Windy Windy Wyoming

The last couple of days have been so windy that I have, literally, been blown of the road.  Even going downhill, if the wind is at us, it's slow.   I think some of the winds yesterday were 40 - 50 mph.

Yesterday we rode about 80 miles, trying to make our way to what we thought was a fairly decent area to camp, eat, shower, refresh.  Well...okay we could camp.  No place to eat.  or shower.  or refresh.  Luckily  we pleaded with the Dominos in the nearest town and were able to get them to deliver pizza. 

Then today we rode another 83 miles.  Not as windy today, but still plenty of wind.  And today was hot, and dry.  But tomorrow I should be at or close to the Grand Tetons...hoping to take a detour to actually visit the National Park.

So, tonight I'm at the Stagecoach Motor Inn...Debois, Wyoming.  Along the way today I met some nice folks who were supportive of my trip ... wanted pictures with me, and donated to Livestrong too...thank you! 

A Beautiful Wyoming Sunset

A River Runs Through It

Jewel Dirks...thank you for your donation!

Tuesday, June 28 Nice Folks in Wyoming

We rode a good 75 miles today -- all in the 'high plains desert' of Wyoming.  It's amazing...very desertlike landscape.    We stopped for lunch in Rawlins, (the best rhubarb strawberry pie, with vanilla ice cream...no small portions in this area for sure)  and made our way on to Lamont for the night.  We were told there is very few food choices available around here, so I decided to ride to the Pizza Hut for a pizza.     A few of the patrons asked about my ride...and then were very generous and provided a donation to me for Livestrong. 

Our home for the night is a campsite at the home of a nice lady named "L.B."...she lives out here in a trailer but has a nice set up for bikers who are coming by.  She loves to help out the bikers.  So a nice area outside for our tents, and a really well stocked refrigerator (drinks, food, snacks, and hot dogs that you can grill on the grill).  It's great!  (Of course, I would not have rode out here with a pizza from Pizza Hut strapped to my bike had I known)!

The weather today included a lousy storm from which we were lucky enough to be near a place where we could wait it out inside!

Our host, L.B.  "before her morning coffee"

We saw lots and lots of antelope herd today on our ride.  It's been fun to see the varied wildlife out here in this area.

High Plains Desert...really rather flat and, well, flat.

I'm going that-a-way!

Desert like sagebrush

My home for the night...at "L.B"s in Lamont, Wyoming. 

June 27 - Wyoming

After a night of camping at the city park in Weldin, CO (where the mosquitos were awful...had to stay zipped in the tent, and could see them swarming all over the outside of the tent), we started out this morning headed to the Wyoming border.

We crossed the border before noon, and have found rather dry, sagebrush, desert-like plains.  Strange how the landscape changes so quickly, but it has not been hot.  Indeed, it was down into the 30s last night.
We saw a herd of antelope on the ride today - as well as a animal skeleton, kind of creepy looking (I think it was either a deer or a small horse maybe)y.   Anyway, tonight we find ourselves resting comfortably in Saratoga, Wyoming.
 

Small Herd of antelope

Woo Hoo Wyoming!

We see so many of these types of places!

Hmm...well at least I've done better than this on my trail ride!

A weekend in the Rocky Mountains

We have had such beautiful weather to be here, riding and enjoying this majestic part of the country.

On Friday, we rode from Silverthorne to Hot Sulphur Springs, and it was a decent, but not strenuous pace. We had a stop scheduled in Hot Sulpher Springs, so we didn't have to push ourselves to get here. 

This was a personal highlight for me too because my sister and her kids were driving from Southern Utah to meet me here and spend a short weekend together.

We found a great place to stay called the Ute Motel, and when they found out about my Livestrong quest, they very graciously donated a one night stay!  Check them out at http://www.utetrailmotel.com/.     Dan decided to take advantage of the natural springs/spa and relax.

My sister arrived late Friday night, and we got an early start on Saturday for our planned visit to Rocky Mountain National Park, so we had a drive to Estes Park, CO, which is the entrance.  We climbed to about 14000 feet elevation.  The ups and downs were indescribable, but took its toll on her mini van...overheated brakes, transmission.  We had to stop and rest it several times.  But the views and the fun were great (and so was the snow ball fight we had) .  I am pretty  sure I never had a snowball fight in June!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Elk Herd in the Rockies

One of the many mountain lakes



My sister Teresa, my nephew Wyatt, niece Sadie and me



Elk up close



Add caption



Breathtaking (literally) Rocky Mountains

Today we awoke to the knowledge that we were going to be climbing the to the highest point on our ride: Hoosier Pass, Colorado.   Here is the view we had as we started out:

As we started today, we had a pretty spectacular view

Then, it got even better as we approached, and could see our climb ahead of us (i:t was a 4 mile, long climb, but I was able to pedal slowly and steady (5 mph) and was able to complete it without stopping and walking


Hoosier Pass



Reaching the top and seeing the climb behind me


At the top!  The Continental Divide



 Of course, the ride down was terrific!  We had lunch in Breckenridge, Colorado, which is a really nice quaint ski resort town.  The ride from Breckenridge to our destination was actualy a true bike path, which was great - no road, no cars, no highways.  The path was somewhat confusing, but we met up with a guy who was biking, and he offered to ride with us all the way,so he led the way and it was great to have the company too.

