101 Reasons to Love Cycling

This list was posted on Bicycling magazines webpage and I thought I should share it with everybody.  Its strange how many of these things really do apply to my post-Bike&Build life.  I really miss riding Cindy Lou every day and can't wait for the day I can lower her down from the pool attic and ride around Colorado again.  I put "x"s next to my favorite ones.  Tell me your favorites in the comments!

1. Riding on New Year's Day, no matter what

2. French fries at the restaurant on the top of the Tourmalet

3. Bumping a water bottle closed on your hip

4. The inexplicable ability to feel the rider behind you ... and to sense when he's no longer there (x)

5. The first postwinter ride in shorts and a jersey (x)

6. Dropping the friend who always dropped you

7. Riding on the hoods (x)

8. The flyover

9. Circling at the top of the hill, waiting for the others ...

10. ... and circling at the bottom

11. Laterally stiff, vertically compliant—when it works, it really really really really works

12. Walking your bike by the saddle (x)

13. A paceline in which you have absolute trust (x)

14. Setting the gripper on your shorts exactly where your tan line is (x!)

15. Hearing someone tell you "Nice pull" ...

16. ... in a voice somewhat out of breath

17. A relationship that began with a ride

18. Smelling the embrocation waft off your own legs

19. Riders who don't train, show up on unimpressive gear, and rip ass

20. Having a friend fall in love with the sport, on the bike you loaned him

21. On the rivet. Tout adroit. El gancho.

22. Knowing how to lean two bikes against each other so they can stand without other support ...

23. ... and knowing how to stand a bike by its pedal on the curb (x)

24. LeMond at the line, 1989 world champs

25. Fresh bar tape (x)

26. Finishing a three-hour ride in 90-degree heat drenched in sweat—and somehow feeling not filthy stinky but cleansed

27. Watching a race in a bar in Belgium

28. When the red light changes to green at the exact moment you'd have to put a foot down (x)

29. Figuring out how to carry all the groceries home

30. Riding someone on your handlebar

31. The Campagnolo corkscrew

32. Rolling along a city street on which car traffic is stopped

33. Being reminded of all the bike knowledge you've acquired when spell-check thinks "derailleur" is a mistake

34. Champion's quads

35. The presta valve, for its elegant simplicity as well as its continuing inscrutability to the general public (x)

36. The anticipation, anxiety, eagerness, and sense of history you feel as you pedal through Bedoin, the last town before Mont Ventoux

37. Purposely riding through the radius of a lawn sprinkler on a hot day

38. Finger juggling a frosty CO2 cartridge

39. Winning the race home against the rainstorm...

40. ...and losing sometimes, too

41. Wiping away tears at the bottom of a long descent

42. The pleasure of the pride of sitting up and taking off your vest while riding

43. The lanterne rouge, a concept that's not in football, baseball, basketball, badminton, or any other sport

44. Being given a spare tube by a complete stranger

45. Banana for breakfast, 6 a.m., on the roll

46. Walking into the house gritty and begrimed after a stormy battering, with the toll of the ride, so often invisibly borne, for once plain on your face (x)

47. Removing and installing a wheel the way we were meant to—after the lawyer tabs are filed off

48. Getting a chance to ride with a pro—who keeps reminding you to slow down

49. Switching from bar tops to drops and watching your speed bump up a couple miles per hour (x)

50. Naming a ride

51. And better: Having a ride named after you

52. Taking off a kid's training wheels

53. Not unclipping once on a 50-mile ride

54. The socks (x)

55. That one hill that never gets any easier—and, conversely, never any less satisfying to crest

56. Arced over the bar, hands deep in the drops, a knife fighting against crushing fists of a headwind

57. Allez! Venga! Dai! Hup!

58. Helen Keller, cyclist: Anyone can do it

59. Burning 898 calories in an hour

60. The fact that science still cannot fully explain how a bicycle stays upright

61. The Rider, by Tim Krabbe

62. People in cars, heat or AC on full blast depending on the season, staring out at you as if you're a lunatic (x!)

63. The V carved into your well-trained calf

64. Whether sweat or embro or both, shining quads rising and falling in your peripheral vision 95 times a minute

65. The drop bar—is there any more comfortable, versatile handle in all of sport?

66. Riding to the ride

67. Understanding that frame scratches and paint wear are to be cherished like wrinkles—and it takes a lot of wisdom, not just age, to get to that point (x)

68. A near-effortless 25 mph in a tailwind (x)

69. Coming out of a shop to find someone you don't know admiring your bike

70. Finding a new hill, figuring out how to work it into a route, then debuting it to your pack

71. Breaking the speed limit on descents (x!)

72. Not hitting the caterpillar

73. The snot rocket: necessary antidote to both maturity and the sometimes suffocating demands of civilization

74. Your shadow halfwheeling you then, hours later, falling off the pace in the changing sunshine and able to make it home with you only in your draft

75. "Thanks for the ride"

76. PB&J at the rest stop—it's a cliche but it tastes so damn right (x)

77. And orange slices—how can they be that refreshing?

78. Outsprinting the dog (x)

79. Dropping back to pull a slower rider up to the group

80. Old European guys with stomachs—and 750,000 miles in their legs

81. Those long, rangy conversations with friends when you talk about things you wouldn't seem to be able to off the bike (x)

82. "He's never tired. He's never miserable."

