Having a Merry Christmas

Jamie and I had a wonderful Christmas and were visited by all sorts of great folks over the holiday season. This year, we broke into the piggy bank and bought a Christmas present we both can use...

A tandem bicycle.

Only the cool kids ride tandem.


We're riding indoors because its raining outside. We were able to ride it on the 26th down to the coffee shop. It was a real adventure, trying to coordinate pedaling and keeping the whole thing upright. I think we're going to have a lot of fun with our new coffee shop bike.

Our crack house is progressing. The hole in the kitchen has been replaced. I built extra storage in the attic to hold our massive pile of junk and I've managed to creatively hang four bicycles in the laundry room without affecting access. We still have four more bicycles scattered about the house. My two major jobs now are to repair our fence in the backyard and finish the structual repairs to the house.

What? Structual repairs?? What created the big crack in the previous post was from us jacking up portions of our house. The house is only 6 years old and it was built by complete structual morons. They did a great job finishing the house but the structure underneath does not match the walls above. The result is the center of the house slowly pushing its way through the floor. The current estimate is 15 new supports will have to added underneath the house. Between these supports will be 5 wooden "I" beams I have been fabricating and dragging underneath the house. So far only 4 supports have been installed. Those four supports have arrested the major settling the other supports are to make this deal bombproof.

I know what you're thinking...

Yes, I did calculate the moment of inertia of the "I" beam.

Yes, I did go full on nerdy engineer and calculated the number of supports needed, strength of beam and then compared different "I" designs to maximize the strength/cost ratio.

No, I did not draw everything out in CAD, although I wanted to.

No, I will not laminate and staple the drawings to the beams for the next building inspector comes.

I'm waiting until after I get my PE for that.

You can take the nerd out of the lab but you can't take the lab out of the nerd.

Lee

Happy Holidays!

Gettin' jiggy with it this holiday season.

Crack House

We have been in our house for a month. In that time, between presentations and papers for school, Lee has installed new plumbing, jacked the house, and this weekend, took down a section of dry wall in the kitchen to fix a leaking pipe.

Finally Home

After three months of sleeping on an air-mattress at Jamie's co-workers, we have FINALLY moved into our new house!

For the record

An archive of the hardcore folks highlighted in our rider pages...

The Carpenter Family - Trans America
http://www.spiritone.com/~carpjam/transam07.html

South Bound on the Great Divide
http://www.divideride07.blogspot.com/

Okies on the Divide (or something like that...)
http://continentaldivideride.com/

Northern Teir on a Tandem
http://www.trekagainstbreastcancer.org/

Key West to Anchorage 2007 Jin et al.
http://www.keytoanchorage.com/

Jackalope on the Great Divide
http://jonpierson.wordpress.com/

Our Journey is over

Hey all,

We are returning our rental car here in Dillion, MT. Tomorrow we leave Montana via the Greyhound. Jamie goes to visit family in South Dakota, I go to Portland and eventually a prosthetics conference in Vancouver, BC. We've shipped our bikes home. The past couple days we've spent driving the course as my shoulder injuries from spearing a tree with my head* make riding very uncomfortable. Now there's plenty time to reflect on what happened to us over the past 10 weeks.

The riding portion of this trip was only a small fraction of what it takes to complete the Great Divide. Dealing with weather, food and water supplies (sometimes foul), navigation, never ending hospital adventures, and each other make this one of the hardest things I've ever accomplished. In the end, it was also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. You see and experience so many amazing things while learning so much about how your body responds to the enviroment that it makes up for all the hard climbs, sitting in the ER with an IV in your arm, the rain, wind and intense heat, running away from bears, injuries, the list goes on and on. In the end the trip was indeed "Brutiful"** and we're both glad we expereinced every bit of it. We may not have been able to complete every mile on the trail but in the end it's all about the journey and we've had quite a journey.

So a great big thank you to all the folks that have helped us out along the way. People that carried us to the hospital when we got sick, gave us water in South Park, took us into town to buy groceries, shipped us out new tires, once again the list goes on and on. This trip has certianly shown that there are indeed a lot of nice folks out there and we thank y'all very much.

I will be back in Atlanta by August 7th, Jamie will return August 10th. Hope all is well with y'all!

Lee

The final statistic is that my odometer reads 2068 miles. That took 316 hours of riding in the saddle over about 65 days. My average speed for all of that is 6.54 miles per hour. Jamie's ride ended at about mile 1700. We spent 14 days recovering from some sort of sickness.

*See previous post "New Pictures are uploaded"

**"Brutiful" coined by the marketing lady at Big Anges in Steamboat during her bike ride across Turkey. Sorry, we can't remember her name.

New Pictures Uploaded

New Pictures are uploaded. Just look at the left column of the webpage and down a little ways you'll see a link that says "view more pictures" Just click on that and the section entitled "Breckenridge CO to Pinedale WY".

Or you can follow this link
http://picasaweb.google.com/miller.jamiem/PinedaleWYToPortOfRoosevilleMT

Jamie and I are currently in Helena, MT. I've been riding the parts of the route we've skipped and not exactly sure why. It's really freakin hot, I've been getting lost and now that I've reached the border I kinda feel like the trip is done and just leave the skipped parts as skipped. We'll see if my mind comes back around.

In the meantime, I rode some trails here in Helena with Andrew Gilchrist. I know Andrew from Atlanta and he is on vacation out here with his family and we rode a really great trail on a ridgeline yesterday. It was a short ride (only 2 hrs) and really fast and flowing. A little too fast for me, because in one corner I lost control and speared a tree with my head. My upper body is pretty sore now which is further demoralizing my ride. So Jamie and I will visit a cycling researcher in Bozeman and then possibly come back and finished the skipped sections.

Hope y'all are doing well. Its been 100+ here in Montana the past week.

Lee

Finally! The US/Canadian Border!

Not to overshadow Jamie's post earlier today but we made it to the border today and it only took a century ride through Grizzly country in the heat to finish it off. I looked at this as a chance to play Great Divide Racer and get a feel for what those guys are doing. Being that I was going to be on my own all day, I would have to take the water filter and all the food/equipment I would need to get myself back out.

In order to beat the heat, I left Whitefish, MT at 5:40am which is right at dusk. I rolled out and finished the first pass (mile 32) before a ray of sunlight even touched me. Cresting the top, you got to see a hazy but incredible view of Glacier National Park as well as a pretty little pond that would look like the perfect place for a bear to live.

Riding without a trailer means you can really rip it downhill and slice through the switchbacks. I was doing this all in the big ring topped out when I came around a corner and saw...


A BEAR!!

WAIT A BABY BEAR!!

BABY BEAR MEANS OVER PROTECTIVE MAMA BEAR!

AM I BETWEEN MAMA AND BABY?!?!?

WHERE'S MAMA BEAR?!?!

CAN'T SEE MAMA BEAR

Baby bear turned and ran off at this point but I'm not hanging around.

I BETTER RUN!!!

SKID BIKE TO STOP, TURN 180 AND SPRINT UP HILL (at this point the adrenaline has kicked in and I don't know nor care that I am in the hardest gear possible to climb back up the hill I was decending)

I mash the pedal with some kind of super force and....

SNAP!!

SNAP?!? SNAP NOT GOOD.

WHERE'S MAMA BEAR?

WHY NO MOVING BIKE??

BETTER RUN!!

RUN NOW!

DROP BIKE, RUN!

LESS THINKING MORE RUNNING!!

I drop the bike and run, run as hard as I can back up the hill just waiting to hear some big Mama bear come crashing through the woods to rip me apart for coming within 30 yards of her child.

No crashing, no Mama bear, Lee's limbs may stay intact.

Regardless, after my heart exploded and my legs are pumping battery acid I stopped, heaving and gasping for air. I am carrying bear spray (a necessity in this part of Montana) yet I doubt it would have much effect on an enraged mother bear. Fortuneately Mother never came. I waited there for about 20 minutes before walking back down (while shouting and making as much noise as possible) to see what's left of my bike.

I broke the chain.

Not really wanting to take any more chances, I push my bike back up the hill where I was before and repair the chain. With no spare chain parts, I had to remove 4 links thereby shortening the chain and cutting my 27 gear options to only 18. Back ready to go, I make the decent again, shouting and singing whatever comes to mind all the way down. About 10 miles later, I ride by a big smelly pile of bear poo, once again, I'm on alert. Now I smell the distinct rancid BO/ musky smell described to me by locals. Second shot of adrenaline and I shifted, stood and sprinted up to 28 mph and held it until my legs once again pumped battery acid and I could not stand the pain anymore. Fortuneately again, no bear materialized.

After all that, I cut up a road by a river, through an area destroyed by a massive fire in 1988 and then back up and over another pass. This pass led me through a maze of mountains up on an exposed ridgeline through more heavily populated bear forest. Evidence of this was everywhere so I kept singing and shouting before every corner and I apparently scared everything away because I did not see any more wildlife for the rest of the trip. Once cresting the second pass, I flew down the pass and came out on pavement that led me the final 23 miles to the border.

There really isn't anything at the border except for the crossing itself. Jamie met me and we got our picture taken and that was that. All in all I really proud of our accomplishment and how we've been able to overcome all of the obstacles thrown at us. I would rather finish with Jamie riding beside me but we did what we could given what we had.

Now all that's left is for me to go back and ride the section we skipped between Lincoln and Wise River, MT.

The stats for the century itself leave me feeling pretty good about my fitness. The bear thing cost a little time but otherwise I did alright. For 105.92 miles, the front wheel turned for 8 hours and 46 minutes which gives an average speed of 12.07 mph.

Well, once again I'm out of time here at the library. Y'all have fun and if you see a cub, run before Mama finds out.

Lee

Oh the places you'll go

Now that we have a car our options are endless. Well, not really because we only have 150 miles/day. BUT Monday night we made the drive to the west side of Glacier National Park. We camped out along Big Creek, a tributary to the North Fork of the Flathead River. EARLY Tuesday morning we (Lee, Jamie, Jon and Steve) headed into Glacier and over the Going to the Sun Road. Beautiful. The fires (way east of us) have made the air pretty thick but when you get up high enough it is spectacular!

