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Archive for 2011

Sallie’s gear test

Posted in Our equipment on June 15, 2011| 8 Comments »

Fairplay, CO to Frisco, CO

Miles: 36

Total so far: 2,817

Good morning at Fairplay!

We woke up to a 36 degree morning in Fairplay.  Rather than hang out by our picnic table making breakfast wearing everything we own to keep warm, we dressed in everything we own, packed up, and went across the street to a convenience store for breakfast.

Leaving Fairplay on their bike path

We hit the road early, knowing we had a short day ahead of us.  We coordinated with a cousin of ours who has a vacation home in Frisco to spend a day off in the company of relatives, get some maintenance done on the bikes, and the ever necessary laundry load or two.

Mount Bross as seen during our ascent of Hoosier Pass

At the highest point of the Trans Am. No, it's not all downhill from here.

We summited the highest point of the Trans-Am today, topping out at 11,542 feet, crossing Hoosier Pass.  The climb was really nothing too challenging, as the grades going north were not too steep, and we already ascended to within 1500 feet.  The descent was full of switchbacks and the grades on that side were considerably steeper.  After the pass, we went through the towns of Blue River and Breckenridge, before gaining a bike trail that took us all the way into Frisco.  Colorado has these fabulous bike trails in this area.  When we resume riding the day after tomorrow, the same trail will take us to Silverthorne, some 15 total miles of bike trail riding.

The descent...

Breckenridge ski area. The snowpack was very heavy this winter.

The bike path between Breckenridge and Frisco

(The following may be a little bike-technical for some)

Sallie has been having trouble dropping her chain when working in and out of the small chain ring (granny gear).  The trouble started very intermittently after some of the steep hills in Tennessee and Missouri.  I’ve pretty consistently accused her of operator error, as I’ve checked the stop settings, and was satisfied they were correct.  Today we went in to a very good bike shop here in Frisco, Wilderness Sports, and the shop tech spotted a bent small chain ring.  She has a Shimano 105 crankset, and it’s just not been able to handle the stress we’ve put it through.  Sallie overpowered her gear.

I have to ask Sallie to pass on this coffee in the future. It's too hard on chainrings!

Rather than straighten this chain ring, or order a new one, we’ve opted to replace the entire crankset with Shimano XT.  That should hold up to my sister’s power output!  The one hang-up is we’ve had to order one shipped from Salt Lake with 170mm cranks.  The parts should be in tomorrow, and that won’t cost us any delays.

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Tomorrow is a rest day for us at Frisco, Colorado.  Dedications will be resumed when we continue riding. Meanwhile enjoy one more picture from this beautiful country.

Looking up a valley between two 14'ers - Mt. Bross and Mt. Lincoln

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Music stuck in my head

Posted in Living the life, The mental challenge on June 14, 2011| 9 Comments »

Guffey, CO to Fairplay, CO

Friendly horn taps:1

Miles: 46

Total so far: 2,781

This was taken looking northwest from Currant Creek Pass 9,404 feet. The biggies are ahead.

One more image of Guffey - this little buck was casually watching me as I brushed my teeth

This is really tragic.  For the last three days or so I’ve had Bon Jovi’s, “Livin on a Prayer” lyrics running through my brain.  My daughter used to describe it as, “a song stuck in your head”.

So true.

I know a lot of people are praying for me, so in a lot of ways,  I guess I am living on a prayer, but this could be a record.  It’s even staying around during the windy times of day when my brain turns reptilian and all I can do is grind out the miles.  I’ve tried replacing it with another song, but that could be dangerous.  I have to pick the right one, or I may end up on a therapy couch somewhere complaining about John Prine songs.  I’ve tried poetry, but that’s not even close.

Today we finished our miles to Fairplay, Colorado in winds coming from the north-west at speeds of 35 miles an hour and gusts to 43.  We were, of course, heading north-west all day, so it was a bit of a grind.  We treated ourselves to a fabulous dinner at Mason’s High Country BBQ.  They do fine St. Louis style ribs, complimented nicely with their German rope sausage, smoked baked beans, and stewed fresh greens.  That’s good stuff.