83. Flip-flops and a cruiser on the boardwalk

84. Three rear jersey pockets: one of the best ideas humankind has ever conceived (x)

85. Full-finger gloves on an autumn day

86. No hands, head tipped skyward (x!!!)

87. Small, messy bike shops

88. The timeless beauty of steel

89. The guilt-free post-ride beer

90. Jens Voigt

91. Winning your first race, no matter what the field size is

92. Feeling better at the end of a ride than you did at the start

93. Cycling blogs (x)

94. Becoming part of a pack

95. Riding a trail you built

96. Setting out for a ride without any destination in mind

97. Sharing your favorite routes and trails with out-of-towners

98. Cowbells at cyclocross races

99. Correcting a slide on instinct

100. The rubber-and-oil smell of a bike shop

101. We can forget names, faces, birthdays, and anniversaries, but we never forget how to ride a bike (x)

I have a lot of favorites, but I can't wait to hear about yours in the comments!

Oklahoma!

Wichita Falls, TX to Altus, OK 86 miles

I always love waking up knowing that today I enter a new state.  I know that it is not that big of an accomplishment, but still, a new state!  However, each new state brings us a little closer to the pacific and the end.  I can't wait to get there, but I don't want this to end either!  In just a few short weeks my fellow cyclists have become my family.  We've cried together and celebrated together.  We have inside jokes and love to chat as we pass field after field after field.  They share my passions and interests, but teach me something new everyday.  I can't imagine what August is going to be like without them.

We had an exciting morning at the YMCA.  A local news crew came and filmed our morning route meeting and then followed us so they could film us biking out of town.  We even got to smile and wave for the camera. I headed out with Mel for a lovely day of biking. A few people stopped us on the way out to ask if we were part of the "Hotter than Hell" ride.  Apparently Wichita Falls hosts a 100 mile ride every August and it's one of the biggest races in the area.  I'm not sure that I would come all the way back here in August, when its even hotter than it is now! There was some confusion after we got out of town.  There was a road, but it wasn't clearly marked.  We stopped, got told to keep going, went, got called back and then told to continue again.  Long story short, half went one way and half went another.  Mel got a flat about 2 miles after the start of the highway so I stopped with her to change her tube.  Corey, Brettly and Richard joined us soon after.  They were the stand-in sweeps for the people that had taken this detour because the real sweeps (Alyssa and Grant)  had gone the other way.  We pressed on to 1st lunch at a gas station under construction.  It was the second building we had seen since getting on the highway!  There was a rest stop about halfway to 1st lunch, but Mel and I didn't stop.  The gas station had only one bathroom and no ice!  Not good for how hot it had gotten since we pulled up.  The temperature was quickly becoming even more unbearable.  I waited for Mel to recover from the heat and then we pulled out of lunch in the last group with the sweeps.  We went about 5 miles and found Tiffany, Summer and Brettly under a very tiny tree.  It was kind of like the weeping cherry in our front lawn, only half as tall and with half as many leaves.  There was a hose, so Grant and I sprayed people down and filled up water bottles.  Mel was having a tough day, but she decided to continue on and make it to 2nd lunch.  We made it about 2 more miles where we found an overpass to take shelter in.  As we hid out in the shade we sang songs, recited poetry, and told funny stories, anything to motivate ourselves.  We went until we saw a house, where Mel decided to save her energy for the next day and ride the last 50 miles in the van.  When Will came to pick her up he was amazing and wonderful and brought us ice cream and icy Powerades from a gas station near second lunch. I had a sour melon flavored one, it was very interesting.  If I hadn't been sooooo thirsty I'm not sure I would have liked it, but at that point I probably would have drank scummy pond water if it was cold.  With a renewed burst of energy we were on our way.  Everyone had been texting each other all day with encouraging news of a tailwind once we made the right turn off the highway.  However, winds tend to shift in the afternoon!  After hitting the turn, instead of a beautiful tailwind, we were greeted with another headwind.  How is that even possible?  The turn signified our half way point, but shortly after Alyssa got a flat tire.  We pulled next to a cattle gate, in the only shade for miles.

After that was fixed we headed out for 2nd lunch.  The first group had found us a nice little pullout on the side of the road.  It didn't have water or bathrooms, but it had shade!  At this point we had been on the road for a very, very long time and needed to be to the host by 6:30 for dinner.  I ate some honey wheat pretzels (all I could manage in the heat) and jumped back on my bike.  Below is a picture of Alyssa and her poking stick.  She picked it up underneath the tree after first lunch and rode with it in her helmet for the rest of the day.  She threatened to "motivate" people with it if they got tired :)

As we crossed the dried up bed of the Red River we were suddenly in Oklahoma.  I think that their state sign is one of the best we've had yet :)  And the song is true, the wind does really come whipping down the plains!  