We did a very short hike to the Hidden Lake overlook. Steve, a native to MT, thought it would be a quick in and out with a swim in Hidden Lake. The rest of us have been traveling for WAY to long, walk much slower and like to take pictures of EVERYTHING. It couldn't have been more than a three mile hike to Hidden Lake but we didn't make it. Lee's self propelled stomach took him back to the car and food. We did get up close with a number of mountain goats and some marmots. We also saw lots of mountain sheep in the distance. It's the more 'wildlife' we've seen since New Mexico!

We ate lunch in the parking lot right around noon. MAN was it packed! Thank goodness for hitting the road early. Traffic heading up the hill was bumper-to-bumper. We cruised down and stopped below a waterfall to swim. The water was frigid so we didn't stay long.

Before leaving the park we said good-bye to Jackalope Jon. He decided to take another day off the bike and hike up to one of the many glacial lakes in the backcountry. At a stop just outside of Glacier, we dropped off Steve and headed for Whitefish.

Today, Lee's attempting his first century on the ride. It shouldn't be too bad since he doesn't have a load BUT 70 miles are on dirt and he will have to climb over TWO mountain passes. The high today is 101. Can you believe that? I'm sure Lee will let you know who it goes.

jme

PS I am feeling better. Most of the time I can stand up straight. I do have some guilt about not riding. I was FINALLY able to stay up with Lee. BUT I'm also not very happy with there's stabing pain in my back. I am glad that I have had this chance and made it as far as I did. It the beginning I could not imagine making it to Grants NM and I made it to Morrison Lake MT. Pretty good for an overweight, out-of-shape girl! We have yet to meet a girl doing the whole route this summer :)

Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome

Hey all,

We're writing you from Whitefish, MT only 101 miles from the border! Wait! What's that, how did we get here so fast?!? Well, that's an interesting story.

We cheated.

We left the nice folks in Lima and rode through a canyon on our way to a nice campspot by Morrison Lake. While in the canyon, Jamie was having a grand ole time looking around and somehow twisted her back too far and WHAM! Hurt back. No, she didn't fall but tweaked it good and proper. She finished the 38 mile ride in enourmous amounts of pain and it was obvious that she can not continue riding like this. I rode back a couple miles to the last ranch house and the rancher drove us back to the motel in Lima.

Jamie's back is tweaked pretty good and there is no way she can continue riding.

Our trip, as we knew it, just took a completely different turn.

The next day, the nice folks at the motel drove us 50 miles up the highway to Dillion, MT. In Dillion, Jamie saw a chiropractor and we rented a car.

That's right... A car.

With no other possible way to finish the trip, we elected to finish by driving. Well, with Jamie driving.

During all this, we got a call from Jon the Jackolope (a rider we originally met in New Mexico). Jon was in Lincoln, MT and getting over being sick. We figured it would be a great idea to salvage what we could out of this trip and drive to Lincoln to meet Jon, then Jamie would drive the car with all our stuff in it while Jon and I rode the trail without any load.

This seems to be the best compromise given our situation. We tried really hard to do this trip properly, overcame altitude sickness, bad water, near starvation, and food poisoning but a hurt back is a hurt back and we don't have enough time to allow her back to heal (two weeks of rest) and then continue so we are making the best of things. This isn't how I wanted to finish the trip and I miss having Jamie riding beside me (she was getting really strong on the bike and would sometimes ride ahead of me) but at least this way somebody will get to ride and finish.

Since we started cheating and having Jamie haul everything by car while we rode, Jon and I were able to fly through some mileage. We been averaging a consistent 12 mph average (6 mph up, 30+ down, and 18 mph on flats) every day over a bunch of serious passes. Jamie meets us for lunch somewhere and brings us water and we just keep going. We've also picked up a new friend, Steve, that works at Great Divide Bikes in Helena, MT. He's been riding with us for the past three days and we have seen some amazing stuff. We're in a section of Montana carved out by glaciers and it creates some steep and spectacular scenery. Riding without a load is an different exerpience as well. The bike now accelerates when you ask it and the granny gear is rarely used. We've been so fast that we missed our turn one day and ended up getting lost until we came out on a paved highway. After riding 30+ miles, we were only 14 miles from our starting point and late for lunch. Knowing that Jamie was waiting with food and a cool lake to swim in, we were well motivated to get there quickly by pavement. We averaged 20-23mph in a paceline on knobby tires all the way to lunch. Something that would be pretty respectable on skinny tired road bikes. It certainly shows how much stronger we are since we began.

The next day, Jon pulled his hamstring halfway through the ride and Steve and I finished by climbing the last pass. On the climb we saw smoke.

Lots of smoke.

Like forest on fire kind of smoke.

With no cell phone service to call it in, we tried to hurry over the pass to get back down to the next town with services 20 miles away. On the way, we passed some ATVs that were busy trying to get to a phone as well. We blazed the pass under a blazing sun (Montana is in the middle of a serious heat wave) and flew down the other side, hit pavement and cranked out some serious speed to the fire station only to see a helicopter with a bucket of water flying away. Apparently the ATVs got to a phone first and the fire dept. was already on it but we were able to help pinpoint the location better for them. Everything here is extremely dry and there is a huge fire danger. In fact, the views are obscured from smoke from forest fires in Idaho. We've been riding in a severe heat wave here and that makes riding without the load a lot better.

After the excitement of the forest fire, Jon called some people he knew and we ended up on a tubing trip down the cool swan river. Having a car certainly allows us to get into different adventures other than riding! Tubing in a cool river is very refreshing in a heat wave and Jon's friends treated us to that, dinner, a place to stay, and breakfast.

Jamie's back is starting to feel better now but we are not going to push anything. Tomorrow, we will drive over to Glacier National Park and check that out (once again, a nice benefit of a car). Then on Wednessday, I will try to play Great Divide Racer and ride the 101 miles from Whitefish to the border in one day over two big passes. Then we will return to Lincoln and I'll finish the other trail portions we skipped to meet Jon and complete our whole journey by the 25th. We've come so far and I feel really bad Jamie got hurt and couldn't finish but we're still having fun and carrying on the best we can. The adventure never stops out on the Great Divide.

Lee

Folks out here are so nice

As an addition to the below post I just wanted to say that the folks here in Montana are pretty nice! We are staying at the Mountain View Inn here in Lima, MT. The folks that own this place are named Mike and Connie. Today they learned about our engagement* and brought us a plate of cheese, crackers, and nuts along with a candles, wine glasses and a bottle of champagne! This type of thing would never happen at some chain hotel at exit XYZ. This why I like bike touring so much, you get to really meet all the nice people in this country.

Read about how we ended up in this lovely little town in the post below.

Lee

*The engagement a surprise to you? Then you haven't been reading enough. Scroll down and find the blog titled "Big Climbs and Big News".

We have entered our last state, Montana!!!

Well, we've pedaled through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho and now finally we entered Montana! We still have 630 miles to go (Montana is a big state and we're going the most indirect route possible) but for the first time, the end is kinda in sight. Right now, assuming I don't get sick again, we can make it to the border and back in Kalispell, MT so I can catch bus in time for my conference in Canada so that's exciting to us. So far, sick days have consumed a total of 13 days in the trip! 3 in Silver City acclimating in altitude, 4 in Del Norte, CO after drinking bad tap water, 4 in Breckenridge, CO so I can eat by way back to health, 3 days Pinedale, WY after my food poisoning.

But all that aside, we've seen some pretty amazing things since I last wrote in Pinedale. Out of Pinedale, we rode up a river valley and found ourselves in the misquito and fly infested woodlands over Union Pass. The scenery was still great and the bugs just encouraged you to pedal faster. We ended up camping on a brillant deep blue lake by the edge of the woods and the other three sides just open field allowing you to see out at the sorrounding mountains while sitting in the shade. We made the decent from Union pass the next day down into another river valley and it was hard to stay on the road because the look down into the valley as you decended was so incredible we kept getting distracted but somehow, we managed to keep the rubber on the dirt.

The next day we rode up and over Towgotee pass. Wyoming passes are very strange. It all three passes we summited in Wyoming, the official "pass" is not the actual summit. In other words, you get to the sign that marks the "top" of of the pass and then you continue to climb like another mile. What gives Wyoming? Is this some sort of cruel joke? Regardless, when we actually go over the real top of Towgotee pass, I saw my favorite sign. The sign shows a truck going downhill with a sign that said "6% grade next 17 miles" 17 miles! oh yeah! So we screamed downhill to see the Teton mountain range in the distance. Eventually at the bottom, we entered Teton National Park and rode on the highway of death through the park to our campsite in Colter bay on a lake with a view of Mt. Moran towering over the lake. The highway of death is full of everyone in a great big hurry on their vacation so they can relax. Lots of traffic, big motorhomes swerving around (I mean, come on people, if you cannot control you vehicle perhaps you should get a smaller one!), SUVs full of children driven by parents that lack respect for other people's children riding their bicycles along the roadside. There is little to no shoulder leaving no room for us to ride off the road pesenting a situation that led to one RV getting upset and attempted to knock us off the road with his trailer. We caught up to him trying to check into the same campground we were going to (yep, really saved a lot of time didn't he). The whole thing ended with park rangers getting involved and he recieved a written warning for attempted vehicular manslaughter (they couldn't really charge him b/c the rangers didn't witness the event). The next morning, we left out real early and finished the death road with little traffic and no other incidents.

We got back on dirt in Flagg Ranch and rode through the woods, through an area damaged by fire, by a huge lake (great for swimming) and eventually out of woods after long steep climbs and got to enjoy a decent all the way to a campsite with views of the backside of the tetons. One of the neat parts of this trip is to see a really killer mountain range off in the distance and by the end of the day, you're staring at the base, by the end of the next day, you see it behind you.