The South Platte River near it's headwaters. Through the willows you can see the snow capped peaks ahead, but they blend well with the sky.

The north winds are bringing cold temperatures with it too.  First, let me state that Fairplay is right at 10,000 feet.  The snow capped biggies are right in front of us (naturally, they are to the north, from which the wind blows today).  We’ll tackle them tomorrow easy enough from this altitude, but it’s forecast to be 36 degrees when we exit our tents in the morning.  I won’t complain though because there is little chance of precipitation, and that’s a good thing when we crest Hoosier Pass tomorrow.

These are route markers for the Trans-Am. The #76 is from the year 1976. We've only seen two in Colorado, though we've seen several in Virginia on another ride.

There is an ongoing debate about prevailing wind direction — there are people who will steadfastly say that we are going the wrong direction, that the prevailing winds come from the west and north.  Folks who live in this part of the country are particularly vocal about it.  While that is true for most of the year, the prevailing winds are generally from the south during the warm summer months. I am confident they will return, but I am also confident the debate will continue.

Tatunga!

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Samuel Sandoval

Samuel Sandoval

Samuel Sandoval was from Colorado Springs.  On July 31, 2004 he was on his way to Pueblo, Colorado on his motorcycle when he was stuck and killed by a hit and run drunk driver.

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The other side of the mountain

Posted in Friends made on the road, Living the life on June 13, 2011| 7 Comments »

Royal Gorge, CO to Guffey, CO

Miles: 23

Total so far: 2,735

Looking back over the climb we had today - we are at altitude

We climbed to 8,600 feet today to arrive at Guffey, Colorado, a must-stop spot on the Trans Am.  Guffey is a little difficult to explain.  It’s a small town of about 35 residents, and they are an active bunch.

Bill Soux

We met Bill Soux, the local proprietor of Guffey Garage, curator of the Guffey Museum, and the owner of  the Guffey Antique Shop.  Bill rents buildings for anything from honeymoons to storage.  Bill hosts Trans-Am cyclists at the Guffey Historical Hostels, no charge, but a donation is requested.

The Guffey Garage - Bill says nothing of his is for sale, so don't ask

The cyclist hostel, our quarters for the evening

The kitchen - no lights, no gas, no plumbing, no problem

The bunk area

Bill is the originator of the Fourth of July Chicken Fly and several other community events.   the Chicken Fly is a competition that involves children pushing chickens out of a mailbox with a toilet plunger from a tower and measuring for the longest flight.  The record is some 185 feet, and it must be noted, no birds are ever harmed during the competition.  Proceeds from the event have contributed to the building of a fire station and a charter school.

Images from the Guffey Museum:

Fourth of July Chicken Fly advocate

I'm not sure how to explain much of what's here...

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Bill Soux's certificate of appreciation for hosting cyclists in the original 1976 Bikcentennial

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Lisa Lyn Swisher

Lisa Lyn Swisher

Lisa Swisher was a veteran of 4 years in the United States Marine Corps.  Lisa, a native of Aurora, Colorado, was killed by a drunk driver going the wrong way on a freeway on January 20, 2007.


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Rocky Mountain return

Posted in Living the life, The physical challenge on June 12, 2011| 3 Comments »

Pueblo, CO to Royal Gorge, CO

Friendly horn taps: 1

Miles: 56

Total so far: 2,712

Last year Sallie wanted me to join her in Colorado and do an event called Ride the Rockies.  When we were discussing this, I suggested that we also do a ride called the Triple Bypass.  Ride the Rockies is in June and the Triple Bypass takes place in July.  We entered both and were successful in a drawing slots for both rides.

The Rockies were not visible until we got almost all the way to Pueblo. There has been a lot of haze in the sky from wildfires in Colorado and Arizona.

As it turned out, 2010 was the 25th anniversary of Ride the Rockies and to commemorate the occasion, they put together a route through the southwest corner of the state that covered seven days of some of the toughest riding imaginable.  At the conclusion of the ride, the staff apologized, and made an announcement to everyone that they wanted everybody to come back again next year and, “…it will be a long time before we attempt anything like this again.”

Coming to the fence to talk...

