Canyons, rocks, and good times

We hit the road and made it down to bryce canyon after a nice drive through boulder.We watched the sunset at sunset point and I ran most of the navajo trail.  We then went and found a camp site and Charlie went to go for a walk up the hill were he ended up talking to Jason and Colleen.  That night we went and hung out at their site and Aly and Abigail came over, we had a great time with them.  The next morning we got a late start and decided to stay another night. We went and explored the park; I went for a 10ish mile hike (not the best for my feet in water shoes, but beautiful). that night the whole group got together again at our sight and Jason and Colleen supplied smoors.   In the morning the sisters headed back to their brothers in Vegas and Jason and Colleen and us headed to Zion. Maybe we will bump in to them again here.   We spent the day exploring Zion and did a little hiking but my feet were a little to rough to do the ones I wanted to do (aka suggestions from Abigail and Aly). 
Tomorrow we head west to where ever.

I bought a van!

Well we decided we had enough of the wind and were looking at our options to get to aunt Barb's.  Just down the road from Lyman's was a 84' dodge van for sale.  We talked to Lanny and got his price down.  It is in great shape and today we got some work done on it as well as split wood for Lyman.  We have to wait untill Tuesday to get the van licensed but I have the title and Lanny has my bike because we owe him some more money yet (you can only get so much out of an atm).  Tomorrow we will be doing some more work on the van, it is great having Charlie here to teach me and help me fix the van up. 

Wind, hitching, and running out of space

Well we mad it to Lyman's, but not in the traditional way.  We started out the day and it was fairly windy and after a bit it got really bad.  Soon after we decided to thumb it but it didn't seem to work.  We stopped one time and a jeep drove bye before we got anywhere he cam back.  Brian was a great guy (brit) who really wanted to help but was full up.  We kept on and continued to thumb while riding.  I then realized people may not know what we are doing so the next vehicle we stopped and turned toward.  They stopped.  A nice rv.  Larry and Caroline were great and helped us get our bikes in and gave us some cold water.  At that point we had done 22 miles but it felt like 100.  We then rode with them 25 miles or so to Torrey.   They were headed home to st. George which now as we think of it we should have rod with them.  We are both tired and need a long break.  Charlie is ready to get a rental car or something and just finish it, we may do something of this sort.  A few options are in the works, but for now we are at Lyman's and he said we are welcome as long as we need.

You may notice a bit of a change to the pics.  My first Picasa sight ran out of room so I started another.  The bar across the top is still new photos and the one one the right is all those previous to Utah.  I hope it works, I'm not sure.  Let me know, thanks.

Civilization?

After 40 miles into the wind we finally made it to hanksville.  It's a small little town but we were able to get a decent meal and a shower(first in 4 days).  The ride was pretty and we road past one group of self supported riders and a larger group of supported; it is nice to see others that are nearly as crazy as we are.  Tomorrow we are headed to torrey some 40 miles and 2,000 feet of climbing.  There we will be staying with Lyman.

Glen canyon

We had a good night and hit the road by 740. It was mostly down hill now but the wind kept it feeling uphill.  We saw lots of amazing sights,  buttes, high cliffs, canyons.  Before noon we hit Hite national park.  We found out Charlie could get a life time national park pass for $10 and he can have guest come in with him, so we saved some dough.  We also stopped in the little store ( hours 11-2, we lucked out) and got some lunch. We spent the afternoon there swimming and relaxing in lake Powell.   We left there at 4 after filling out bottles and climbed part of the way out of the  canyon.  We made it another 14 miles and found a decent place to camp.  60 miles today. Tomorrow should be about 40 miles to the first town we have seen in 3 days. 

I lied...

It was not down.  We actually climbed 3500 feet into a head wind over 48 miles.  It was a beautiful ride but tough. We met some great people today.  We decided to stop at natural bridges national park and as we got there we met a couple touring on a tandem.  Tim and Jeanie (sorry if I got your names wrong again, I'm beat) were great to talk to and we ended up touring the park with them, 9 mile loop.  They were doing a loop to the grand canyon.  The campground was full and they decided to go in and see if anyone would let them crash.  We talked to ranger Ted and he went and got his jeep and let us put our stuff in it while we explored the park.  The rangers did tell us a spot out toward the main road, park is 4 miles in, to camp so we decided to go there and get a jump on the day.  Our new fiends did get a spot to crash and we did find a good spot to camp. 
It was overall a good day and we were able to refresh our water supply.  64 miles today.  Tomorrow we will likley be stealth camping some where on the climb out of the canyon.

Into the canyon

We will be headed down to the edge of lake Powell this morning and I expect to have no service.   It is a 120 some mile stretch with no services so we are gearing up this morning for 2 days.  We already rode 10 miles and will be doing almost 80 more to get down to the lake.  The next day will be spent climbing back out.

3013

We cleared 3000 miles today after about 2 months of riding.  We also made it into Utah.  At first we had a lot of plains lands but it is starting to get hilly and canyony.  On the rode we met an Aussie, Jose, on the rode and swapped notes.  He started in Singapore then flew to LA.  We rode 58 miles today ad are in devils canyon park for the night.  Tomorrow will likley be a long down hill day.