The next day we rode up an old railroad bed. The tracks and ties have been removed leaving a base of very loose sandy volcanic soil. Loose sand makes progress extremely slow and requires a lot of energy to plow your bike through it. The initial scenery made up for this as we climbed up the side of a rocky canyon with the warm river cascading beneath us. This culminated in an old train tunnel that was built around 1910 and is slowly deteriorating. You could still smell oil and steam inside the tunnel as you hoped the decaying roof stayed intact while you journeyed through the darkness heading for the other side. It really made you appreciate the difficulty and challenges the railroad workers must have faced to build this track back in the early 1900s. The workers left lots of graffiti chizeled into the rocks around the rail bed with dates from the 1880s to 1920s. A lot of work for a now inactive railroad only to be used by an occasional cyclist and ATVs. The sand made riding extremely difficult (like 4 mph on level ground) and we eventually left the rail bed and took an alternate once our trek led us away from the scenic canyon and into ranchland. We eventually made camp after riding through a hailstorm in the odd town of Macks Inn, Idaho. Odd because, well, the whole place just felt weird. We were happy to leave it the next day when we pulled a short day over red rock pass and into Montana to camp at a beautiful lake that is a protected habitat for trumpeter swans. The lake was covered with these big white birds and behind the lake was this towering rocky mountain that still had snow on its peak. One side, mountain, the other, lake full of swans. The scene was something out of a novel. The only not included in the novel was the swarms of misquitos and flys that kept us more in the tent then looking around.

Leaving the swan lake, the scene turned back into wasteland. The mountains subsided into large rolling hills and the trees gave way to scrub. The wind picked up and we pedaled hard all the way to Lima, Montana on I15. Having the opportunity for a bed, shower, and full meal is always good encouragement to suffer through wind and heat for 57 miles.

We're staying at the Mountain View Inn, a fantastic little motel run by folks that love cyclists. In fact, they're so nice, that they are letting me borrow their labtop so that I can type this right now.

Tomorrow, we head out into the woods again and ride through a canyon on our way to Butte. We should arrive in Butte by the 15th.

Lee

In case this post isn't long enough. I needed to add some things from when we were in Steamboat Springs, CO about two weeks ago. I forgot to say that during our rest day, my buddy Carl Weber came up and we toured the MOOTS titanium bicycle company. THese guys make EVERY little piece of the bike by hand and then weld it all together. You can really get a sense of the craftsmanship and attention to detail that the pour into each custom bicycle frame they build. I can now understand why they cost so much, but I still cannot afford it.

Also, the guys at MOOTS pointed us toward some killer singletrack trails. At long last, I was able to drop the trailer and enjoy some really really fine mountain bike trails! Later we met the folks at Big Anges (the company that made our tent) and one of the girls that worked their told us that all of these bike trips are "Brutiful" in that they are brutal on the body but so beautiful to the eyes that it makes up for it. She is completely right!

So Steamboat Springs is a killer place full of nice people and thousands of mountain bikes but its a bit pricey to live there.

That's all I got, y'all have a great day!

Journey stats post #2

Below is all the journey statistics starting in Steamboat to give you an idea what the day to day is like. For the full version starting from day 1 you need to dig through the "older posts" link at the bottom of the screen.

Day 40 Steamboat Springs, CO
Rest Day

Finally got to ride some Colorado Mountain bike trails. They are really really ripping. Had a great time and got to tour the Moots tinanium bicycle factory.

Day 41 Steamboat to Mt. Meaden pass
39.7
6.48

Long continuous climbing today. First on road and then on dirt. Very steep and rocky. Walked a lot of the really rocky stuff, just too challenging with a trailer. Really brillant views up top.

Day 42
Mt. Meaden pass to Medicine Bow NF
43.85
8.57

Up and down terrain through aspens and later into the great wide open. Got dehydrated but ended up in one of the most beautiful campsites of the trip.

Day 43
Medicine bow NF to Rawlins WY
66.65
9.6mph

Feeling good, left in the cool morning but still ended up in the heat and desert by afternoon. Long day in the saddle. Couldn't seem to drink enough water but we made it. Feels good to eat pizza!

Day 44
Rawlins, WY

Rest day.

Day 45
Rawlins to A& M Lake Resevior
58.43
9.48 mph
7280 ft elevation of campsite

Jamie is really cruising on her new tires. She stayed out in front a lot today as we rolled through the desert and made it to the lake before it got too blazing outside. Carrying 40 lbs of water sucks but necessary

Day 46
A & M Resevoir to Daicus Well
56.6
7.79 mph

The Desert was surreal at night and we really enjoyed the ride. In daylight, it gets a lot harsher. Very washboarded and rutted roads, severe winds (cross and head), and the blazing sun took a lot out of us but we made it.

Day 47
Daicus Well to Atlantic City, WY
22.11
7.1
7550 ft elevation of town

We were really tired from the odd hours, little sleep and difficult desert riding. There was a bed and breakfast in town run by super nice folks and so we stopped there.

Day 48
Atlantic City to Little Sandy Creek Camp
36.52
6.95

Not feeling too good today. Having a lot of stomach problems and not pedaling very fast. Really nice looking scenery but hard to appreciate when you don't feel well.

Day 49
Little Sandy Creek Camp to Pinedale, WY

Woke up to more stomach problems. Decided to hitch a ride 55 miles to Pinedale to the hospital. Minor food poisoning from the buffollo burger I ate in Atlantic City. Dehydrated from"extra restroom breaks". recieved 2 bags of IV and feeling much better.

Day 50 Pinedale, WY

Rest day
Still wasn't feeling quite up to speed so we took one more day.

Day 51 Pinedale, WY
Pinedale to Misquito Lake CG
elevation of campsite = 8940ft
47.2 miles
7.11 mph avg

Nice ride up a valley, then super steep exposed climb with lots of bugs. Ended up a a really beautiful campsite by the aptly named misquito lake. Lots and lots of bugs.

Day 52
Misquito Lake CG to RV park along hwy 26/287
44.6 miles
7.12 mph avg

Getting over Union pass took a while but the downhill was insane and super scenic. I was going to fast and trying to hold on so I didn't take any pictures. Ended up at a RV park with showers and hot food. I like hot showers and eating.

Day 53
RV park along hwy 26/287 to Colter Bay CG
49.1 miles
9.42 mph avg

Got over towgatee pass by lunch. Lots of construction but the traffic was okay. The view of the teton mtn range was incredible as we decended into teton national park just screaming all the way downhill. We nearly got flattened by an RV in the park on the way to the campsite.

Day 54
Colter Bay CG to Elks lodge CG in Idaho
52.76 miles
8.69 mph avg

Finally off the death highway of RVs and people in big hurries to get to their vacations. Getting back on dirt was extremely dusty but a nice ride through the woods. Very steep up and downs but lots of streams and lakes to take an occasional swim. We now get to see the Tetons from the backside.

Day 55
Elks lodge to Flat rock CG (Macks inn, Idaho)
elevation of camp 6418ft
44.33 miles
6.98 mph avg (Jamie's avg speed was 7.15!!)

Jamie was faster than I was today and I'm so proud of her. The ride was really sandy that soaked up all our speed. The trailer was a huge disadvantage is the sand. Really neat ride along an old railway bed but very dusty from a lot of ATV traffic. Macks Inn, Idaho is a weird place.

Day 56
Flat rock CG (Macks inn, Idaho) to Upper red rock lake CG (Montana)
31.56 miles
7.15 mph avg

We slept in today and did an easy ride to this lake full of swans with this enourmous mountain behind us. Swarmed by thousands of flies and misquitos so we spent most of our time in the tent. We entered Montana as we cross the divide on red rock pass.

Day 57
Upper red rock lake CG to Lima, MT
56.46 miles
8.08 mph avg

Pulled a long day today. After the lake, all the mountains disappeared along with the trees into a vast wasteland of scrub with no shade but plenty of wind and sun. Felt good to arrive into a town and get a big dinner.

New Pictures Uploaded!

Just what everyone has been waiting for! New Pictures are uploaded. Just look at the left column of the webpage and down a little ways you'll see a link that says "view more pictures" Just click on that and the section entitled "Breckenridge CO to Pinedale WY".

Or you can follow this link
http://picasaweb.google.com/miller.jamiem/BreckenrideCOToPinedaleWY

Enjoy but don't forget there are two new posts after this one. Plenty of things to keep you occupied!

Lee

Still in Pinedale

We're still in Pinedale taking some time off so I can recover. Wondering why I need to recover? Then read the other post about the Great Divide Basin.

So hanging out here in this little western town has given us some time to reflect on things. It never ceases to amaze me that here we are on the latest in bicycle technology, using all this light weight camping equipment, and navigating by waterproof maps and GPS while traveling on somewhat finished roadways. Although we are out in the wilderness at times, we can always manage to hobble to a roadway to flag down a motorist to take us to a city with a hospital, air conditioning, and lots of food whenever I get sick.

People on the Oregon trail didn't have there luxuries. Our trip may be difficult but it is nothing like what those early settlers accomplished trying to traverse this wide open land. That is what continues to amaze me. I keep trying to imagine what it must have been like when the dirt road we are riding over didn't exist. That would have been a real adventure. Those folks back in the mid-1800s are the real adventurers, we're just tourists.

We also get asked a lot about why a bicycle. To the cyclists reading this, the answer is already known but it is difficult for anyone that doesn't ride to truly understand. Basically, you feel a lot more a part of the wilderness you're traversing when you quietly pedal along leaving only tire tracks. There something to be said for being able to experience the world without the vibration or noise of an internal combustion engine or segregating yourself from the world around you by glass and dashboards as you blow by at 80 mph on your way to the next interstate exit to eat a quick cheeseburger that tasted just like the last one you had 1000 miles back. You lose a lot of the experience that way. On a bicycle, you really get to understand things better, because you have to deal with everything in the first person. The wind, the weather, the dirt, the scenery, you become emersed in the world around you. On top of that, its up to you to power yourself and all of your belongings through the terrain and there is a lot of personal satisfaction in that. People in cars and motorcycles are too disconnected from the world and the terrain to really get to experience or appreciate it the same way we do. I wish everyone could experience the simplicity of our journey and then they would understand but alas, to most, a trip is all about getting to a destination and checking off the list of places to visit. Our trip is all about the journey and the experience of traversing this country and not so much about getting from point A to point B. I feel sorry for the rest of the world that are too consumed with the destination that they forget to experience the journey.

