Can You Operate a Loader?

There are several things that can affect the day’s ride, such as wind, rain and hills. When you don’t have to deal with any of these, or better yet you have a tailwind, then there’s not much to worry about. [Read more…]

Done with the Hills

This morning it was time to pack up to leave Donald and Kristy’s place. Kristy had asked me to attend the big football game between her old high school, Central, and their crosstown rival, Centennial. This is the oldest high school rivalry west of the Mississippi and has been going on since 1892, which is pretty amazing.  It’s nicknamed the Bell Game and it’s a big deal in the city of Pueblo. [Read more…]

The Halfway Point

For the first seven miles of the ride on Tuesday, I went a different way than the map suggested.  I got back on route again, but in those seven miles there was lots of great scenery, with farmland and lakes and rivers. If I had been on route from the beginning I would have missed it so it was a reminder of how, even though I’m crossing the entire country, I’m still only seeing a small fraction of it. [Read more…]

Still Climbing on a Downhill Day

As mentioned, I was in the higher altitudes for the past two nights, including biking over Hoosier Pass on Sunday, at 11,539 feet (3517 meters).  I stayed in a motel Sunday night and woke up several times noticing that I was a little short of breath.  It was nothing major, but I was ready for Monday’s ride which would bring me down to 5,000 feet. [Read more…]

Thin Air

Sunday was the day for the climb to the top of Hoosier Pass, at 11,539 feet. I was staying in a dorm room at the Fireside Inn in Breckenridge. My friend Donald, who was going to ride with me for a few days, was driven by a friend the night before up towards Breckenridege, but the unavailability of rooms in the town left him to spend the night on the side of the road two miles below the other side of the pass. [Read more…]

On the Road to Hoosier Pass

Saturday was supposed to be a 54 mile day into Breckenridge, with an elevation change of several thousand feet leading up to the final part of the climb to Hoosier Pass. I had looked at the weather report and since it called for no rain and light winds I wasn’t in too much of a hurry to get started. [Read more…]

Ice Cream and Guns

I knew I had to get up early and get on the road on Friday with the weather report calling for high winds. Generally, the winds don’t pick up until later in the day. I was camping in the city park in Walden and woke up just after 5:30.

The temperature had gone down to the freezing point that night and while I was comfortable in the sleeping bag, I knew that getting out of it it would be another story.  But I started thinking that for each minute of lying around it was going to be another minute later in the afternoon of facing the winds. So I got up and began packing. [Read more…]