The last 20 or so miles were increasingly difficult as I fought the wind and my exhaustion.  At least by this point the heat had begun to abate a little bit.  It was still well over 100 degrees, but the sun wasn't shining directly overhead and an occasional tree lent momentary shade.  The best thing about the West is the lack of humidity.  As we made our way through Texas it became drier and drier.  If you are under a tree in the West it actually makes a difference!  The landscape was flat in the extreme, with the exception of two tiny rock formations fading into the horizon, hinting at what is to come.  

Despite the flatness, Oklahoma didn't want to make it too easy, so it threw in some invisible rolling hills!  The landscape never seemed to change and I could see for miles, but I was alternately ascending and descending small hills.  Finally we made it to Altus, known for its traditional mainstreet. As we were coming in, several others were just coming back from a water park.  I was kind of sad that I wasn't able to go, but I was exhausted and happy to have finally arrived at the host.  BWalsh and Chris had found some donations for us at a local pizza place, so we enjoyed some well deserved dinner.  It was the Red Jaguars turn for laundry, so we gathered all the smelly, nasty clothes in the tarp, squashed it in the van and headed out to wash the clothes.  I walked with Mel, Josh A and Kelsey to a gas station for an icee, then fell asleep in a chair at the laundry mat.  I woke up just in time to move everything to the dryers and went back to sleep only to wake up to help load everything back in the van.  My clothes didn't dry, so I laid them out on the floor of the gym to dry overnight, then went to sleep.  I was really excited because tomorrow night I would see my Mom, Kristen and Kristen's mom!

YMCA!!!

Decatur to Wichita Falls 80.3 miles

Today we finally got back on our bikes after a 3 day absence.  I missed my bike when I didn't ride it.  We got up early ( compared to the last few days) at 5:30 and gathered our stuff. I packed up my cot (rather awkwardly) and put my bin out by the trailer.  Thanks again to the church for providing me with a nice break from my thermarest.  I was in a very forgetful mood this morning and didn't talk my socks out of my bin, so I had to rummage through my perfectly stuffed bin to find them at the very bottom.  I also forgot to grab a thank you card and a shirt for our wonderful host!   Luckily, the stuff was near the side door of the trailer, so I was able to grab one with our causing problems for trailer crew.  It was also an interesting morning to be on overnight crew, since our main job is host clean up and this host refused to show us where the cleaning supplies were.  They didn't want us to clean anything, so I was pretty much our of a job.  We wiped down counters and tables and picked up trash, but were pretty limited by the lack of vacuums, mops and sponges.  It was a strange feeling, leaving the host with out a big clean up.  We hit the road around 7:20 after another rousing speech by Coleman.  I took off with Alyssa, Eddie and Kelsey and stayed with them for most of the day.  We began with a 3 mile reroute, since the road we were supposed to be on didn't exist.  We saw some pretty farms and stuff.  Texas is becoming more like how I originally pictured, with wide open spaces, giant cattle ranches, oil wells, and a rockier texture to the land.  Along the way, my bike computer decided to go metric, then die a very dramatic death.  It died, revived itself for a mile or two and faded slowly out again, only to return for a few final breaths.  Oh bike computer!  What would I do with out your entertaining antics!  It does make me a little sad though because I ALWAYS check my computer every 1/10th of a mile or so.  Its my motivation.  I know exactly when we are half-way, 2/3rds of the way, 10 miles out, ect. We stopped with everyone at a gas station for a few minutes, then continued on to 1st lunch.  Our little group, which we have named Pinky and the Brain, made it there first, which was kind of nice.

1st lunch was in a Walmart parking lot,  so those who needed to get more supplies like toothbrushes and electrical tape were able to resupply.  We feasted on leftovers from Sally including some delicious quiches and a bag of king sized candy bars.  Once again, best host ever!   We set off again along a minor highway, but it wasn't too busy.  The wind was really crazy, as we have come to expect from Texas.  2nd lunch was at an abandoned gas station in a small town.  We were lucky enough to be able to use the restrooms at a neighboring church.  It was air conditioned inside :)  It's always a challenge to leave A/C behind, but the longer that I stay inside, the worse it is to go out into the heat.  Texas feels like a giant oven.  Not a sauna, 'cause that's not hot enough!  An oven!  We made a small detour to the local post office so Eddie and Alyssa could send off some things that wouldn't fit in their bags, then hit the road again.