We will roll out of here tomorrow and make our way up toward Yellowstone and then into Idaho continuing our experience with nothing but the sounds nature and of our nobby tires crunching through the dirt on the roadway.

Lee

The Great Divide Basin

Hey all,

We are in Pinedale, Wyoming. It took a lot to get us here and I'm feeling better after yet another trip to the hospital. The great divide doesn't give anything any for free and I keep relearning that lesson.

First off, The Great Divide Basin, a 150 mile desert that is bordered on both sides by the divide so that whatever water falls within the basin, stays within the basin. Unfortunately, not a lot of water falls in this area and what does is quickly burned off by the unforgiving sun. Leaving a huge desert that is an adventure in itself to traverse.

We left Rawlins at about 530 am after allowing a great divide racer to use our campsite and headed out into the basin. We left early to avoid the afternoon sun and it worked. We cycled through the great expanse and arrived at a small reservoir after about 60 miles. We pitch the tent and made our own shade and chilled by the water. Being a desert and all, water is scarce and the next water source was another 55 miles away. Our water carrying capacity was about 40 lbs or 5 gallons and in order to minimize exposure to the heat of the desert we elected to leave at about 1 am in the middle of the night and get in as much riding in without the sun baking us.

Riding in the desert at night is a surreal experience. Probably one of the neatest riding experiences of my life. Underneath a sky filled with billions of stars and the milky way we set out with our LED headlights providing enough illumination to give us a sphere of light about 30 feet in front of us. Once the light ended, it was like a curtain dropped. All that "existed" in our world was what we could see in the bubble of light we created. Then way off in the distance was a thunderstorm in progress, creating a light show on the horizon. A truly surreal experience.

The sunrise on the desert was another great experience. Watching the sun change the whole landscape into an array of brilliant colors was also something to behold. Unfortunately for us though, we were pretty tired. In fact, Jamie was falling asleep on the bike, so we pitched the tent and caught a quick nap.

Its a good thing we did pitch the tent because the thunderstorm we saw at night turned into a wind storm over the desert by day. The wind was incredible. At one point, it nearly took the tent and us away in it after it pulled all the stakes up in one giant gust. I had to go outside and restake everything while being sandblasted by all the dust kicked up by the storm. We did manage to get a little sleep and awoke to everything inside the tent being covered by a film of fine dust that managed to filter through the mesh of the tent. When the storm cleared, the sky was clear and we continued on. Now the sun was up everything started to bake. I tried to concentrate on the sparse beauty the desert has to offer but being baked by sun and a tree lover, it was difficult. Progress was slow in the heat but we made it to the next water source which consisted of nothing more than a pipe sticking out of the desert. The BLM dug a well and pipe water into the desert for the wild horses and other wildlife. We took advantage of this and filled up our own supply and drank all we could. About the time we put the tent up, another thunderstorm struck with big heavy rain drops and more fierce wind. Learning from our previous encounter with desert wind, the ten stayed down and we sat out the storm. It passed through about sunset leaving us with a gorgeous sunset to watch as the light changed all the clouds into a variety of oranges, reds, purples and blues. The next morning, we packed up and made the final climb up and out of this harsh land. Although we had some really incredible moments, I was glad to see the desert behind me and shade trees in front as we climbed up and out of the basin.

One final note about the basin. The Oregon, Pony Express and Mormon Pioneer trials all crossed through this area and as an example of how harsh this land can be we passed by the site of the Handcart Willie tragedy. In the late 1800s a group of 400 Mormons were going to Utah when they were caught by foul weather in this area. All 400+ died of exposure. A sobering reminder about what life can be like out here in the west.

On the other side of the climb, we dropped into Atlantic City, an old gold mining town from the late 1800s. In fact, most of the building still date back to the 1890s. Tired, we stopped there, ate in a bar that was built in 1893 and still has the original bar. We stayed in a bed and breakfast operated by Bob and Barbra, two super nice people. Atlantic City is a tiny little town that has remained pretty much unchanged since its founding and we had a great time reading and hearing about all the history. We later ate at the other restaurant in town and I had a buffalo burger, something I would later regret.

The next day we rode out of Atlantic City and through South Pass city (the first city in the US to introduce a bill allowing women to vote). The town is yet another blip on the map and the sign outside list the population as "about 7?". Leaving that we climbed up to south pass and took off parallel to the divide. On one side you could see endless wasteland of scrub similar to the basin, on the other was the windy river mountain range of jagged snow covered peaks skirted by green and trees at the base. The contrast couldn't have been greater. I wasn't feeling too good that day and about terrible by the time we finally made camp by a creek. The next day, I was sick yet again! We were able to hitch a ride with some other campers into Pinedale and at the hospital I received 2000 mL of IV fluid to offset the loses I experienced trying to fight off the bug I acquired by eating the aforementioned buffalo burger. I feel much better now and we are going to take an extra day in Pinedale to recover.

I hope everyone is doing well at home. We will keep pedaling on here as we always do and I will not be eating any more questionable meat. One GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Andrew Gilchrist who shipped us out some much needed new tires. They are working out really well and now Jamie is taking off way out front. Another big thanks to Scott Hodge who shipped us out a special rear rack for Jamie's bike after her's broke yet again. Probably the next time you'll hear from us is when we make it to Lima, Idaho about 6-7 days from now.

Lee

Goodbye Aspens, Hello Wasteland

Hey all,

We're in Rawlins, Wyoming now. Since we left Steamboat, we've seen a lot of really neat stuff. First off, I love Aspen trees. They are always around to provide shade on the big mountain climbs we've been doing and their white bark contrasts the deep green foliage behind them. On some of the dirt roads, we've been riding through "tunnels" of these trees providing nice cool shade while cutting the wind into a nice cool breeze. I was disappointed to see the aspens go when we left the Medicine Bow National Forest and enter the hot, blazing and super dry desert leading into Rawlins. No worries though, we'll be back in aspens in a couple days.

The first night out of Steamboat, we climbed up to nearly 10k and camped out on the top of this pass with incredible views of a barren 11k peak on the next range. While on the top we met the leader of the Great Divide Race*, Jay, who was completely crazy. The guy acted like he was on some extreme sugar high, quickly chuged a big bottle of soda and then took off on the steep rocky road that we had just pedaled/hiked up. You could hear the guy screaming for several minutes afterwards. That guy was nuts.

The next day we decended fromt he top, through tunnels of aspens, through high meadows covered in little yellow flowers and eventually ended up in a steep sloped and dry valley. The road was cut into the side and had several ups and downs. During this time, we met Matt Lee, the second place rider in the GDR. Matt is from NC and he's the guy I'm pulling for. He won the race last year and he was doing fine when we saw him. What is so incredible about these racers is that they are self supported (like us) but they are carrying almost nothing and pulling 130-150 mile days vs our 45. We eventually hit bottom in the valley and started climbing back up toward the medicine bow national forest. It was a long climb and the sun was blazing. Half way up, we ran out of water and Jamie bonked pretty hard. A guy in a truck told us there was a stream about a mile down this other road and we went. Man! It was an incredible, clear mountain stream, in a field, sorrounded by aspens. A perfect place to camp and we saw an incredible sunset through the trees. Sometimes, the worst of times and transform into the best of times. Had we not run out of water, we would have never of experienced that.

The next morning, we awoke to the sound of sheep. Sheep?!? We got out of the tent to witness a sheep drive right through the area we were camping. There were thousands of the animals all being herded down the road by dogs and guys on horses. Turns out, the road we camped on is also a stock driving road. When the sheep moved on, they left lots of little "presents" that encouraged us to pack up and get moving. We finished our climb, met Pete (3rd in the GDR) at the top. Pete had been sick the past couple days and was just starting to recover. He's a tough guy. We then decended/climbed/decended again throughout the Medincine Bow being shaded by our favorite trees until we finally left and moved on into the desert. The desert to Rawlins was a series of several steep rollers all completely exposed with severe wind and even more severe sun. We kept the water stocked today and by the end we have consumed 3 gallons each!! We finally rolled into to Rawlins after pulling a hard 64 mile day. We picked up some tires here in Rawlins shipped to us by my hero, Andrew Gilchrist (THANKS!!!). Another big thanks to Outback bikes back home that helped Andrew get our package together. We have the Great Divide Basin to look forward to tomorrow. Its a 120 mile desert that everyone loaths. In order to minimize the sun exposure, we will leave out at 4am tomorrow and hopefully be able to pitch the tent by noon, siesta in the shade and then repeat, getting most of miles in at night. Either way, we'll be loaded with about 40 lbs of water just to be sure.

Lee

*The great divide race is a race alogn the divide from north to south in which the riders must be completely self supported. The record is about 16 days. There is a link to the website on our webpage, its really worth checking out. Those guys are insane! It is the mountain bike equivilent of the race across america. This year, Scott Hodge attempted it from Atlanta, Georgia. Unfortuneately for Scott, he ripped his achilles tendon early on and had to quit.

In other trival news, to give you an idea how steep some of this stuff is, I hit 39.6 mph on a gravel decent yesterday WHILE RIDING MY BRAKES! It was pretty sketchy with the trailer and the wind. Speaking of the wind, we had a cross wind so severe, that the bike was being steered and angled toward the wind while tracking straight. How often can you say you've crabbed a bicycle? The wind would just slide you across the gravel and you had to manhandle the bike to keep it generally straight.

Also, I've updated the Journey Stats page for those that need to know all the numbers.
That's all, y'all have a good day. We're having fun out here.

Big climbs and big news

Hey all,

Lots of things have been happening to us on our way here to Steamboat Springs, CO.

First, Jamie and I are engaged now. The story behind that is below.