Having a visit

The Triple Bypass is nothing to sneeze at either.  It’s a one day ride of 120 miles over three very tough mountain passes.  We began the ride at 4:30 in the morning outside of Evergreen, Colorado, and concluded our efforts in Avon, Colorado after riding some ten hours.  We are now proud owners of the jerseys from those rides (that’s the equivalent of a trophy in the cycling world).  After all of that mountain riding, we also concluded that grinding it out on steep inclines for hours on end really doesn’t excite us too much.

Smoke from a new fire on the other side of the ridge from our camp. The evening winds are up, and that is not a help.

I thought a lot about that today as we were again grinding it out on some steep ascents back into the Rockies.  The difference this time is we have a destination, a purpose, and we’ve already proven ourselves for the task.  Yes, we’ll grind out some inclines, but this  won’t be for some twisted reasons associated with entertainment and athletic achievement like last year…or will it?

Our camp for the evening. Welcome back to the Rocky Mountains!

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Susan Kay Allen

Susan Kay Allen

Susan Kay Allen died at the age of 25 returning from a trip to get a Christmas tree on December 5, 1984.  Susan’s hometown was Breckenridge, Colorado.


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Fueling the engine

Posted in Uncategorized on June 11, 2011| 6 Comments »

Ordway, CO to Pueblo, CO

Friendly horn taps: 1

Miles: 69

Total so far: 2, 656

Sunset by our camp site at Lake Pueblo State Park

On this ride it takes quite a lot of food to maintain our caloric intake and keep up with the demands placed on our bodies.  Sometimes, I’ve been known to kid around about the topic and say that we ride in order to eat, not the other way around.

Sallie engages some of the locals in Olney Springs, CO. We are far enough away from our starting point now, that when she says she's ridden from the east coast of Florida, their jaws tend to drop.

In the morning, we have prepared ahead of time some instant oatmeal packets, placed into one quart freezer bags.  These are composed of two servings each person, and enhanced with extra raisins, or dried cranberries – Sallie has even tried dried coconut milk before – anything to spice them up.  We use tiny backpacker’s stoves utilizing pressurized isobutane/propane fuel mix.  These boil water in about three minutes.  From that Sallie makes her coffee (using a French press) and I make some herbal tea (I am staying away from caffeine for the journey).  Using the remaining boiling water, we put a measured amount in the freezer bags, and then set them aside to cook in an insulated bag.  When done, there are no dishes to wash.  We try to get bananas for the mornings too, but that is sometimes hit and miss.

Sallie exclaims, "We are in the west now, you can tell."

We have water bottles on the bikes, but our primary source of water is from 70 ounce Camelbak hydration systems.  These ensure we have cold water all day long, as we stop at convenience stores and top them off with ice frequently.  The hazard at the convenience stores getting ice (usually available at the soda dispensers for no charge) is the snacks.  That combines with our need for calories and has to be monitored.  Today for instance, there were no bananas in evidence when we went to the first store, so I got the next best thing – chocolate Hostess cupcakes.  Sallie was good about that stop, but caved in for some blueberry pie at our next stop.  Later, I got some smoked almonds, and one of those Slurpee imitations (small size of course).

A barbecue competition and street celebration in Pueblo. Of course we stopped by!

For lunch we had errands to run in Pueblo, so we ended up going to a local barbecue competition for some overpriced pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, Fritos, and a soda (diet soda is not necessary, but not uncommon).  We closed out the day with another old family recipe at our campsite made in freezer bag style – Ramen noodles, peas, and tuna.  I think there were a handful or two of dry roasted peanuts passed around too.  Oh, and maybe a cookie or two for desert.

I’ve become fond of saying, “Food is for consumption, not for carrying.”  Food weighs the bike down too much!

One more thing…I take this for granted, so I almost forgot to mention it — I have lost weight on this trip.  We both have.  I don’t want the readers to get the wrong impression with all the snacking reports.

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Anthony Veris Maness

Anthony (Tony) Veris Maness

Tony Maness was killed on March 11, 1998 while riding his bicycle to work in the Denver, Colorado area.  Tony was 30 years old


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