Facing some really strong headwinds, we decided to pace line the last 20 miles into Wichita Falls.  Pace lining is basically following closely behind the person in front of you so that they block the wind.  We switched up leaders every two miles and it worked really great except Eddie and I didn't have odometers, so Alyssa and Kelsey were responsible for watching our mileage.  They did a great job :)  Closing in on WF, things started to get a little depressing.  Everything was shuttered up, closed down or boarded shut.  Restaurants, motels, and small businesses were all abandoned and falling apart.  I got a little distracted by all the sadness and didn't realize that Alyssa had fallen a block behind us.  Eddie yelled up for me to slow down, and slow down I did!  I looked back to see who was talking, crashing into a curb.  Ouch!  I walked away with just a few scrapes and another crazy crash story.  Finally, we made it to our host, the Wichita Falls YMCA.  We stayed at the downtown branch, one of the oldest YMCA's in the country.  I think we surprised their customers a little bit when we started our bin and bag fireline through the middle of the workout room! It was the closest door to the van and we are inherently lazy people after an 80 mile ride.  We ferried the stuff up the elevator to the fitness room.  After exploring the Y (its really old and has lots of secret stairways and hidden rooms!), taking a swim and relaxing, we started working on the most important thing.  Dinner!  The Y was providing enough food for 34 normal people, not 34 crazy B&B'ers.  Rider's went around to the local businesses asking for donations (made more difficult than normal because of the lack of operational businesses in the area).  I went with Sonia to drop off a 501c3 form at local restaurant that donated a tub of beans and chili.  As we ate our wonderful dinner we had our weekly route meeting.  Many people went off to watch a movie, but I ended up talking on the phone to family and friends.  I snuggled up in my sleeping bag in a corner of the hallway under some beautiful stained glass windows and went to sleep.

THUNDER!

Dallas to Decatur 90.1 miles/0 miles

Cr-Crash! Boom!

I woke up around 5 am to the magnificent sight of lighting flashing all around us.  The school where we were staying had a giant wall of windows facing north, providing us with the imposing view of the storm rolling in.  We got a text message from our leaders telling us to go back to sleep until the storm had ended.  By the time we had awoken at 7am the storm had stopped thundering, but the sky was still pretty grey.  We headed over to Sally's for a final breakfast, only to hear the TV report that the storm had done massive damage to the town we were headed for.  Every 5 minutes they would show a picture of a motel with the entire roof ripped off by the winds.  They leaders conferenced and decided that in light of the possibly dangerous road conditions we would be riding in the van to Decautur today.  There was general disappointment that we would now never bike 100% of America, but everyone recognized that the leaders were doing their best to make sure that we got to California safely.  Sally stepped up again, offering to let us borrow 2 of her vehicles and trailers so that we would be able to make it in only two trips instead of three.  We went back to the school to load up, where we discovered that we had forgotten to unpack the coolers...ewww!  3 day old milk, 3 day old cheese, 3 day old meat, and rotting fruit do not make for a pleasant morning! After getting the coolers sorted and cleaned we packed up Contessa (the trailer) as normal, then worked to situtuate 34 bike safely in Sally's trailers.  With the exception of a few people who were coming on the second trip, we loaded up and headed out.  I don't remember much of the journey, because, like everyone else in my van, I used it to catch up on  some much needed sleep.  We did have some fun playing a game with our iPods.  We would randomly distribute them, each person who got one picked one song, then handed it back to the front.  It was a lot of fun and we listened to a very strange mix on the way there.  We stopped for lunch at a taco place, mmhhh delicious!  Finally arriving in Decatur, we were glad to see that things weren't as bad as they seemed on the news.  There were some downed limbs, but it was not the disaster scene that we were led to believe.  The church was super nice and allowed us to take over part of the gym, although they still had nursery school classes going on (they weren't expecting us to make the 90 mile journey so quick! But that's what happens when you have motor power instead of just muscle power!)  We unloaded the trailers as fast as possible, then sent the vehicles back to Dallas to drop off Sally's cars and pick up our stragglers.  In the meantime, most of us went to the movies :)  A local theater had donated 10 tickets, so we split them amoung us and each paid half-price to go see X-men.  It was better than I thought it would be.  After the movie we went back to the host for a wonderful dinner.  I decided to bike a mile or so to Walmart to stock up on supplies, then headed back to the church.  I sat outside and talked to friends and family from home while watching another storm roll in.

Once I was back in the church I snuggled up on my cot(!)  and watched a movie on the church's projection screen before falling asleep.

Trail Ridge Road

Forgive me for going out of order.  I had a plan, each blog was one day, in order.  Things got a little messed up when I got busy in Texas, but I've mostly stuck with the plan.  The rest of the days are still coming,  don't worry (I may be 50 when I finish, but I made a promise to myself and I intend to keep it).  However, something so great, so amazing, so magnificent happened yesterday that I absolutely must talk about it now! This may even tie the rides into and out of Santa Fe (see upcoming blogs :) ).  Yesterday (and today) were days that I only dreamed about.  22 miles up curvy mountains, only inches from the edges of cliffs leading to 22 miles of the same curvy mountains, but 10 times faster.  How can it get any better? (besides adding 33 of my closest friends)  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let me start at the very beginning, a very good place to start (to quote Sound of Music, an appropriate musical to talk about when one is "Climb(ing) Every Mountain" ).