Second, pictures are published and you can view them by following the "view more pictures" link on the right column underneath our picture

Third, I'm feeling much better. Turns out I haven't been eating enough and my body ran out of gas. This trip has been one great big physiology experiment for me and I keep learning things the hard way. I've been operating on about a -1000 calorie per day since the beginning of the trip and it finally caught up to me. I spent the time in Breckenridge eating and I'm feeling much better.

Fourth, We've seen some phenomenal sights!

Breckenridge/Silverthorne area is an absolutely beautiful place! Sorrounded by snow covered peaks in every direction, with the clear blue river flowing through it, bike paths everywhere, mountain bike trails and ski resorts everywhere you look and a free bus for public transportation I can easily see why the cost of living is so high here. It was a shame to leave it but we had places to go.

After climbing Ute pass north of Silverthorne we were treated to a expansive view of the Gore range. Below the pass you could see hwy 9 running north to Kremling. I feel kinda sorry for people in cars and cyclists that never stray from the pavement. Granted, even from down in the valley, its cool to look up to see the mountains looming above you but there nothing like being able to look directly across the valley from the other side. After Ute pass, its was down through a raped landscape of mining in complete contrast to what we just witnessed then back through ranchland on the long way to Kremling.

Leaving Kremling, we headed added to our zig zag path to Steamboat. This involved several climbs up and down. At first, it just seemed relentless and then we got to inspiration point and started to comprehend what we were doing. We were following a landscape formed by volcanos, earthquakes and then eroded by the Colorado river into a very steep walled canyon. Inspiration point lived up to its name but is nothing compared to what we were treated to later that day. From the point, we screamed dowhill only to turn right back up to another climb only to scream down again, all the way down toe the colorado rivier and the blip on the map known as Radium. It was at Radium the real climbing began. The road was chiseled directly into the steep rock walls that the Colorado had eroded centuries ago. I cannot even imagine how they built this road or why they even felt it was needed but steep is to mellow to describe it. This had to be the steepest longest climb I've ever done in my entire life. Pedaling proved impossible, so we pushed our bikes all the way up to the top. It took about 3 hours to go 2 miles. But the top... Man at the top, you could see EVERYTHING. Now inspiration point was below us and on the other side of the canyon. You could see the snow covered Gore range way off in the distance and the Colorado snaking below. You could see the road we climbed and decended all day and you could see the railroad that ran along the Colorado that took 30+ years to build because of the challenges of construction through the very canyon we just summited. The landscape was crowded with steep mountains and hills leaving me to wonder, how did people ever manage to find their way through here and then, how did we, as a country, figure we could just build roads and railroads through here. Truely an amazing sight. Perfect site for a proposal but not before a downhill. A short downhill to the French Creek allowed us space to pitch a tent. I made Jamie dinner. Somehow, she managed to split her fingernail with a rock and I thought it would be good to hike back up to the summit and watch the sunset so that she can forget about the pain. She agreed and when we got up to the top, my real plan emerged.

I pulled out a ring I made for her out of a chunck of titanium (after all, it needs to be light for the trip) with a small diamond set in it. I asked, she accepted. The ring.... It was too big. I guess its back to the lathe when I get home and start carving out another one.

Whew, long story and I'm out of time at the library. Excuse grammar and spelling as there is no time for corection.

We'll be in Rawlins Wyomming by Monday.

Lee

In Breckenridge, CO

Yeah all,

We made it to Breckenridge, CO through not the best weather. We left the great town of Salida a bit pre-mature we figure. It was a climb out of Salida that would have provided us some tremendous views of the Collegiate peaks but instead we got view of the weather moving in on top of us. We didn't get too far before it started raining. We were able to pitch the tent but still got pretty wet by the cold rain.

The next day we finished the climb up through pine forests and aspen trees and it started raining again. At high elevation, the rain is pretty cold when it hits you and eventually it soaks through whatever you are wearing. The descent into a nice grassy valley would have been a lot more fun if I wasn't shivering by the end. Once cruising through the rolling hills, I was able to warm up a bit but it rained on us sporadically throughout the day. The clouds also obscured our views of the rockies to our west. I guess its days like this that allow appreciating the nice days. Besides the drizzle and rain, the wind picked up and allowed our wet clothes to be further chilled. All in all, I wasn't really feeling to great and Jamie led for most of the day. We were rewarded at the end by a big meal in the tiny town of Hartzel. There is no place to stay in the town (pop 130) but the owner of the bar allowed us to pitch a tent behind the bar. I was completely spent and not feeling so great.

The next day, we planned to make it half way up Boreas Pass and then roll into Breckenridge today. Sometimes, plans don't work out the way we would like. We ate a big breakfast in the cafe before setting out over what would normally be fairly easy terrain. The strong COLD wind blew directly in our face slowing our progress to a crawl. Once again, I was not feeling too strong and Jamie just kept trucking out in front. About lunchtime. we found some shelter from the wind and I laid down and couldn't get back up. My body was done and it would not go any farther. We should have taken a rest day in Salida but I wanted to push on and now cold and too tired to stand, I laid there. At this point, a truck was driving by and Jamie got his attention and he drove us into Breckenridge. I think my problem is that I caught a little cold in the rain out of Salida combined with not eating enough over the past couple weeks. We intend to stay here for 4 days hanging out with some friends of Jamie's and I intend to eat everything I see. Sorry this wasn't the most positive post but it is what it is. Every once and a while you need a bad day to make you appreciate the good days.

Lee

Del Norte to Salida, CO

Hello Everyone!

We are feeling much better now! Andrew's advice is always good advice. The extra day in Del Norte helped us out in our recovery and we got to meet some more wonderful people!

Gary Blakley and Patti Kelly are two very nice folks in Del Norte that have a soft spot for Great Divide riders and allowed us to sleep in their spare bed, they fed us, AND I got to use Gary full on bike shop! Gary then schooled me on what Ultra-light backpacking is all about. I got a lot of ideas but still enjoy the extra comforts allowed by our items. He did inspire me to go through all our stuff and we were able to throw out/ship home about 5 lbs worth of stuff. I then did what I said I wouldn't and I weighed all of our gear. The trailer (18 lbs) + equipment + 2 days food (but no water) = 65 lbs. Jamie's gear with 2 days food weighed in at 32lbs. For those that were curious at what this stuff weighed there you go. To provide a comparison, when Gary goes backpacking, his base load including pack comes in about 10 lbs.

Big thanks to Gary, Patti, Renee and all her wonderful sisters at the motel in Monte Vista for getting us to the doctor's office when we got sick and another big thank you to Dr. Holdsworth at the clinic for treating us and driving us to Del Norte on his lunch break!

The rest really paid off for us and we had a great ride out of Del Norte. We did a pass that took us over 10k again (these are getting routine now) and we felt great, the grade was not nearly as steep as what we have done before. It appears that we have fully acclimated now to the altitude! The scenery is still breathtaking but now it doesn't take you breath away to climb it! The next day we did another 10K+ pass and then just kept riding and pulled a 70 mile day. The mountains are just as tall but the climbs aren't as steep so we're starting to really pick up the pace. People tell us the hardest climbs we're in New Mexico, it appears they were right.

The hard part was yesterday.

Yesterday we left the little town of Sargents, CO (sign out side reads: Elevation high, population low) elevation actually 7800ft. We were supposed to climb over Marshall pass (10k+) on a dirt road and then into Salida but the people in Sargents told us that a 40 ft section of roadway had been washed away and that it was impassable. Fearing another Indiana Pass dealing, we elected to take the paved alternative on hwy 50 over Monarch Pass (11,300ft). We figured it was Sunday morning, not too much traffic, 9 mile climb at 6% grade isn't too bad (think of it like a long Neels gap but three times the elevation). We were wrong. Traffic was horrible up this pass. Lots of tractor trailers and RV (the RVs are the worst!!!) traffic. With a sheer cliff, no shoulder and NO guard rail on one side, we rode in the middle of the right lane to force people to ACTUALLY use the passing lane. It surprises me how few people actually take advantage of this, resulting in several near misses and a very rattled Jamie. We did make it over the top though and into Salida unscathed but it really surprises me how little regard people in cars have for the lives of others. In hindsight, we'd risk a washed out dirt road over attempting that again.

Despite the near death experience of Monarch pass, we rode into the beautiful little town of Salida. This town is my favorite so far. Really cool downtown area with a river running through it full of kayakers, LOTS and LOTS of folks riding around on bikes and one of the best bike shops I've ever been in. Big thanks to Greg and Scot at Absolute bikes! Great shop, very helpful staff and lots of good advice. This was the first bike shop we've seen since Silver City 810 miles ago so we ended up buying a lot and changing things up a bit.

Later we met up with Lara Schrock, one of my former GT classmates currently in residency in Colorado Springs, for some great pizza, beer, coffee, ice cream and good times! Lara also showered us with a big bag of homemade peanut butter and chocolate chips cookies!! Needless to say, we love Lara!

This morning we will resupply and then pull a short day of only 12 miles (with a 2000ft climb) up to a campsite that I'm told has a great view of a row of fourteeners known as the collegiate peaks.

Hope everyone is doing well, we'll be in Breckenridge, CO by Thursday.
-Lee

I've updated the post titled "Journey Stats" so check it out for the day by day.

Hanging out in Del Norte

Hey all,

Jamie and I will be staying in Del Norte one more day. We've met some super nice folks that are letting us stay at their house tonight. It is incredibly windy out today and I haven't really eaten anything in the past two days so we figure its best to take another day to recouperate before going out again (that and Andrew Gilchrist is much smarter than I am and I'm listening to his advice).

