The Winds Cross the Border
Yesterday in leaving Saratoga for the 68 mile ride to Walden, I was debating on stopping for breakfast at a restaurant or just quickly stopping by a convenience store. I decided on a restaurant. The first one I went to had a sign that said “Sorry, closed today due to illness.” The second one, Ma’s Kitchen, was closed too, but I think permanently as it looked like Ma had been away from the place for years. But it was just as well as I knew that the sooner I got on the road the better as the day called for high winds.
On this day the winds started early and the hills were rolling. One positive in looking at the map was that when I made it 18 miles to the town of Riverside I was going to take a left and head east, which I thought would give me a true tailwind.
But getting to Riverside was the problem. It seems unless you have a true tailwind, or something very close to it, you are fighting the winds. I knew I was five miles away from Riverside when I arrived at the top of one hill. I could even see the town in the distance. But no matter what change of direction I took on the winding road, the wind seemed to be a factor. And if I had a downhill, the wind diminished any kind of speed. So getting there took forever.
I stopped at the store at the Sinclair gas station for a bit, talking to the cashier who had her Broncos jersey on and was ready to watch the game that evening. She told me that Walden was 50 miles away and that there were no stores in between, which I knew. The west is interesting with how spread out the towns are, but I think I’ll enjoy it heading further east when there are more options along the way.
Once I left Riverside I easily picked up speed with the wind at my back. The Colorado border was 21 miles away. But soon after that there was a rather big climb which took a lot of time. However, the good news in arriving at the top was seeing an unexpected sign stating that there was a 7% grade downhill ahead. I stopped here and took a photo and had lunch before moving on.
After getting back on the road, I noticed that I was easily approaching my top speed for the trip, which was 37.9 mph. When I thought about all the mountain passes I’ve crossed over I found it hard to believe that I was still in the 30s. So on this one I made it up to 43.6. I’m sure I could have done a fair amount more, but I was being a little cautious knowing how the winds are around here. It was a good bonus for the day as I didn’t even think there would be an opportunity to beat my old mark.
Eventually I came to the border of Colorado, where I also took a photo of the Wyoming sign as I felt somewhat robbed with the humble one on display entering Wyoming in Yellowstone.
Shortly after came the part I was dreading, taking a sharp turn which would bring me right back into the mix of headwind/crosswinds up until Walden. I was happy to leave the unpredictable Wyoming winds behind, but you knew that now they are just going by another state’s name. The last 13 miles into Walden were really tough, with rolling hills and winds making a mix for slow uphills and also slow downhills.
When I arrived in the town I went by the sheriff’s office. You’re supposed to check in with them if you want to camp in the city park. The woman at the department, who had a big wad of tobacco in her mouth, said it was fine as long as I stayed “north of the gazebo.” I find it interesting that out west camping in city parks is totally acceptable in a lot of places, while back east you never hear of such a thing.
So after a very tiring day I stopped by Antler’s Cafe, (popular name as I had also been to an Antler’s Saloon in Montana) had dinner and watched part of the football game. Since it was the Broncos everyone was into it and it was fun hanging out with the crowd.
While having dinner I checked the weather to see that it was going down to 32 degrees that night (a big surprise) and that the winds for the next day were going to be 15-25mph– and not in my favor. Having planned an 80 mile ride for Friday I was now wondering how that was going to play out.