Date: 2007-05-17
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Miles today: 0.0

5-14-07Hot Sulpher Springs, Co95 miles today2401 miles totalThere wasn't anything open for breakfast in Fairplay, so we rode to Alma and found a small coffee shop.It was cool out this morning...about 34 degrees. I must be getting used to cooler weather again because I rode in my shorts and short sleeve shirt and was comfortable.I had some good coffee and a breakfast burrito at the coffee house, then we headed up the mountain.It was a steep uphill to Hoosier Pass. That's the highest point on all of the Trans Am Bicycle Trail at 11,542 feet high.I must have been feeling pretty good this morning because I got up there about 10 minutes before Mrs Gorp. I had my camera ready to take a couple pictures of her when she got up there. I wish pictures could show how hard she was breathing when she pedaled the last few feet. :-))We got some pictures by the sign, then after about 15 minutes of celebrating, we got ready to roll down the hill.I noticed right away that my brakes felt soft, so I stopped before I got going too fast and readjusted the brakes.Mrs Gorp said she didn't pedal for about 8 miles.We rolled through Blue River, then got down to Brckenridge. That sounds funny to say we "got down" to Breckenridge because it's about 10,000 feet high.There was a bike path designated as the Trail from Breckenridge to Silverthorn. The problem was that there are a number of bike paths and you have to guess which one you're supposed to take.There were about 4 times we had to backtrack to get back on the right path.We stopped at a Quiznos in Silverthorn and ate a late lunch. It was about 1pm and we still had over 50 miles to get to Hot Sulpher Springs.We pedaled on and just kept riding.When we got to Kremmling, we stopped for a soda.The winds had been in our faces again all day...at least to this point, 78 miles of riding. We turned east out of Kremmling and finally had a tailwind for the last 17 miles. That felt great!!We were climbing, but with the tailwinds, we climbed at about 15mph. It was such a pleasure to pedal and move without too much effort.We pulled into Hot Sulpher Springs, got a room and went right down to the restaurant to eat.I ordered half a chicken. It was good, but I remember going through Wyoming one time about 20 years ago and I ordered fried chicken. They grow them small out here!! The drumstick looks more like a drumette...but it was good. :-))We went through some beautiful mountains today, but Breckenridge is not my kind of place. It's too commercial and too foofoo.Another great day on the Trans Am Bicycle Trail. :-))5-15-07Walden, Co61 miles2463 miles totalToday turned out to be one of my favorite days on this bike ride!!We checked out about 7am and stopped by the convenience store to find some coffee and something to eat.I had a hotdog and a burrito for breakfast and bought a Little Debbie apple pie for later.We had the whole 61 mile section today to ride with no services. That makes it the longest stretch yet without services.We had another mountain pass to climb today too...Willow Creek Pass at 9621 feet high.We rode for about 7 miles on a fairly busy road, then we turned onto Rt 125 and it was fantastic!!...almost no traffic and just beautiful scenery all day...snow capped mountains and a nice mountain stream flowing fast.We had about 22 more miles of uphill riding to get to the summit of the pass. It was in the 30's all morning and I was wearing just my shorts and short sleeve shirt. My toes did get pretty cold, but I'll take cold weather any day over heat.Another nice thing about today's ride was that there was no wind. I could probably count how many times we've rode with no wind in our faces on this trip, on one hand.I saw some elk tracks and some moose tracks along side the road. We rode by a ranch that had a buffalo herd.I did get to see 5 mule deer...4 that ran off when Mrs Gorp got close and the other one was in the forest and watched us ride by.We got to the summit and took a few pictures, then I put on a jacket for the fast ride down. :-))This area of Colorado is by far the most beautiful area of the state that I've seen.I stopped a few times and just listened to the quiet and looked at all the snow still in the surrounding mountains.Mrs Gorp and I were rolling down a mountain at the same time. She was next to me and we were rolling about 35mph. I saw her get down lower on her bike to try and beat me, so I got in my aerodynamic postion I learned before we started this adventure and I beat her by 1 1/2 bicycle lenths. Ha!! :-))We got to Rand and stopped for a