July 3, 2010- Central US route climbs Trail Ridge Road (TRR) on their way to Granby, CO.  I get a picture soon there after (ok, so I thought this was Trail Ridge, until I took the two seconds to look at the caption "Top of Grand Teton Pass" ...but in my head this is what I pictured TRR looking like for the last 13 months so just go with it)

Beautiful!  Anyways about a month or so later Kristen and I are back at our apartment having one of a thousand conversations about B&B.   The obvious question comes up:  What was your favorite day?  After giving the usual "every day was great!"  response, I get the real answer: Tie between July 3 and July 31.  Granby, CO and Cannon Beach, OR.  Now Cannon Beach is pretty obvious, but why Colorado? And why no-where's-ville, CO (I live here now...I can say that).  Granby has two things going for it...TRR and Prom.  Now, I don't remember the exact words, but I imagine our conversation when something like this:

Me: "What's Trail Ridge Road?"  K: "KELLY! AHHHHH!  Its...Its amazing!  Ahh!  SO pretty and ahhh!  It was the best ride ever!"

Like I said, probably went something like that.

Anyways, TRR is the highest continuously paved road in America topping out at around 12,100 ft above sea level, just under 2.5 miles above sea level.  Ehh...whatever... I'm of the "most results for least effort" school of thought, so mountains...not really my style (this will change in 10 months! If only I knew what the future held haha).  And extreme mountain climbing...on bikes...not so much... I ohh'ed and ahh'ed over all the photos, chatted some more and thought that would be the end.  Not so much!  Spending lots of time around Kristen in her last semester at CMU, I got used to all the questions that people would normally ask her "How far did you go every day?  Where did you sleep?  You really rode a BIKE across the country?"  and "What was your favorite day?"  I knew the answers by heart:  average 75 m/day, churches schools community centers, yes a BIKE, and Granby/Cannon Beach.  Hearing how awesome a place is on an almost daily basis gives it a bit of a mythical quality.  It became the symbol of all that was good in Colorado...and there was a lot of good in Colorado.  Then October rolled around and I finally stopped thinking of all the reasons why not to ride.  I let myself see the WHY.  I could do it... I think...maybe?  I applied, I got accepted and Bam! I was a B&B'er.  Wow!  I thought I had heard everything about B&B, but when I became part of the legend that is B&B, Kristen dialed up the info (in her defense it was mostly because I relentlessly questioned everything).  Which meant I heard more about Granby and more about TRR (the legend grows).

May, June, July, August 2011-I bike across the country.  Along the way we encounter mountains (which I still call hills, just because they didn't seem that big when we went up them)  We make it up to 8800-ish ft, but not the magical 12,000 of TRR.  To make a long story short, mountains aren't so bad.  I may struggle up them at around 2 miles an hour, but I get to coast down.  At a much greater speed than 2mph :)  Totally worth it (with the exception of Delano, CA-see upcoming blog).  Lots of fun, good times.

Still August 2011-I need a job.  Snow Mountain Ranch needs lifeguards. Score!  And you get one guess where SMR is...and its not Cannon Beach :)  While not in the proper "city" of Granby, we're pretty near close, only 4 miles away and all our mail goes through the Granby PO.  So I consider that Granby.

Which brings us to Thursday, 2 days ago.  I had said I would bike TRR...now I just needed to do it.  Which is harder than I had planned.  Mentally preparing yourself for biking the "highest paved road in america"  takes a surprising amount of craziness.  Especially after hearing two co-workers (one a CO native) say, "You want to bike WHERE?"  Hearing them describe the snowfall, how icy it was on the passes, how steep the cliff drops were really didn't help the resolve!  If you've been reading this blog for a while, you've heard me describe the last incident involving snow, ice and a bicycle.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out one of my first posts... Its kind of funny.  Anyway's I had told some people at work about my "dream" to bike TRR before it  closes in Oct from too much snow.  Sarah thought I was crazy, but she had just driven though the park and paid the $20 entrance fee, good for a week of park entry.  She offered it to me. There's one reason to go.  #2 was the weather.  At the summit, it can be cold. And by "can be" I mean "is". And by "cold" I mean "so cold that there is a permanent snow pack next to the visitor's center (It provides their water as it melts)."  Thunderstorms can appear almost instantly. So when I heard it was supposed to be 76* F at the bottom and  sunny all day, I knew this was my day.  And I had the whole day off.  I could figure it out, right?  Since it's just me (no Vanessa, no wonderful leaders to drive Vanessa)  I had to do some logistical planning.  I bought some good ol' PB & J, found some water bottles (I don't have my camelbak anymore) and figured out a route.  Acting on Kristen's recommendation of "The first half was prettier"  I decided to drive to Estes Park, bike the 22 miles to the Alpine Visitor's Center, just past the summit, then return down the same side to my car. I parked the car at the ranger's station, put on lots of layers and I was on my way.