Out of the mountains

We had a really enjoyable night and met quite a few more people including 2 other touring cyclist, Kim and later in the evening Nick.  Kim is heading home to Buffalo and Nick Philly.  They were both great to talk to and share info about the upcoming terrain.  It was interesting talking to them being the "experienced" touring cyclist. 
We took our time this morning getting ready and left around 1030.  By lunch time we hit dolores and stopped at Karla's which was really good, large portions, and cheap.  After a little bit longer we made it to the Yoder's.  The total today was 53 miles.  Tomorrow we head into Utah and a few days of winging it. 

Good ride good water

Wyndham took us up to telluride in the morning where he was volunteering to set up for a film festival.  It saved us 30 miles and a lot of climbing.  After getting some breakfast, and talking to some woman for a bit we hit the road.  It was a beautiful ride probably the best we have seen.  Wyndham had told us about a hot spring outside Rico so we stopped to check it out.  When we got there we got talking to a local guy who kinda takes care of it.  After a bit we decided to stay and we set up camp.   We have had a few visitors all really nice and fun to talk too.  I hope it continues....
We did 28 miles today and a bit of climbing, tomorrow will be about 50 to the yoder's in yellow jacket.  Sorry there are no new pics my service is not good enough..

Hot springs - rest day?

Rob made pancakes in the morning that were delicious.  But that was the fun for the morning the ride was easy when it came to hills but the wind was brutal.  We rode 30 miles and were in Ridgeway by 130.  Wyndham had planned to go to the Orvis hot springs and invited us to join after we for some lunch.   The hot spring was great exactly what we needed after the 2 days of climbing.  We spent a good chunk of time there and when we got back Charlie got Wyndham to give him a Thai message.  Tomorrow Wyndham is headed up to telluride so we are going to hitch a ride so we don't need to ride yet another big hill. 

Climbing day 2?

Christine left for yoga in the morning and we left soon after to go get breakfast.  After a huge breakfast we hit the road slowly, and I soon realized I forgot to get a picture, first one I missed :(.  We made progress through some beautiful landscapes but the wind and our stomachs made it slow.  Luckily we hit the first large obstacle and were feeling better.  We ended up climbing 3 peaks today all with head winds for a total of 3,000 feet of climbing and 65 miles.  We got into Rob's house around 430 and had a drink and talked bikes (he has a couple, 7).   Robyn, Rob's wife, got home and we had a good dinner and desert.  Rob showed me that warmshowers has an Android app now, it is awesome.  Tomorrow we have a 'rest' day (30 miles) heading for Ridgeway.

11,300

We casually rode 23 miles and 4200 feet to the continental divide today.  It think we built it up so much and the sights were so awesome that it really didn't seem that bad.   We left around 830 and after about the first 10 miles I departed Charlie but we set up radio connection.   I made it too the top at noon thirty and Charlie to my astonishment came in a half hour later.  We sat there a bit and had some lunch at the souvineer shop there.  As it turns out Charlie went down again scraping his need but nothing worse.  
We both got our cold gear on and left for gunnison.  It was a nice ride to the bottom and we made good time eventhough we got rained on a bit.   We are staying at Christine's tonight and had dinner at mike's to benefit the local trail system.   Today I think was one of the best days we have had, there was a lot of everything.  In total we did 72 miles today and 4500 feet. 
Oh yeah I forgot last night we went to a wood fired  pizza place that Charlie said had the best pizza he has ever eaten, so if you get to Salida go to Amicas.

B e a utiful

We attempted to go to the cafe across the street from the campground this morning but of was not open so we cooked some freezdried eggs.  We got on the road and were making good time but wanted to keep stopping for pictures.  There was one spot where a ledge was hanging over the river and Charlie says 'why don't you climb up there' of course I agreed.  From the top I got some good pics and Charlie got a good one of me up there. 
We stopped at a little place about 10 miles before Salida for lunch and had some good burgers.  Tonight we are staying in Evan's backyard, he is currently touring and in ky.   We did about 50 miles today.  Tomorrow we head over the pass.

On the road again...

We decided it was time we better leave before we get too settled in. We had a great time at the Fox's and we were sad to leave. 
Saturday and Sunday Charlie needed to ride but it was too cold and rainy out, so with a treadmill we made him a roller and he worked out to try to get his lungs in shape.
We rode 72 miles today and lost 600 feet of elevation but climbed 3600 ft,  figure that one out.  It was a very pretty ride and it felt really good to get back on the rode. Tonight we are staying at the starlight campground which has a retro theme and has old campers you can rent, we are just tenting.  Tomorrow we head for Salida and the base of the pass.

Looks like rain

Do to rain we will be staying here untill Monday.  Hopefully we can get some riding in but today we did 5 miles of repeats on a hill and yesterday we worked on the porch.