break. There was no services, just an old store that was closed. We sat in front of that store and I had my apple pie.We rode on and went through Arapaho Wildlife Refuge. I started spotting lots of antelope in the distance. I even watched a coyote walking away from me. He was about 70 yards away and would take a few steps, then look at me. I watched him for about 2 minutes before he dissappeared.I also got a few pictures of a golden eagle that was flying overhead.We rode into Walden and rode through the small town to see what services were here.We stopped at a cafe and had lunch. It was only 1am and we were already to our stop for the day.We got a room and Mrs Gorp was all excited...there was a laundromat across the street. :-))She went and did all our laundry and I got caught up on my journal.I will never get over just how excited Mrs Gorp gets when she spots a laundromat close by where we are staying. I only get that excited over food. :-))We found out this town is the moose viewing capital of Colorado. I saw a statue of a moose in front of the cafe, but no live moosies. :-))It's going to be in the 20's in the morning. I love this cool weather!!Another great day on the Trans Am Bicycle Trail. :-))5-16-07Rawlings, Wy109 miles today2572 miles totalWe were a bit slower starting this morning. I didn't sleep very well and took my time drinking my Starbuck's while I loaded up the bike.We went to the Moose Cafe and had a very good breakfast. They had the best bacon I've ever had.We were done with breakfast and rolling west at 7am.It was in the upper 20's. I had to wear my windshirt, but still wore shorts and no gloves. There was ice on the cars and I even saw some frozen water on the side of the road.We were very lucky for the first 35 or 40 miles because we had a nice wind at our backs. We were really making great time, but the wind changed and ended up in our faces again. :-((We rode by a couple huge ranches...by huge, I mean they had to have been over 100,000 acres. I've never seen so many cows in a pasture at one time in my life.I rode by some buildings and a guy had a dead cow in the bucket of a tractor. I guess he was taking it to bury it.We crossed into Wyoming!! We stopped at the state sign for a few pictures, then rode on.The thing I noticed right away was that the few drivers we saw, waved at us. There was only a few that waved in the whole state of Colorado.I saw more antelope today than I've ever seen before. I even got into a chase with a pronghorn that was on the road side of the fence. It was on a downhill part of the road and I was riding at 37mph with one hand on the handlebars and the other hand snapping pictures of the antelope that was running along at almost the same speed as I was going.I chased him for about 3/4 mile like that before I actually passed him.Mrs Gorp said he was happy when I got by, but looked scared again when he realized she was coming too. :-))We rode into Riverside, Wy and stopped at Bear Trap Cafe. Riverside is a town with a population of 59 people and it's a long way from anything else, but they have a cafe...and it was open!! :-))We went in and ordered a second breakfast since it was just 10:45am. We had already rode 49 miles.The lady was very friendly and the breakfast was another really good one. We got lucky today and had two delicious breakfasts. :-))We rode on and I was really enjoying the quiet country...the big country with snow capped mountains on each side of us.We got to Saratoga about 18 miles later and stopped for a soda.It started getting warm. It ended up about 70 degrees, but the sun was intense and the humidity was about 15%.When we got to Walcott, we had about 14 miles that we rode on I-80. It was a strange feeling riding our bikes onto the interstate. It was fun at first because it's something I've never done before, but I got tired of the traffic pretty quick. I spent the whole 14 miles looking at the road and making sure I didn't roll over any steel belted tires that had shred. There was alot of it to watch for. Those little pieces of steel belts can give a bike tire a flat real quick.We got to Sinclair and got onto Rt 287 and rode that into Rawlings.We got real close to a hawk and then a coyote on the way in.We stopped by the Holiday Inn Express to see about a room, but they wanted $139.00 before tax. I had a coupon for a new motel a bit farther up Rt 287. It was for $59.00. I've been carrying that coupon since the middle of Kansas and it paid off. :-))It feels great to be in Wyoming. We should be riding into Montana on Monday though, so we won't be here long. :-))Another great day on the Trans Am Bicycle Trail. :-))