At the beginning of the day I had a lot of doubts.  A mountain, sure, I could climb that. But the highest paved road in America?  Mmmm... I mean, just look at the comparison Me: walked 7 miles up hill with 400 elevation gain (see future blog post) TRR:  22 mile climb, 4000 elevation gain.  And that was when I was biking every single day.  I biked a lot in Michigan (I'm not sure it counts...Michigan is flat) but I haven't had a ton of chances to bike in CO (where there are actual mountains).  Can you see how my brain was working against me?  I was fighting to make sure I had enough daylight (I got a late start at 10am and didn't want to still be biking at twilight at 6pm)  and to make sure I had enough water (I'm used to a 100 oz Camelbak and a trailer with 5 giant containers of said liquid).  I figured I would bike till 12:30pm or until I only had one of the three waterbottles left.  Whichever came first.  The visitor's center was where I told everyone I was headed, but really, I wasn't going to make it.  It was going to come down to time or water.  Or so I thought...

TRR starts off in the East with a wonderful little meadow area around Beaver Creek.  As I settled into my rhythm, my confidence rose (not 100%, but at least 75%).  Hey, this wasn't too bad...hmm...who knew?  I had seen a chart that said TRR averages a 6% grade.  If it stayed this way, maybe I could get to one of the pretty overlooks?  Well, lets not push it, we'll just go one step at a time.  Pedaling, pedaling, pedaling.  Normally, I don't like riding by myself (See Athens, TX) but this wasn't too bad.  I didn't quite have the breath to sing out loud (we are at 8000 ft after all) but with just myself that was ok.  I sang "Livin' on a Prayer" "America the Beautiful" and "Wagon Wheel" (both regular and SUS '11 versions).  After running through every Mumford and Sons song I moved on to Avett Bros.  I had plenty of time for reflection and thinking.  It was great!  After a ways, the meadow gave way to forest.  First brilliant aspens in every fiery red, yellow or orange hue, then conifers towering over the roadway, dark green and foresty ( I know, not a word, but hey, this is my blog :) ). I stopped at most overlooks, knowing that there was no way that I was going to stop my momentum on the way down :)  Many Parks Point was a big highlight.  The first of the major overlooks (it has a parking lot, not just a pullout), it is also the point where the road closes in the winter.  I took some pictures and headed up.  Things really weren't so bad.  Sure, I'm in my lowest gear, but I'm pedaling without a problem.  No standing up, no straining my knees.  I'm not even as tired as I should be from only 4 hours of sleep (I know, bad me!)  and little biking practice over the last month.  hmmm...I guess I'm doing ok.  Maybe I can make it till 1pm.  Then I'll turn around so I make it back before dark.  Ok.  Thats the new plan.  Onward and upward.  At Rainbow point I met a lovely man who took my picture.  He really wanted to make sure that I got the road in the photo so that people would know I biked up it.  I think that wearing spandex, a helmet and holding onto a bike while looking like a smelly mess probably would have given everyone the hint, I appreciated the thought :)

Through the forest, past the sign for 2 miles above sea level.  Finally I broke through the tree line and onto the top.  I cannot recommend the view enough.  Beautiful.  I'm not going to try and describe it, I'll let the pictures do that.  While passing the first snow cliffs, I stopped to put my arm warmers on.  A man who was also stopped at the pull-out got out of his car and saluted me as I slowly rode past.  It was kind of a strange feeling.  At Forest Canyon Overlook I had a lovely chat with a woman and her husband.  It kind of reminded me of the B&B shpeil that we always gave, but not nearly as cool.  "Where are you coming from?" "The bottom." "Where are you going?" "The top..." I even tried to suppliment it with, "...but this is lovely just like my ride from Jacksonville, FL to Monterey, CA this summer to raise money for affordable housing organizations like Habitat for Humanity."  Her response was to call her husband over "She's biking up this road..."  like that was the most interesting thing I just said.  Not 4000 miles, but 22. Oh well, I tried.  As I was leaving the parking lot another lady stopped me to ask about my leg warmers.  She wanted to know if they were warm.  Which they were. Pulling out of the parking lot, I immediately had to stop.  An elk was crossing the road.  Which would have been super cool if I was in a car.  I would have been taking lots of picture and just looking at it.  Which is what everyone in the car AHEAD of me was doing...as the elk slowly ambled toward the unprotected cyclist behind them.  At this point I was evaluating my options: A: stay put, be attacked by giant antlers or B: point my bike down the hill and lose all the work from the last hour.  Luckily some lichen distracted the elk, making it less cute, so the people in front of me left and I could leave the scene as quickly as my legs could carry me (about 3-4 mph if you were wondering).

More biking, pedaling, moving, heading up hill... not going too bad...maybe we'll make it to 2pm.  I still have 1.75 water bottles left, not bad.  All the sudden I see a giant rock outcropping.  It's Rock Cut!