We've been writing a lot about how difficult the trail is but not enough about how beautiful the trail is. What we have seen the past weeks are just too incredible for us to describe in just words. Pictures can't even do the scenery justice but its the best we can show y'all. We've mailed another CD full of pictures back to Jamie's parents house and as soon as they arrive, the pictures will be posted. We've seen everything from desert to snow capped mountains, much of it not accessible by cars and even it you could get a 4WD up there, you would probably take an easier route. End result, we've seen things we didn't even know existed and makes all the difficult parts even more worth it. Doing things by bike gives you a completely different perspective on things. You really get the feel of the land and plenty of time to appreciate what you see. Also, because you spent so many calories to get there, you only appreciate everything even more. So even though we talk about how difficult it is (and we're not joking or exaggerating) neither of us would trade it out what we've experienced for an easier route. In fact, easier routes appear all the time and so far the only easier option we've taken is the bypass around Indiana pass. Judging by the stories of the four that went over, I think we made the right decision. Like Jamie said, we're on a bike tour, not a mountianering expedition.

So eventually, more pictures will be posted to give all of y'all at home a small taste of what your missing. Tomorrow, we pedal out on our way to Salida, CO. It should take us about 4 days. People say that this next stretch is the most scenic. I didn't realize you could top what we've seen so far.

Lee

Update on the rest of the folks

Josh and Ryan left yesterday with Micheal (one of the four mountaineers). Josh and Micheal both got sick from the water in Platoro and we hope to see them again sometime.

David, Lee, and George (the other mountianeers that went over Indiana pass) carried on without Micheal and left Del Norte two days ago.

Jon went off the trail to meet up with a friend of his and will spend the next couple weeks mountain biking and will eventually get back on the trail in Crested Butte. I'm a little jealous. Jon left before we all started getting sick so I don't know if he feel prey to the platoro water as well. I hope he didn't and he's doing alright because getting your fluids through an IV isn't a lot of fun.

4 days in the Valley

Our rest day has turned into a few. First I was laid out with a nasty virus and then Lee was taken hostage. Fortunately, we've had the care of good doctors and are in hotels and not camped out in the wilds of Colorado. Two other guys have also gotten sick so we've concluded it must have been from the WATER!

During our rest day in Monte Vista the 3 guys we were traveling with went ahead to Monte Vista and ran into the 4 guys that decided to summit Indiana Pass and ride through Summitville. They made it, and the next day only one was sick, BUT...they wouldn't do it again! It took them 12 hours! They had to unpack their bikes and carry everthing over the snow. Their bike tour turned into more of a mountaineering expedition! I didn't sign up for that.

As a matter of fact, I had no idea what I was signing up for! This is definately the hardest thing I have ever done on SO many levels. It has redefined the word 'dirty' for me. For those of you wondering why I shaved my head...if you didn't get to shower for 6 days and had ratted, greasy, hair you would hopefully do the same. There were two days I thought I was getting stronger but that was more than a week ago and I haven't felt like that again. My favorate things are downhills and toilets :) Everyday we see so much that the day before seems like it was weeks ago.

We should be leaving Del Norte in the next two days depending on how well we're keeping food in our bellies and the adventures will begin again.

jme

Georgia Boy learns what real mountains are!

Back when I was learning about building engines with Digger Don* he told me a story once about how he tried to climb Mt. McKinley in Alaska. With only a couple hundred feet to go until they summited, a storm moved in and he and several others turned back. Three people continued up the mountain in the storm and their remains are still up there. That story played over and over in my head yesterday when we were faced with a similar decision. Well, I'm writing to y'all today so I reckon you know the ending already. For those that would like to know how we came to that choice read on.

We left El Rito after meeting five new people also heading north and re-meeting Josh and Ryan. Here's a list of everybody to keep y'all up to date

Josh and Ryan - met in Pie Town, last seen in Grants, NM. Riding for Alzheimer's Disease http://joshuaelder.com/default.aspx Josh starts med school at UCLA when he gets back, Ryan it the authority on birds/ animals, critters, etc.

Jon Pierson - Easy going guy from Flagstaff. AKA Jack-o-lope due to the stuffed jackolope on his bike. We rode with him for several days after he feel behind his group.

Micheal - German guy from Colombus, OH that doesn't say much but you can tell he's a really strong rider

Lee Taylor - retired guy from Oregon (I think). Started trip with a virus and still has it.

David - an ER doc from New York. Using a nashbar trailer that continues to break on him. We met him on the way to the local welding shop for yet another repair. AKA the Transfuser because he carries enough equipment to do a blood transfusion on the trial.

George - older guy that takes off work a lot to do a variety ot tours. Rides with a lawn chair on the back of his rack so he also has a nice place to sit.

Alright, so Josh and Ryan had to stay in El Rito to wait on a package, and the other five took off and started laying down mileage. Jamie and I did a long climb out of town and eventually camped by a river surounded by ponderosa pines, aspens and green grass with lots of little yellow dandy lions. Although the first climb was hard and took us up a couple thousand feet the bigger climb awaited us.

The climb over burned mountain (10,4ish?) was long but very scenic. We caught up with David pulling his crippled trailer up over the rocks and we got to see a B-1b Bomber fly right beside us through the canyon! That was really cool, how often do you see a four-engined bomber carrying nuclear weapons fly alongside you through a canyon? The climb was 16 miles long and Jamie never quit. She's becoming a really great mountain biker! The day ended with a downhil into severe headwinds in which you had to pedal to go 5 mph. The great divide doesn't give anything out for free and it seems it always saves the hard part for last. Sometimes its a steep climb the map never mentions but usually its headwinds. Nothing like a strong wind to sap your strength when you're already tired from the days ride. During this day, we also caught up with Jon who decided our slower pace was more fun and that's cool, 'cause the trip is a lot more fun with his stories.

After getting a good nights sleep by the river, we climbed up onto the Brazos ridge. The ridge starts at 10k and keeps getting higher and higher. At this point, I would like to add that whoever tells you that climbs out west aren't steep should be shot. NOthing about the roadway was smooth, or shallow in grade. In fact, the forest service road had deteriorated so much from the weather that it was actually closed to all traffic expect us and hikers. What started out as a dirt road, turned into single track and then turned into essentially "notrack" as we were forced several times to blaze our own trail through the woods to get around obstacles.

It was up on the brazos ridge that we started encountering large snow drifts that blocked the roadways and the snow melt caused lots of mud and streams across the already eroded dirt track. It was at one of these snow drifts that I figured that with enough speed, I could just plow through the snow. How wrong this Georgia boy was..... What actaully happened was me getting the bike stuck in the snow drift and falling over. Good times. It was also on this pass I got to experience 11,000+ feet of elevation. Luckily, we are apdapting better but it is still a push up there. I have to take rest breaks to breath, not because my legs are tired. To continue our acclimitization, we camped at 10,600ft.

The decent off of the ridge was equally rocky, eroded and steep and the ascent. I ate it hard after my front wheel fell into a hole but eventually, we made it all the way down and entered...

COLORADO

Yeah, one state down, more to go.

We finished the day with a pavement climb over La Magna pass along with a descent at over 46 mph (with knobby tires and bob trailer behind you, this is a little scarier than a road bike) we turned back on dirt and climbed up a gorgeous river valley spotted with beaver dams to Platoro. Platoro began our biggest decision.

The next morning in Platoro, we ate a fantastic breakfast and listened to the locals tell us about the upcoming pass. He had two smaller passes before the big one, Indiana Pass elevation 11,900ft, the biggest pas of the entire route. We were warned by everyone that the pass was unpassable and they expected stroms and snow throughout the rest of the week on top. They told us one guy was stuck up there in a four wheel drive pickup and is waiting it out. How long does it take the pass to clear after a snow storm? The local casually replied "oh, if the weather is good, about 10 days". Hmm, not sounding too promising but these are car people. What do car people know about what mountain bikes can get through anyway?** So we continued with our plans on how to traverse this pass because after all, we climbed the Brazos ridge, it had snow, how much snow can this little thing have in front of us.

About that time, a group of guys came in looking exhuasted. They tried to get over the pass using a combonation of four wheelers, motrocycles, and even snowmobiles. They had seen the four cyclists ahead of us and warned them to turn back (no word if they actually did). They told us about the huge snow drifts that are a bit crusty on top, but if you broke through the crust you'll sink in over your head. Trying to recover a motorcycle from one drift proved too much and they will atempt to go back in a week. All of this snow and treacherous terrain was about 4 miles from the summit. One can only imagine what lied ahead (and you can only imagine b/c no person has been able to make the entire trek since last summer). Hearing this, I kept thinking about Digger Don and his mountain climbing. I kept hearing him say, "Man, I really wanted to summit but its not worth it if you can't tell the story". After all, if we got stuck, there would be no way someone could get up there to carry you out. We would really be on our own up there. It was the biggest pass of the trip and a rite of passage for great divide riders but we elected to take the alternate which led us down a different river valley into the San Luis Valley and to Monte Vista, CO only 16 miels off route. We've tried calling the other four but as of yet no word. As we were descending down the river valley, a series of storms hit everything above 11,000 feet in that range. I hope those guys are okay.

Jamie and I are taking a rest day here in Monte Vista. Tomorrow, we weill rejoin the trial in Del Norte*** and continue back up into the mountains to eventually work our way into Salida, CO.

*Digger Don is an engine builder I apprenticed under in Norcross, GA. Don used to drive front engined top fuel dragsters back in the 60's and early seventies when a horrific explosion nearly killed him. Doc's said he would walk again. Instead, he kept at it and in the late seventies started climbing mountains in Africa, North and South America. Look him up sometime, he's got a lot of stories. Don Dixon High Performance Engines 201 Cole Ct, Norcross, GA

**One rule of bike touring is that you never trust what someone driving a car tells you. If they say its only 4 miles, it is actually 10 miles. People in cars have no real perspective of distance, time, or type of terrain they are actually driving over.

***Del Norte, CO is on hwy 160 in Colorado. When Jin and I rode across America, we rode thorugh Del Norte and ate at the Taco Bell. There we met three people riding the great divide. I thought they were nuts until I saw the pictures they took. After that, I bought a set of maps and started planning this adventure. After Del Norte, we climbed Wolf Creek Pass. To us, is was the biggest, toughest climb we ever did. On the great divide we climb a wolf creek pass like climb once to three times a day.

Packing to Grants, N.M.

This is a link to newly added photo's that we hope you enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/miller.jamiem/PackingToGrantsNM

Journey Stats

For those number folks out there, I have some extra time to at the library to write up our daily mileage and times. For those that care more about the journey, skip this and read "22-34" the next post.

