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. 

Best host ever!

Athens to Dallas 77.7 miles

The day began with a wonderful wake up in Toni's house. She made us a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon and fruit. Yum! I really enjoyed the food and even topped it off with a little bit of he cake that her daughter had left for us, just so Toni could truthfully say that we had eaten it and that we had loved it. It was very delicious. The message that she had written to us on the tinfoil covering really made me smile. We got all ready then loaded into the car and drove back to the church for route meeting. 

After a tough previous day, we were all looking forward to two days of building in Dallas. After 90 miles (101 in my case) the day before, 77 seemed like nothing! As we started there was a slight windy breeze. As the day went on it kept getting stronger and stronger. First lunch happened just after we got off of a rather busy and hilly highway. It was in a nice shaded spot across from some beautiful pastures. I really enjoyed looking at all of the horses while I had my snack. Setting off from lunch we encountered a bit of a grasshopper plague. The massive drought in the area had led to massive grasshopper population. In this area of the country, they haven't had rain since last winter, leading to many problems for the farmers, including the grasshoppers. They would jump up at you as you rode past. Some even tried to cling to the bikes for a little while. We made it past the worst of them and onto Frontage road. Pretty much every service road that runs parallel to the highway is named "Frontage road" which makes it really easy to find! These roads have less traffic than the highways so we can usually ride side-by-side which is wonderful, but they are never paved as well as the highways. As you bump and shudder on the chipseal road it is still possible to see the smooth concrete of the highway only feet from where you are now. Making our journey harder was the gusting winds that blew us sideways. Few trees exist to buffer the area next to the highway, and those that are there don't do much. I felt like someone had tied a rope to my right side and was playing tug-of-war with me. I never fell over so I guess I won, but only by the slimmest of margins.

40 miles in I was feeling completely drained. We were still chugging along with the wind on our sides when suddenly I saw it...the road turned...into the wind. The flatness of Texas let's you see everything that is coming at you, including the bad bits. Our little posse made the turn, almost immediately suffering the consequences of the wind. Jillian, Prachi, Lama, Christine C and I were forced to take a break only a few hundred yards into the road so that we could continue to fight onward. We struggled and struggled pushing slowly forward. Coming up on a big hill I was really struggling, so Christine and I stopped to rest while the others pushed on. I was so mad with the weather I took a video of he wind bowling over all the grasses so I could prove that it was really happening and I wasn't just being a wimp! We got to the hill and started our slow accent. This road had no shoulder and lots of unsafe blind spots, so we decided to take the road. We went double file so cars could pass without at least slowing down. One car was very much not happy with this. They started tailgating right behind us, honking their horn and making rude gestures. When it was safe for them to pass, they honked again and came within inches of Christine. Angry face! I have previously stated my dislike for honkers, and that dislike goes double for that car. Luckily the stop for 2nd lunch was just at the top, so we had some food and took a little break. Biking into Dallas was a lot less eventful than I thought. The roads were still pretty rural 10 miles out. Even the wind didn't seem quite as bad (although still not pleasant) going into the city. Arriving in Sunnyvale (the part of Dallas we were destined for) we walked up Sally's gravel driveway to one of he best post-ride greetings I have heard, "do you want a chocolate milkshake or vanilla?" Sally and her husband Peter are legendary Bike & Build hosts. Stepping into her kitchen I was greeted by her adorable dogs and a huge array of food. She had sweets, fruits, pasta salad, milkshakes, deli meats and sandwich materials laid out and ready for us. After I grabbed a few bites I was ushered into the backyard where everyone was swimming and hanging out around the pool. I sat down to relax and swim for a little bit. This set-up alone would have been enough to make my evening one of the best of the trip, but I didn't know what else lay in store. After we had cooled off and most people had arrived we traveled two blocks to the  school where Sally had arranged for us to stay. We unloaded the trailer then ran back to Sally's without even showering. We were going to the rodeo! Sally helped to shuttle us all there in her cars. We had dinner included in our tickets so we all got to go to the Eight Second Club for all-you-can-eat BBQ and brisket. We finished eating a few minutes before it started, so we rushed over to our front row seats to watch. They had so many things to watch. There was barrel racing, bronco riding, cattle roping and more. The night ended with the main event, Bull Riding. Sally and Peter transported us back to the school for a night of rest before our big build day in the morning.

Sorry!

I know that it has been a long time BUT I have a computer now!!! And you know what a computer means: full sized keyboard! No more trying to type novels on a the tiny touchscreen of my iPod. Which means that starting this week I shall make a grand return to blogging :)  I promise that eventually everyday will be blogged so keep checking back for update.