On my drive to Estes I had mentally marked off landmarks so that I would know where I was, even without a mileage counter. Rock Cut was only 4 miles from the Visitor's Center!  What?  When did I get here? Well, I can't come this far and not make it. Seriously!  I absolutely have to make it now. After Rock Cut the road turned downhill, then back up, then down again.  There! There it is!  The visitor's center!  Ahhh! I made it!  Really, really made it!

 

The day couldn't have been more perfect (except for the 33 missing people) and I hadn't even gone downhill yet.  The weather was a balmy 57*F at the top, unseasonably warm.  All of the snow acquired over the last weeks had melted from the roadways, leaving no icy spots to fall on.  Cars had been courteous and people friendly.  Even my brain was having a great time.  In every ride, I reach a point of combined boredom and frustration where I just want to give up.  I get in a mental funk, usually lasting just a few minutes, but still. Yesterday there was nothing.  Everything was perfect.  I truly wanted to be on my bike the whole time. I was one with the bike.  Slowly, slowly we had conquered the highest paved road in America together.

I watched some Elk play at the bottom of the valley, then went in the shop for a candy bar.  No Snickers, but a Hersey bar was an acceptable substitute.  After a look in the exhibit hall it was time to go down the hill.  The best part :)  It had taken me 5 hours to get up, but it only took 45 minutes to get down, with a climb back up the two hills to get to Rock Cut.  I sped down the hills, relishing every curve, every smooth bit of pavement that flew under my wheels.  I had missed mountains, but this was something else entirely.  The road kept going onwards and onwards and onwards, never ending.  It was like Zion, but higher, faster, and just as pretty.  I zoomed past the curves (a benefit of not having a speedometer: you don't have to be scared when you take a 15mph curve much faster, because you don't know how fast you are truly going).  I made it to the bottom safe and sound.  After loading up my bike and changing into civilian clothes I headed over to Estes Park to explore the town.

Was it worth it? Yes!  I know that I just wrote a novel to try and describe this experience, but it is still not enough words to describe what happened and how I felt.  I overcame every doubt about myself and pushed on, even in the tougher spots.  Physically, this wasn't as challenging as I thought it was going to be, but it was mentally draining.  At one point in the road, you turn into a valley.  It's a gorgeous valley, but the notable thing about it is that you can see the road ahead.  It follows the mountain, making several switchbacks before curving to follow the next mountain.  Eventually it ends up there...well, where is there?  Its across a giant valley and about 2500 higher than I was then.  Which is huge.  I was able to see the next 8-ish miles of my journey from this spot.  For me, being able to see that far ahead is a disadvantage (as is already having driven the route).  I like to hope for a flat section...if I can see everything, there is not hope :)  But I did it.  Really, really did it.  I'm not sure how, but it was amazing.  If you happen to be in Estes or Granby during the summer months, go to Trail Ridge Road.  Totally worth it... Pictures will be coming soon!

Things I left out due to time contraints/this already being a novel (ask me later)
Bear at the entry visitor's center
Cliff drop offs on the side of the road
English Mountain biker
Estes Park
Watching both the sunrise and sunset over the mountains
Lots of mule deer on the drive home
Riding to the continental divide on Sat

Baseball!

Today started much like yestereday with a walk over to Sally's.  Awaiting us was a breakfast of quiche! Yum! It was such a treat after the cereal that I've become accustomed to on the road.  Once again we carpooled to the build site in Sally's vehicles and the van.  Some people were leaving just before lunch to put on a bike clinic for a local camp, so they took their bikes in the back of one of the trucks.  After putting up all of the garage walls yesterday, today we focused on weatherproofing them and putting a roof on.  However, first we had to fill in all the area's that needed more nails.  I've gotten pretty handy with a hammer and nail.  That's one skill that I can bring back to real life with me!  After we finished that, Richard and I worked on putting up weatherproofing on all the sides of the garage.  While we were working on the garage the guys decided that they wanted to learn to balance things on their chins, like our build supervisor in NOLA did.  Watching them try and wrangle broomsticks, chairs and even 6 ft ladders on their chins was hilarious.  Suffice to say, they didn't have a lot of success, but it was fun to watch them try.  We paused for a lunch of delicious subs, chips and water, then jumped right back in to work.  After lunch we worked to get the trusses up on the roof.  Once they were up, we were able to put the OSB boards on top.  It looks like a pretty legit garage now :) It needs some siding and some roofing, but it could keep a car pretty dry.  After we finished working we took a picture with everyone from Garland HFH and went home for a quick dinner.