Day 1
Lorsburg to Silver City
12.73 miles
6.98 mph

This was our rude awakening to altitude after getting off a 25 hour bus ride.

Day 2 Silver City rest day
5.1 miles
7.62 mph

Day 3 Silver City rest day
5.7 miles 7.2 mph

Day 4 Silver City to Mimbres Ranger station
29.2 miles
6.88 mph
Feeling much better, rode on mostly roads, 11miles on dirt. rained all night

Day 5 Mimbres ranger station to Rocky Canyon Campground
16.47 miles
4.95mph

LOTS OF FREAKING MUD! We also climbed several thousand feet up onto the divide
took 1 hour to go 300 feet in mud. Very fustrating. Day ened in a hail storm

Day 6 Rocky Canyon to Wall Lake
25.98 miles
6.72 mph
Very steep north georgia fire road type climbs but covered in sloppy mud making progress nearly impossible. Saw a herd of elk at Wall lake. We camped under some trees due to rain but then a guy came and told us that we were on private land, so we have to ride another 3 miles after the rain stopped.

Day 7 Wall Lake to before Collins Park (elevation of campsite) 7456ft
32.50 miles
6.42 mph
We rode around thunder stroms like a giant ches game but eventually got caught before our goal of collins parks. Jamie's rack broke here, I fixed it with zip ties and duct tape

Day 8 Collins Park to Patterson Canyon (elevation of campsite) 7731ft
39.71 miles
6.05 mph
Tried to get in more riding before the rain came by waking up before dawn. But unfortuneately, none of the roads were dry enough from the night before. Got stuck several times, then went through the San Austin valley to be slowed by severe wind. Enough to slow you down to 4 mph on a downhill! When it turned to a cross wind, it would litereally blow us all over the road. Very tired, camped in a canyon and listened to two pack of wolves bay at the moon all night.

Day 9 Patterson Canyon to Pie town
33.93 miles
9.01 mph

NO RAIN! and really killer descent. Nothing like the sound of knobby tires wailing over the hard packed dry dirt roadway all the way into Pietown where we ate some great pies! Met josh and Ryan and some CDT hikers. The ride also took us through a pretty dry valley full of lots of homestead ruins of thse that couldn't find enough water to survive out here in some very harse landscape

Day 10 Pie Town to Grants
68.72 miles
11.61 mph

This ride was relatively flat on very hard packed raodways and 35 miles of pavement in Grants. Jamie hauled it and I tried to keep up. The last 2 miles were a real struggle due to the unrelenting wind that slowed progress to a crawl.

Day 11 Grants rest day

Day 12 Grants to Mt. Taylor (elevation of campsite) 7960ft
30.69miiles
6.8 mph
Really BIG and LONG climb today. over 3000 ft over 24 miles topping out a 9200 feet. I got a bit winded at the top and the descent was great. We camped on the ridge overlooking the vally below and watched the sunset over a very hard but beautiful day.

Day 13 Mt. Taylor to Hunter's camp (elevation of campsite) 6426
47.61
8.17 mph
The sun was blazing today and we treked through a harsh desert, heavily eroded and dotted with the ruins of ranches that didn't make it. No water except for a spring near camp. Saw a bunch of foxes including one that was dead, its bones bleached and dried in the desert. ONce again, harse life out here. Lots of up and downs and wind, really wore us down.

Day 14 Hunters camp to Cuba (elevation of campsite) 6800ft
46.07
8.12 mph
We made it but did got dehydrated in the progress. Like I keep saying, harse landscape, no water, hard for life.

Day 15 Cuba to FS road 103
29.66 miles
6.21 mph
Lots of climbing. See "22-34" post

Day 16 FS road 103 to Abiquou, NM
48.8 miles
7.72 mph
average speed on climbs was only 4.2 mph but the descents skewed the stats. Once again see the "22-34" post

Day 17 Abiquou to El Rito NM
17.89 miles
7.08 mph avg speed
This was supposed to be a rest day but the Abiquou Inn is really expensive (but very nice) so we left after having a great time at the Maya Art Cafe (and they drove us to the grocery store) that we cruised up to El Rito about sunset. Even after the sun went down, you could still see the road under the bright moonlight. When we couldn't find the campsite we pitched a tent at the ranger station.

Day 18 El Rito to Canada del Oso river campsite (elevation of campsite) 8212 ft
23.13 miles
6.16 mph avg
Met 4 new people riding north as well. Spent a lot of time in El Rito having the best mexican food ever and then decided to leave late and do a big climb. All the mexican food stayed down but it was tough. Drank water from a gasoline can a guy offered way out in the middle of nowhere. He was drinking it too and we didn't get sick so I reckon it was alright.

Day 19 Canada del Oso river campsite to Rio San Antonio campsite
36.17 miles
6.56 mph avg speed.

Climbed Burned mountain (10,200ft) which despite its name was very pretty. Decent started on dirt and progressed onto pavement. Hit 46.4 mph on the pavement decent. Pretty fast for knobby tires and an unstable BOB trailer behind you. Last 4 miles had severe headwinds. Met Steve a cool guy that used to ride Cat 2 that gave us beer and whiskey while he went fishing in the river. Hooked up with Jon (a rider we met in El Rito) he decided the other were going too fast and he'll ride with us.

Day 20 Rio San Antonio Campstie to Apachee Creek campsite
10,614ft (elevation of campsite)
26.89 miles
4.8 mph avg

The distance and speed should tell the story of today's ride. Severe uphill, mud, snow drifts, elevation slowed us down but we had a lot of fun! Road was so severely eroded it was closed to vehicles. Topped out about 11,400ft. Great views up there! You'll enjoy the pictures once wew're able to post them (probably a few weeks)

Day 21 Apachee Creek campsite to Lake Fork Campsite
approx 9000ft (elevation of campsite)
35 miles
8.1 mph avg

Very rocky and steep decent off of the ridgeline. Entered Colorado!!! Got to see a real steam train chugging through the valley. Clibed back to 10,200 ft on pavement over La Magna Pass (10,260ft) and then ripping decent at 46.8 mph to a great cheeseburger in Horca, CO, then back on dirt climbing up a river valley to the campsite

Day 22 Lake Fork campsite to Monte Vista, CO
52.85 miles
9.75 mph

Got off to late start because of a great cafe in Platoro, CO. There we were told the passes ahead were closed due to excessive snow cover. We thought about trying them anyway but we met a guy that had to be turned around up there when a combination of motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles couldn't him and his buddies across. We took his advice and did an alternate to here, Monte Vista. Just 16 miles off route but no snow and much lower in elevation (7700ft approx)

Day 23 Monte Vista, CO
Started out as a rest day, then Jamie got sick. Turns out Josh was sick as well.

Day 24 Monte Vista, CO
Jamie feeling better, I got sick. Determined it was bad water in Platoro, CO. Learned that the four guys made it over the pass. One of those got sick, too.

Day 25 Del Norte, CO
I slept this entire day. Started to feel better in the evening. Had my first meal in over 40 hours.

Day 26 Del Notre, CO
Took Andrew's advice, stayed another day. Met the great folks Gary and Patti and learned what ultra light really means.

Day 27 Del Norte, CO to campsite on descent from careneo pass
9346ft (elevation of campsite)
37.6 miles
8.09 mph

Feeling much better. Ripped up the pass at a blistering pace pulling the trailer in the middle ring for parts. Its great to see the passes aren't as steep. Camped out underneath some beautiful aspens. Look forward to the rest of the downhill tomorrow

Day 28 Decent from careneo pass to sargents, co
8497 ft
69.14
9.36 mph

Pulled a LONG day today with a 10,100ft pass in the middle. Still feeling pretty strong. We did this really killer decent that went up and down around these smaller hills. You could use your momentum to carry you over each top slowing you down just enough to catch a brillant view of snow covered peaks and then back through the maze of hills again. Great ride.

Day 29 Sargents, CO to Salida CO
33.76
9.04 mph

The big climb over monarch pass. Went up really high with lots of road traffic. I'm a little pooped but having a good time in Salida. 3.8mph up the pass 35+ going down so the average speed is a little misleading

Day 30 Salida to FS 175 camp
10.09
4.63mph

Not feeling well. Legs don't want to go but I forced myself anyway. No water on steep climb but some folks in a truck gave us a gallon. Before we reached the top, it rained. Very cold.

Day 31 FS 175 camp to Hartzel, CO
8860 ft
39.47
7.47 mph

Hard day, cold rain and cold severe headwinds. Body just not feelling a lot like moving but we got a good hot meal and we're sleeping behind the bar.

Day 32 Hartzel, CO to Breckenridge, CO
19.1
6.28 mph

Note it is not 19/1 miles to Breckenridge from Hartzel. We cheated. I left Hartzel feeling groggy but then everything started falling apart. Severe COLD headwinds and my body told me it had enough. I laid down and couldn't get back up, body just wouldn't move. Hitched a ride with a passing truck into town. Will see doc tomorrow.

Day 33 Breckenridge
rest day

Saw doc, deteremined that I haven't been eating enough and have thrown myself into a severe imbalance. Talked to nutritionist and figured out how to eat more. So, I'm sitting around eating. Feel like crap

Day 34 Breckenridge
rest day

rode 5.5 miles to do laundry and nearly didn't make it. Very weak. Never felt like this before. Will continue eating

Day 35 Breckenridge
rest day

feelling better today. Jamie's friends came out to visit

Day 36 Breckenridge to Blue river camp
23.15
10.17 miles

Took it real easy today over very flat to mod downhill pavement. Saw a movie, ate a lot. Feeling better.

Day 37 Blue river camp to Kemling, CO
45.03
8.82 mph

Good day. Feeling much better. Climbed up Ute pass and got an incredible view of the snow capped Gore range. Then long steady decent almost all the way to Kremling.