Mountains and boulders

Monday it ended up raining / snowing all day so we ended up just doing some yoga and relaxing.  Tuesday we headed down to Pikes peak through garden of the gods and we rode the cog train to the top of the mountain at 14110 feet.  When we got to the top it was fairly cloudy but it cleared off just before our train headed down.   We ended up riding 47 miles that day and Charlie struggled a bit ( cold air, altitude).  Today we went down to garden of the gods to check it out closer.  Before we left we did some yoga on the porch.  Charlie really enjoyed the garden and was a lot better today.  We rode 46 miles today.  We may go camp at elevation tomorrow. 

Foxs

We had a nice ride up to Colorado springs and made it there by 130 after about 55 miles 20 of which were on dirt.  We have been enjoying our time with Carly, Joanne, and Glen.  Our first day here we went to a bike shop (Criterion) where we got Charlie's bike fixed up, and they only charged us for parts (i guess they were impressed with our trip).   Today we have been relaxing and I have done some planning tomorrow we are gonna bike down to the garden of the gods and I am gonna hit up a hash trail.  We still need to decide when we will leave.

Mountains

A guy who was camping just down from us gave us some wood last night then this morning invited us over to use his stove and we got talking.  Del and his wife Peggy were really nice and headed the same way we were.  We probably could have talked all day but we got on the road around 8.  At first we had a head wind but soon the wind calmed and we made good time.  At lunch we had a choice to make go 10 miles north or 50 west cutting a day off the trip.  We both felt good so we headed west toward Pueblo.  It was a slight up hill climb bit we still kept a high average and by 5 we were there and had done 96 miles.   Mid way through the day we were finally able to see the mountains.  Tomorrow we head up to my Uncle Glen and Aunt Joanne's  in the black forest,  it will be 60 miles and over 2000 feet of elevation.

Prairie dogs

We got up and had a good breakfast and took some pictures.  We then hit the road saying goodbye to yet another set of new friends.  Soon after leaving we noticed a lot of the fields were littered with prairie dogs but I couldn't get a pic.  We made good time and were in Lamar by lunch.  We called it a day at john Martin state park and dam.  Just before getting there we met Dave, on the road, who is biking for his friend.  His site is at  http://touringfortim.blog.com/ and is fundraising for als.
At the end of the day we did 70 miles.  Tomorrow we will have to decide to push to peublo or stop at ordway.

Colorado

We left the fellowship center around 830 and headed for johnson, which is the long way but we didn't really know better. We made good time and after heading north for 20 some miles we headed southwest.  It was a good morning and pretty much every car was giving us a wave.  Before making Colorado we kicked up a pheasant (something lost in pa).  By lunch we made Walsh and had about 20 miles to go.  With a slight head wind we made it to Springfield by 330 and began enjoying our time with Herbert and Delma.  We had a nice dinner, played dominos, and shared stories.  Tomorrow we head north and west. 
Total today was 75 miles

Cattle

We were only intending to spend one night at the Fast but it quickly turned into 2 days.    The first morning we set to leave and we filled up the tires and in the process got holes in 2 valve stems using up our two spare tubes.  We decided it was not smart to go with out tubes and it must have been sign we were to stay. 
Mary Jane took me to town to get tubes and Charlie ran to Marvin's to borrow his mower (during the day we arrived we worked on Jake's lawn mower because it needed done but we couldn't get it).  When we got back Charlie began mowing and I helped Jake out.  Later their friend Alejandro came over and him and I built a fence around the garden.  We also milked the calfs and fed the bulls. 
Later that evening I drew up a political comic that Jake had thought up (ill get it up when I can) and we spent the night talking.  They invited is to go to church with them in the morning and we said if it was raining we would but we would need to stay another day (no sense in leaving at noon).  Well the morning came and it was raining so we went to Sunday school and the service which were nice and relaxed that afternoon.  Later on we went to check the east pasture and we found a cow who had been trying to give birth probably since Saturday night, but the calf was backward (bottom first).  We went and got the trailer and tried to load her but had no luck.  So we called the vet and he came out and after quite the wrestling match he got the calf out.  The calf didn't make it, the chances of saving the calf in that situation are slim but getting it out saves the cow.  That evening we worked on the comic some more and heard some more of James poems.  The next morning we hit the road.  It was raining first thing but by the time we left it was nice. The first 3 miles however were not as nice; the dirtroad (kolechie? Sp) was soft and had some clay in it, enough to build up in my fender and bring me to a stop.  I eventually loosened it and spaced it more which allowed me to get out of there.  After that we had smooth sailing and made it into Rolla, Ks some 47 miles away.  We stopped at the one place in town, Archuletta's Burracos were we sat talking to the owner Joe (it was 130 and we were his only patrons).  We road another 18 miles and stopped in Richfield at the united Methodist church and got a hold of the pastor.  We are staying in their fellowship center.  While here we had 4 visitors who came and BSed with us for a long time.  I guess this is what you get in a really small town.   Tomorrow we head to Verlan's parents house in Springfield, Co.  I still can't believe how great our random meeting in Spearman was.  Oh yeah as it turns out Kristi and Tindle's daughter knows/works with sorta, Mary Jane.  What a small world,  its great.