 degrees up near the SD border, and it was windy as hell. And it would've been a headwind. We stopped in Hot Springs, SD for a dip in the hot springs pool, a place I had once gone as a youngster. The water was actually cooler than the air, as its about 89 degrees and the air was 105. It was a fun place, with a big pool with waterslides and a natural rock bottom. After a couple hours of goofing off we had a mediocre steak dinner and hit the road again. We rolled into Badlands Natl Park right around dusk and set up camp in the back entrance campground. It was still windy as hell (out of the SW at this point) but I figured it would die down overnight. HA! As I found out, the wind never stops in SD. It was a gorgeous night though, with a bright moon, a
nd a number of meteors, including one HUGE one that arced far across the sky. We slept oustide for a while until it got a little too windy, and moved to the tent. I hardly slept at all--the 30+ mph winds kept me up most of the night. I thought the tent might blow over, but a nice tent is well worth the investment--she held strong.
Sunday morning we went to Wall, SD and checked out the infamous Wall Drug. I also hadn't been here since my formative years. We got some breakfast and took the mandatory cheesy photos, and hit the road. We drove for a ways across SD, and I got out in Kimball. You know Kimball, right? Its right next to nowhere. By the grassy hill. Anyway, it was time to get back on the bike and finish this trip. My legs felt good for about 20 miles, then I started to hit the wall again. Damn. I had a bit of a tailwind but it wasn't helping me much. At this point I really wanted to quit. Was I in it for fun, or the challenge? Because I wasn't having ANY fun at all, and the prospect of another 3-400 miles wasn't too appealing. And the challenge factor was high, both mentally and physically. I knew I couldn't quit quite yet, so I rolled into the next town and was elated to see they had a free campground in the city park, with showers and everything. Its funny, everytime things h
ave been going poorly, something happens (even little things like this) to boost my spirits and everything ends up OK. Wessington Springs is a nice little town, and the folks at the bar were friendly (although the town drunk was a little annoying). Another boost to my spirits was the Grain Belt Premium they had at the bar. I KNEW I was getting close if I could get a Premo.
The next day I got a late start, as I was exhausted from the day before. But once I got on the road, I flew. It was all tailwind, all the way. Even though I didn't get on the road til 2ish, I still covered 70+ miles, and my legs felt pretty good. I got to a nice state park and camped out once again. Another great moon, and a great sunset as well.
Tuesday I finally got to Minnesota, but not with out a fight. It was a stiff cross wind out of the south all day long. But I made it to Pipestone eventually. I stopped in the local pub and had a couple beers. Met some nice locals and got the lowdown on a campground in a town 14 miles up the road. So I finished the day off with a tailwind and another great sunset. I also rode right through Buffalo Ridge, which is GIGANTIC wind farm out on the prairie, appropriately enough right outside of Holland, MN. There are literally hundreds of turbines spread out on this ridge, going as far as you can see in either direction. I had read about this place, and was glad to see it in person.
Around here I met another tourist--although you wouldn't have guessed it by looking at him. He was stopped on the side of the road, so I stopped to make sure he didn't need anything. He was a 50ish fellow, riding a 25+ year old Schwinn World Sport 10 speed with a bent up rack and a single small duffle bag. He had on a beat up t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. He was holding a phone book (!?!?) in his hand. Ends up he was from Mpls as well, heading home. He said he lived at 9th and Portland, so I think he lived in a halfway house or a flophouse hotel or the like. He had tried to ride out to Yellowstone (!), but the winds and laziness held him up and he only got as far as Pierre, SD. Right on brother.
I rolled into Ruthton, MN around dusk and met another tourist. This fellow probably 35ish, and wearing jeans and a tshirt. He was riding a Cannondale mountain bike, with a small seatpost mounted bag and a small handlebar bag, with a cop-issue MagLite for a headlight. He was also a strange bird, telling me about getting hassled by the cops, and how we was riding to Sioux Falls, SD and then taking a bus to Rapid City. There was some other reason in there why he was out riding, but he didn't seem to want to tell me. Riding away from something? He rolled on and I set up camp.
I knew I was close now, and hoped for just 2 more days of riding. On Wednesday I rode through Marshall, Redwood Falls, and ended up in Fairfax. Not a very nice town--lots of drunk teens cruising around and looking like they had nothing better to do than hassle me. Fortunately the park I stayed in was on the south side of town, away from all the "action." I had met my halfway house friend earlier on the road again, and he ended up in the same park I did. He camped a ways away from me (not a bad idea in case the cops showed up--only one of us would probably get in trouble. It really wasn't clear if it was legit to camp there).
Finally it was time for the last leg of my big journey. I had about 90 miles to go. Naturally it was a headwind. Only 5-10 mph, but its amazing how much even a small headwind will slow you down considerably. I spent most of the day low on the handlebars, staring just at the road in front of me, trying to make time. Fortunately I got a really early start, as I didn't sleep well the night before and was anxious to get home. Getting breakfast that morning I also realized I was approaching the daily grind again, as the news was on and they were talking about traffic in the cities---something I haven't though about in a long long time. And I read the paper and realized how much had happened while I've been on the road, but how little things really change. Oh Karl Rove is in trouble. New Supreme Court nominee. Deaths, destruction. Its all the same even though the headlines change topics now and again. Sigh.
I finally felt like I was home once I hit the bike trail in Victoria. I had a couple of beers at Floyds and then hopped on the trail. I was already feeling irked by the city, as riding on Hwy 5 had sucked (212 detour, narrow shoulder, etc) and already dealing with honking cars (not at me fortunately) and impatient people. Argh! Oh well, I'll be used to it again in a few days I suppose. Once I hit the trail I flew home. It was flat and well protected from the wind. Cruised by the super-homes and yatchs on Minnetonka. Flew by old men on aerobar equipped bikes. Finally hit the paved trail in Hopkins and could barely see the skyline through the trees.
I rolled up to Bryn Mawr about 6:30. Joe was home, and I had him take a picture. Sadly he didn't have any beer, so I begged my friendly neighbor Kelly Mac for a cool down beer. I had my Dulono's for dinner. Hot damn thats good pizza.
It feels great to be home--the last 2 weeks were quite challenging on the bike, and I just wanted it to be over at points. But overall it was great. It hit me last night on the trail, that, damn, I just rode my bike (mostly) across this country. Its a good feeling, and I couldn't help but feel superior to the people driving around me. I've got a lot more stories to tell, and hope to tell them to you when I see you, hopefully soon. Its great to be back, although I'm sure I'll want another vacation by Thursday or so.
I'm at the library right now and am about to run out of time, so I'm cutting this message short for now. I've got some more observations to write down, and some closing thoughts and stats. I also have a bunch of pics to post up--look for those later this weekend or next week.
I hope to see you soon. Split Lip Rayfield (my favorite heavy metal bluegrass band) is playing tonight at Lee's Liquor Lounge if you wanna get out of the house and have a few beers. Otherwise I'll see ya when I see ya.
-Mike