Colorado

Wednesday July 12th
Destination: Six Mile Gap Camp, 24 miles east of Riverside, Wyoming
Today was one of the hardest days yet. I slightly strained my right thigh yesterday on the ride to Rawlins. At the time it felt like a cramp but was worse today. It was particularly noticeable when standing up on the bike so I spent most of the day soft-pedaling while seated. That put more pressure on my seat which caused additional pain.
The route went east from Rawlins (including 16 miles on I-80) to Walcott then turned south to Riverside. I fought strong headwinds for 38 miles spending most of the time in my lowest gear. Jani drove up while I was stopped at a mini-mart in Riverside and we agreed to meet at a campground turnoff 24 miles east of Riverside. Jani was first going to take a short one mile detour west to Encampment so I expected to see her shortly. I rode 22 miles before stopping to wait for thunderstorms ahead. After sitting on the side of the road for awhile I decided to backtrack to Riverside. The country was wide open and I could see approaching cars for several miles, expecting each one to be ours. As I rode further and further I got more and more worried. Did she get lost? Did she have car trouble? Did Kira run off, or worse? I kept telling myself that the simplest solution (getting lost) was the most probable but couldn’t help worrying. There was spotty cell phone coverage but that was academic because my phone was in the van and the closest phone was 22 miles back in Riverside. When I was 5 miles from town Jani came driving up. She had continued past Encampment the precise 24 miles, then looked for me in every campground along the way. She finally got help from some people who showed her that Six Mile Gap Campground was 50 miles in the other direction.
Alls well that ends well and this is a great place to be. We’re a couple miles off the highway and no one else is here. Kira can roam at will, I can play music, and Jani can breathe a big sigh of relief. A little whisky didn’t hurt either.
Mileage: 99/1795 Transam Riders: 1/15


Horses grazing near Riverside Wyoming


Our Camp

Thursday July 13th
Destination: Denver Creek Camp, about 12 miles north of Granby, Colorado
I rode a shorter distance today and it’s been nice to have the afternoon to relax. We are in a beautiful camp along Willow Creek. This is the kind of place that would be a worthwhile destination independent of crossing the country.
We entered Colorado this morning and the road climbed gradually for 44 miles to Rand then steepened up to go over Willow Creek Pass (9621’). Tailwinds helped my outlook today. The scenery near Walden wasn’t that great but the tailwind was like a good personality making up for the homely surroundings.
My leg felt a little better today so I’m hopeful that it will be back to normal after a few more days of taking it easy. It’s nice to hear that although Colorado has very high elevations the roads aren’t that steep. I’ve noticed that the descents are much faster than I’d have expected. It must be a result of the lower air density.
Today was a record for meeting other Transam riders. The first was a guy from Kentucky who told me that the dogs in his home state are overrated. That’s nice to hear but he was still carrying pepper spray. I met the other four as a group: one from Florida, two from Virginia, one unknown. They said they’d had 9 continuous rainy days in Colorado. All I could do in reply was say that we’d had record heat in Oregon. I don’t think they were impressed. They also told me that I’m at least a week or two behind the bulk of the other eastbound riders.
Mileage: 63/1858 Transam Riders: 5/20

Friday July 14th
Destination: Silverthorne, Colorado
Last night after dinner there was no one else around our campsite so I let Kira chase one of the many ground squirrels that had been teasing her. She was a hundred feet away so I didn’t think anything would happen but she caught one of them. They were obviously just a bit too complacent. It got away from her twice but she quickly caught it each time. I didn’t’ want to have a rodent killing on my hands so I tried to get her to drop it which she finally did after running off a little ways. The ground squirrel looked like he was dead but after a couple of minutes he disappeared so I assume he left with only bar stool stories to tell. Kira’s always paid complete attention to animals but now she’s at a higher level and sits quivering in the passenger seat looking for varmints as if it’s a life or death mission.
This was our second day in Colorado but today the countryside really looks different. Even though we’re at 9000’ the mountains still tower overhead. Jani picked me up in Silverthorne and we were lucky to find a campsite a few miles east of Frisco. This is to Denver and thus a popular destination to beat the summer heat.
I’m going to take a rest day tomorrow then climb Hoosier Pass (11,541’) on Sunday. The pass isn’t as scary now that its only 2500’ higher than we are. It will be strange to have a free day. The van may even get washed if we can’t find anything else to do.
Mileage: 76/1934 Transam Riders: 0/20


Heeney Colorado (north of Silverthorne)

Saturday July 15th
Destination: Boulder, Colorado
When we saw how close we were to Boulder we decided to drive there and spend the day. They’re having a street fair and it was fun walking around looking at the food and art exhibits. I also visited a couple of bike shops for some a new spoke and chain. Since 0ur last shower was four days ago and its 100 degrees we’re camped out in a Best Western. This is the first motel stop in four weeks but may happen more frequently.
Mileage: 0/1934 Transam Riders: 0/20