We ate fast, then jumped in Sally's cars to go to a Rangers/Astros major league baseball game!  I was lucky enough to be in a car with Sally, Grant and Alyssa.  It was nice to have a chance to get to know Sally better on the drive over to the game.  We got a chance to use all of the glow sticks that people had sent me in mail drops which was a lot of fun.  When we got to the stadium we all got free bobble-heads for bobble-head night! Score!  I had a great time watching my first MLB game.  The amount of flags at the stadium was very impressive.  They must have had at least 30 Texas flags there (and one American).  Texas pride runs very strong.  I don't think I saw a single Louisiana flag when we rode through (and we went throught the capital city) but I've seen thousands here in Texas.  I've seen Texas swim trunks, Texas bike jersey's (which Coleman wore to the game) and Texas bumperstickers.  Instead of a singing "Take me out to the Ball game" we sang "Deep in the heart of Texas" for the seventh inning stretch.  Alyssa and I got ice cones from a vendor and they had a flavor machine so you could choose what flavors and how much of them you had.  We had a lot of fun with that.  From the balcony that the vendors were on you could see the Cowboy's stadium and Six Flags over Texas.  Also a small rainstorm that was headed our way.  It didn't rain too bad, just a drizzle.  As the game wound down, some of the group wanted to leave early so that they could go to sleep.  They only left about 2 batters from the end, so it didn't really help.  There was also a lot of confusion with people switching vehicles and making sure that no one got left behind.  It was really nice to be in the truck with only 3 other people, because we were able to leave right after the game without waiting to find people (Dallas won 8-3).  Even with a stop for gas we made it back before some of the cars that had left the game "early."  I went back to the school and drifted right off to sleep to prepare for a long week of biking ahead.

Garage from scratch

Dallas build day #1 

Wake up at 6:30, scramble to get ready, them walk to Sally's for breakfast. We had a wonderful mountain of food awaiting us. Sally and friends had made us heaps of pancakes, mounds of eggs,and  pans of sausage. We also had the options of fresh fruit, 8 boxes of cereal, grapefruit bowls, yogurt and many other things. Once again, I have to express my extreme appreciation for everything that they have done for us in our stay at Dallas. We shuttled over to the build site in Vanessa and some of the Muhl's vehicles. Even with all of the leaders driving we had too many cars and not enough drivers, so some of the riders got to drive for the first time in a month. They were excited to be behind the wheel again. Making it to the build site, we did the usual unload and sign waivers bit, then we heard a little bit about the house. Befitting of today being fathers day, this house is for a single father with 3 daughters. He, his kids, and his parents, who live with him, are receiving this house which will be build 90% by young adult labor. Garland habitat for Humanity has partnered with a local high school building trades class for most of the labor, but we came in for some weekend work.  They had build the frame off site, then moved the house to it's current location on Thursday before we came. Next to the house was a cement slab, destined to become the garage. That was my task for the day. Others painted rooms or caulked door frames outside, but I spent my day with the guys framing the garage. We started throwing some walls together right away and had the side walls up quickly. I've gotten pretty good with a hammer and nail on this trip! I have definitely improved from my first attempts at Habitat hammering! We had a few difficulties with the last walls because we were running low on studs but we managed to make it work. We took lunch around noon from a local deli. It was delicious, as always! We also got some cool swag from Garland HfH: gloves! I have my own pair of Habitat for Humanity gloves for keeps! We went back to work for about an hour then broke for the day. It was really strange being done by 1:30, but the heat is so intense (105*) that it's not a good idea to be working outside at 3 pm and it is fathers day, so our supervisors needed to get home. Even withthe early end time we managed to get a lot accomplished. We completely framed the garage and put up the osb boards (plywood). Hopefully tomorrow the trusses will be hung and they will be able to put a roof on by the end of he week. 

We returned to Sally's for a quick dip in the pool before heading off for a special treat. Galen called around and got us a great discount on rock climbing from Dallas Rocks! Christine C, Kristina, Mark,Will, Galen, Eddie, Mel and I were able to use their facilities to climb and boulder for a little while. I had a great time on the walls and learned some new things from Galen and Patrick, the manager. He was pretty awesome and hooked us up with some sweet swag, stickers, cliff bars and healing cream! 

We made it back to Sally's in time for the pool party/BBQ with the Habitat board and future homeowner. Once again there was an over abundance of food, including hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, and sausages. We were also given (super soft) T-shirts and hats from Garland habitat. Now I just need some Habitat shorts and I will have a complete outfit! I think that my favorite thing about this trip is the generosity of the people we meet. We would have been content to sit in he middle school entertaining ourselves all afternoon, but instead Sally and Peter took care of us for three straight days which they were under no obligation to do. For every driver that cuts me off or honks at me on the road, for every bit of litter and trash along the road way, for every dead animal that I pass, there are people like the Muhl's or the man who filled up Mel's water bottle outside of DeFuniak Springs, or the couple in the butcher store who gave us lunch halfway to Apalachicola. It's one of the things I heard about from Kristen before the trip, but somehow didn't believe was true until I experienced it for myself. The kindness of strangers is a powerful tool. 

We finished the night with a late night chat outside under the awning, then walked back towards the school. Josh A showed me where the secret shower (Coaches locker room) was and I took a nice long shower. It was so nice to be able to take as long as I wanted (most people had showered while I was at the rock wall). I snuck over to my sleeping bag and was out like a light.