Not only did Sean drive 3 hours round trip to pick us up in Silverthorne, CO on Friday then again to drop us off on Monday, he made breakfast on Monday as well. Blueberry pancakes, yum yum.
The pancakes carried us North from Silverthorne on 9. We crossed the Colorado River and followed it East for about 20 miles. Thunderstorms waylaid us again, but this time in a diner with soup and pies and brownies. After sitting for about an hour we continued on wet roads to Hot Sulphur Springs. It was a short day. It was strange to be on the road again. No showers, but we went to sleep before dark. We set our alarm early to get some miles done before afternoon thunderstorms.
The next morning it was cold. Very cold! We turned our alarm off and waited for the sun to come up. When we got up, it was only 35! We started riding a little later, but our hands were still very cold. Nick rode with socks on his hands. A little after it warmed up, Nick got another flat from glass, and the pump wasn't working. We could only get around 40 psi rather than the 110 recommended. We worked our way up Willow Creek to Willow Creek Pass around 9600'. With the riding up to, over, and down the pass we crossed the Colorado River, the Continental Divide, and the North Platte River. Crazy. It was an easy pass, but we were feeling off. We had headwinds on the descent and made some slow flat miles to Walden. We even debated stopping in Walden, but at 4 pm after grocery shopping we got back on our bikes to ride either 22 miles to a campground near the CO-WY border, or 50 miles to a private campground with hot showers and a diner breakfast in Riverside, WY. That was enough motivation, and with dry skies we pulled in just at sunset.
It was just as cold in Riverside this morning. We spent the cold hours in a diner and got on the road at 8 am. We made good time to Walcott Junction where our route joined I-80 for 13 miles. The riding was not as bad as it sounds. The shoulder was really big, and the traffic wasn't too bad. Now we're in Rawlins. We pumped up our tires, bought Kristin a new bike computer (her wires broke. Sad.) and doing the internet thing. We'll watch the sky and the winds and see how much further we go. We hope to be in Yellowstone by the weekend.
The numbers
156--trucks that passed us on I-80.
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2 comments:
Nick with socks on his hands sounds goofy. The diner sounds nice, though. I bet the food was tasty.
I've been playing a little game with myself lately where if I see someone biking, or if it's raining, or if it's too cold, of if I'm tired of walking up a hill, I say to myself, "Hmm. I wonder what this would be like if I'd been riding on a bicycle for over a month." And that always changes how I see the biker, or rain, or cold, or walk.
So thanks, Nick and Kristin, for lending some perspective.
Hi Nick and Kristin, this is Mike Brown a friend of Kristin's parents back in Gaithersburg. Kristin - your mom sent me this blog address a couple of weeks ago and I have been enjoying the commentary. Having done the cross country bike thing several times, I reminisce quite a bit as your stories are exactly the way every biker thinks - miles, miles and miles get into a bikers head. An 85 mile day makes you think you haven't done anything and can be quite unsettling when the goal for the day was 120. Headwinds stink and each day comes with highs and lows. You are now reaching what I consider the prettiest stretch of the trip, but I am fairly biased being a Westerner at heart. When you get back to Montgomery County some time, have your Mom give me a call as I would love to hear many, many more stories of your journey.
Take care and be safe -
Mike
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