Day 38 Kremling, CO to French Creek camp
26.72
6.18 mph

LOTS of big climbs today. I feel like we've down 6-gap in only 25 miles. Great veiws of the Colorado river through a canyon (that we climbed both sides of). Asked Jamie ot marry me. She said yes. Lots of misquitos

Day 39 French Creek Camp to Steamboats Springs, CO
51.26
9.42 mph

Severe steep up and downs for the first several miles, finally an easy climb up to Lynx pass and the DOWNHILL practically all the way to Steamboat. Really ripping. We're absolutely filthy and enjoyed a shower.

Day 40 Steamboat Springs, CO
Rest Day

Finally got to ride some Colorado Mountain bike trails. They are really really ripping. Had a great time and got to tour the Moots tinanium bicycle factory.

Day 41 Steamboat to Mt. Meaden pass
39.7
6.48

Long continuous climbing today. First on road and then on dirt. Very steep and rocky. Walked a lot of the really rocky stuff, just too challenging with a trailer. Really brillant views up top.

Day 42
Mt. Meaden pass to Medicine Bow NF
43.85
8.57

Up and down terrain through aspens and later into the great wide open. Got dehydrated but ended up in one of the most beautiful campsites of the trip.

Day 43
Medicine bow NF to Rawlins WY
66.65
9.6mph

Feeling good, left in the cool morning but still ended up in the heat and desert by afternoon. Long day in the saddle. Couldn't seem to drink enough water but we made it. Feels good to eat pizza!

Day 44
Rawlins, WY

Rest day.

Day 45
Rawlins to A& M Lake Resevior
58.43
9.48 mph
7280 ft elevation of campsite

Jamie is really cruising on her new tires. She stayed out in front a lot today as we rolled through the desert and made it to the lake before it got too blazing outside. Carrying 40 lbs of water sucks but necessary

Day 46
A & M Resevoir to Daicus Well
56.6
7.79 mph

The Desert was surreal at night and we really enjoyed the ride. In daylight, it gets a lot harsher. Very washboarded and rutted roads, severe winds (cross and head), and the blazing sun took a lot out of us but we made it.

Day 47
Daicus Well to Atlantic City, WY
22.11
7.1
7550 ft elevation of town

We were really tired from the odd hours, little sleep and difficult desert riding. There was a bed and breakfast in town run by super nice folks and so we stopped there.

Day 48
Atlantic City to Little Sandy Creek Camp
36.52
6.95

Not feeling too good today. Having a lot of stomach problems and not pedaling very fast. Really nice looking scenery but hard to appreciate when you don't feel well.

Day 49
Little Sandy Creek Camp to Pinedale, WY

Woke up to more stomach problems. Decided to hitch a ride 55 miles to Pinedale to the hospital. Minor food poisoning from the buffollo burger I ate in Atlantic City. Dehydrated from"extra restroom breaks". recieved 2 bags of IV and feeling much better.

Day 50 Pinedale, WY

Rest day
Still wasn't feeling quite up to speed so we took one more day.

Day 51 Pinedale, WY
Pinedale to Misquito Lake CG
elevation of campsite = 8940ft
47.2 miles
7.11 mph avg

Nice ride up a valley, then super steep exposed climb with lots of bugs. Ended up a a really beautiful campsite by the aptly named misquito lake. Lots and lots of bugs.

Day 52
Misquito Lake CG to RV park along hwy 26/287
44.6 miles
7.12 mph avg

Getting over Union pass took a while but the downhill was insane and super scenic. I was going to fast and trying to hold on so I didn't take any pictures. Ended up at a RV park with showers and hot food. I like hot showers and eating.

Day 53
RV park along hwy 26/287 to Colter Bay CG
49.1 miles
9.42 mph avg

Got over towgatee pass by lunch. Lots of construction but the traffic was okay. The view of the teton mtn range was incredible as we decended into teton national park just screaming all the way downhill. We nearly got flattened by an RV in the park on the way to the campsite.

Day 54
Colter Bay CG to Elks lodge CG in Idaho
52.76 miles
8.69 mph avg

Finally off the death highway of RVs and people in big hurries to get to their vacations. Getting back on dirt was extremely dusty but a nice ride through the woods. Very steep up and downs but lots of streams and lakes to take an occasional swim. We now get to see the Tetons from the backside.

Day 55
Elks lodge to Flat rock CG (Macks inn, Idaho)
elevation of camp 6418ft
44.33 miles
6.98 mph avg (Jamie's avg speed was 7.15!!)

Jamie was faster than I was today and I'm so proud of her. The ride was really sandy that soaked up all our speed. The trailer was a huge disadvantage is the sand. Really neat ride along an old railway bed but very dusty from a lot of ATV traffic. Macks Inn, Idaho is a weird place.

Day 56
Flat rock CG (Macks inn, Idaho) to Upper red rock lake CG (Montana)
31.56 miles
7.15 mph avg

We slept in today and did an easy ride to this lake full of swans with this enourmous mountain behind us. Swarmed by thousands of flies and misquitos so we spent most of our time in the tent. We entered Montana as we cross the divide on red rock pass.

Day 57
Upper red rock lake CG to Lima, MT
56.46 miles
8.08 mph avg

Pulled a long day today. After the lake, all the mountains disappeared along with the trees into a vast wasteland of scrub with no shade but plenty of wind and sun. Felt good to arrive into a town and get a big dinner.

22-34

In the wide range of 27 differnt gear ratios allowed to us on our bicycles, we used the 22-34* the most often. Cyclists know this as "granny gear" in that it is the lowest gear ratio allowed to us. It takes a lot of patience to climb for 20 miles (creeping along at only 3.5mph) but we made it. We left the desert south of Cuba, NM and climbed into the Santa Fe National Forest up to 9660ft, then 10,200 ft and then yet again to 10,260ft over about 75 miles. It was difficult but the scenery made it worthwhile. We were told that there would be no water for us between Cuba and Abiquou so we would need to haul all fo the water we needed for the two day trek.

THAT IS A LOT OF WATER!

After having a bout of dehydration riding through the desert into Cuba we weren't going to take any chances so we filled everything up. All totaled in was about 600 oz (39lbs!) split between Jamie and I. All that extra weight made for a lot of extra work to make the 20 mile climb out Cuba (6500ft) to the peak at (9660ft). Although the average grade doesn't seem bad, it was similar climbing Hog Pen gap in north Georgia because it had several false peaks that only added to the overal climb while increasing the steepness of it. All this climbing at altitudes we're still not fully adjusted to. To ad insult to injury, all along the climb we saw nothing but WATER!! It seems that we were given flase information and we carried all that extra weight for nothing. That bit really fustrated me but regardless, we still finished the climb and had a ripping descent down into a valley where we found a campsite (8900ft).

The next morning, we made another push up to 10,200ft. Our first time over 10k and the altitude started getting to us again. It really amazes me the effect of altitude. On grades that I would not even consider a climb, we are struggling in our 22-34, our hearts racing and chests heaving for air. It can be really fustrating at times knowing full well that you are capable of going faster and yet, struggling to just maintain balance as you watch the hub spin slowly in front of you. If you got tired of watching your wheel turn, you could look on either side and see snow drifts in the shady spots under the aspen trees.

After summiting the first 10,200, we decended another 1000ft only to climb back up again to 10,260. The climb was on a very steep and very eroded and washed out 4WD trail making any sort of pedaling impossible. It was a deal where you had to push the bike forward, hold the brake so it wouldn't slip back down, and then ginderly walk a couple steps and then lunge the bike forward again. Luckily that was only for about a 1/4 mile but still very strenuous. At least it didn't rain.

But once we made it to the top, oh man! the view at 10k is great! You can see forever. In fact you can see the snow covered peaks of the next range we tackle the San Juan Mountains. Being at the top only meant one thing...

WE GET TO GO DOWN!! Our decent was broken up into a 13 mile downhill, then a 2 mile climb, then another 11 mile downhill all into the town of Abiquou, NM. The first decent was actually very technical, especially with bikes loaded down with all of our gear. It was the same washed out 4WD road and had sections that were very tricky. Some slick rock sections that looked exactly like the trials in Conyers (So think of doing Conyers, pulling 60 pounds in a trailer at 20mph). Other sections were just covered in loose lava rock, regardless, it was hard to really open up on this trail due to the technical bits but Jamie, AKA 2-seconds, did great! I ate it, once (I'm okay).

This rocky descent was broken up with a smaller pass that was only 2 miles and 800 ft. Now that we were lower the climb went much easier and Jamie and I spun up it with seemingly ease. Then yet another long downhill into Abiquou. This time on gravel roads and speed at 30+mph, for 11miles!

In Abiquou we got a room and the next day we got coffee at the Maya Art Cafe. The owner, Tamara, was SUPER nice! She drove us into a larger town so we could do laundry and buy enough groceries for the 6 day journey to Platoro, CO. The Maya Art Cafe is a great place for everyone to stop in, highly recommended!!

We are now in El Rito, NM. Finding libraries and internet access is very challenging so excuse the long delays between posts.

We have met back up with Ryan and Josh as well as four other people riding north. We will be loosely riding with one another on the trek to Platoro. The road ahead is much more challenging than the road before. We will be riding four 10k+ passes as well as staying at 10k for about a 20 mile stretch. After Platoro, we ascend even higher to Summitville, go over Indiana Pass at 11,900ft and then a 26 mile downhill into Del Norte, CO. SO far my top speed on a downhill is 38.69mph, I wonder if I can top that after Indiana pass?

So y'all have fun and take care, we'll try to stay warm at altitude and avoid the Bears.

-Lee

*22-34 is named because the crank sprocket has 22 teeth and the wheel sproket has 34 teeth. You can find a smaller 20 tooth sprocket but it is very difficult to balance below 3mph and you can walk at 2.5mph so if it gets any steeper, you're better off walking. We walk a lot at altitude.

The Weather's been Good!

We've arrived in Cuba NM after traversing a 9200 ft peak, near Mt Taylor. We rode through waterless high desert. The heavily eroded landscape of high mesas and deep arroyos. It was very difficult but we made it! You sensed that Billy the Kid had riden here!