Silverthorne, CO...view from our hotel tonight.



Along the ride today.  The weather was beautiful today as well!

  




A few more shots from the Royal Gorge Bridge yesterday,



 

And this is Pam, who as generous to lend us her car so we could drive out to the bridge. Thanks Pam!



Rough day in the Rockies

We have seen some wonderful scenery and landscapes, but today was hot and the hills were steep.  We are finding long desolate stretches.   We stopped to see the "royal gorge" along our route.  Pam, at the Park Visitor Center, was so nice - she lent us her car to ride the 4 miles to the bridge, and then was kind enough to make a $10 donation to Livestrong.  This is the site of one of the top five scariest bridges (highest suspension bridge) in the world.  This is located outside of Canon City, Colorado. /  Check out the awesome views of this place:  http://www.royalgorgebridge.com/

I also saw my first buffalo today.  For those of you who know me well, this was pretty special, because I am an avid  "Buffalo" fan...collecting anything and all things buffalo... 

I have learned today I definitely need to carry more water for this part of the trail.  Thankfully Dan was able to share, as at one point we were well further than 15 miles from any place where I could find any. Of course, it's tough..you can only carry so many water bottles.    Also, cell phone coverage is becoming really spotty...



Royal Gorge Bridge  (no it's not the "captain") 




The first Buffalo sighting of the trip




Royal Gorge Bridge, Canon City, Colorado



Tuesday, June 21 - and It's All Good in Delaware

Well, what a nice couple of days in Pueblo - including an outing to see the Rockies (get beat 9-1) at Coors Field in Denver on Sunday.  yesterday was cold and rainy, so we decided to take one more rest day, which we used to do our laundry, and more importantly, to bring our bikes to the bike shop.  We got our chains replaced, and gears and brakes tuned up, so now, I am ready to roll for the 2nd half of this adventure!

So today we took off out of Pueblo heading North now, toward Wyoming.  We started finally to see the Rocky mountains and work our way up some mountains.  The scenery is becoming more and more beautiful and varied. 

Again, I want to draw some attention to the great work of the group Its All Good In Delaware, who have been so supportive of me on this trip...check out their website:  http://www.itsallgood.de/

Coors Field, Denver, CO

This is at the top of the 8 mile long hill I climbed today!

Pueblo, Colorado!

Arrived in Pueblo, CO - late on Saturday, which was a big push for us to get here.  But we had some motivation - we realized the Rockies are playing at home (Denver) this weekend and wanted to see if there was anyway possible to get up there to catch a game.

Cathleen  was able to find us a nice place to stay here in Pueblo - a rental car place open on Sunday - and tickets to the game (really, she should be a concierge) - and we are hoping it all works out to be in our seats at Coors Field at game time on Sunday!

We finally are seeing some landscape that is not entirely flat, although I think by the end of next week we will be high in the rockies, and missing some of the flatlands!

The Guest House here in Pueblo having a nice, free bbq for their guests, so we are enjoying that after a long day of riding.   Hopefully the next post will have some fun pictures from the game!


Not Flat!!!



One long flat road...

Yes, that best describes our day today.  Flat, empty, long, but at least it  was not a bad wind.  Indeed, we have been rather 'lucky' in the last two days, with more of a tail wind than anything else.  It is amazing what a difference a good tail wind makes, compared to trying to stay on the road with a side wind or riding against a head wind.

We did 90+ miles today and we are in Eads, Colorado.  We made two milestones today:  The Mountain Time Zone, and the state of Colorado!!

Dan and I have had some fun riding together...even though there has not been much to see.  It's been great to have the company and the conversation...and every now and then we run into other bikers - some going in the opposite direction, some going the same direction. 

I even gave Dan a good scare -- were riding past one of the few houses we've seen, and he was well in front of me (with no rearview mirror)...and I start to bark..and get closer...and he thinks it's a dog that he can not outrun!  The faster he pedals the closer the 'dog' is getting.  Not until I was on his heels did he turn and realize it was me.. :)

Lot of southwestern flora around here...cactus, and tumbleweed. 

State # 6

This is what I have looked at..all day...and same on tap for tomorrow!

My home for the night - behind the Sheriff's Department...and it is raining...and the tent is leaking.