I Shall Be Free

Day 76-78 ….Salt Lake City is a different town to stay in. My first evening was at a hotel downtown. Pretty uneventful except for dinner. SLC happens have a Mellow Mushroom Pizza place in town. I ran across this place a few different time throughout the US. Pizza is always good but the topping game is usually lacking. Well This Mellow Mushroom was way way different. They actually put a ton of toppings on the pie. Not what I expected but it was great find.

Next thing to do was have the bicycle repaired in town. Since the blowout heading into Heber, UT I was in need of a new tire and oil change in the Rolhoff hub. Calling around the first evening to find some that could order in the parts and work on the bike quickly was a challenge. Guthrie Bicycle happen to be a shop that could a accomplish the task. Plan was to have the parts in Wednesday, drop off the bike and get repairs completed ASAP.

The next morning I figured on heading to REI to grab dinners and some other supplies going forward. My tire was so worn out that I started getting flats right away heading to REI. Not good. Since REI was another 4 miles and the bike shop was only 1.4 miles away it was time to drop off the bike early and walk the rest of the day.

I had rented an AirBNB for the rest of my time in SLC. Luckily I was able to drop off my bags and gear at the place so I could actually do something the rest of the day. Since I have been to SLC more than once there wasn’t much new to visit. Plus not having a vehicle of any type traveling much in the city gets expensive quickly (Uber).

Once I was able to settle in to the AirBNB I happen to meet Sonny on the morning. He was a college student on a summer adventure around country by Amtrak. We spent a few hours in the morning chatting and swapping stories about life. It was great to meet someone new and have a long conversation. It had been a while since I met someone and had such a long conversation. It made my day to meet and chat with him.

On my last morning I met Sheri. She happen to be in SLC for a ALS conference. What an awesome woman to meet. We started chatting in the kitchen and seem to continue for a hour or more. All while she was trying to get off to the conference. But the conversations went so well she had trouble leaving and kept talking. Cool thing is she is from San Francisco. My Plan is to get in contact with her while over there and meet up again.

Heading out of SLC on Thursday I stopped to take a few pics that some would not expect. As you head out-of-town the fields, road edges, etc is covered in salt. The first pic is of the Morton Salt plant harvesting salt from the beds. The second is a random field that is totally covered. The last two pictures are of the famous Bonneville Salt Flats.

Day 75…. Plan is to ride from Heber to Omer and find a coffee shop to chill at. There was a WebEx meeting scheduled for noon today. I left early to beat the heat and make sure I had time to prep for the meeting. Then entire ride today was through another pass into Omer. Easy day of only 26 miles. Mostly downhill. When I arrived into Omer a email came in and the meetin was postponed until Tuesday. Decision time. Either stop at 10:30 am and do nothing all day or push into Salt Lake.

The only answer to this for me was to continue riding into Salt Lake. 53 more miles to go and it was heating up. Since the day was to be short I didn’t eat a ton of food as usual. Nor did I pack ice and full bag of water. Should be an interesting day. On top of all of this the back tire had a slow leak. Which I have to pump up every 8-10 miles. I do give Salt Lake credit for the trail system. The entire trip was on a continual trail into Northern Salt Lake.

The first couple hours went by well. I snacked on the little food I had and drank what I could, hoping for a gas station soon. The first station I stopped at was out of ice and did not carry water. Weird.. Continuing on from here I had hoped for another gas station soon. The downside of riding trails all the time is they rarely have anything on them. Another hour went by before I ran into a gas station again. This one had 2 bags of ice left. I secured one of them. So refreshing in the 90+ degree heat. The trail seemed to continue on forever and the heat kept rising.

Getting close to the end, 2.7 miles left, I had another flat in the back. This time pumping it up was not going to work. The valve stem had completely detached itself from the tube. In the past I have seen the stem break but not detach itself from the tube. Finding a spot in the shape it was time to unload and repair the tire again. Once I get to the hotel it will be time to call around and get the tire repair and other maintenance that is needed.

While the day was over 9.5 hours in the sun, less than 700 calories all day, I actually felt great. The next few days will be down days getting the bike repaired and preparing to figure out Nevada.

Day 74…. Time for the big push into Heber, UT today. I was dreading this ride today. Between 3990 feet of climbing and the 70 miles of distance it was to be a long, hot day. After [pedaling the first 4 hours I realized that I had covered the first 3000 feet of climbing in the first 35 miles. Then the next 990 feet was covered in the following 20 miles. This was a long, long 5 hours of constant climbing. Coming from Wisconsin I have never experienced anything to this extent. Hours upon hours of climbing brings out a different mentality.

Happy the day was going smooth, happy I was heading down instead of up, some rogue object in the road decided to slash my back tire and rapidly deflate it. Since switching to tubeless tires the wheels contain liquid slime to fill punctures. Well when you get a large gash the liquid goes flying everywhere and sprays all over while deflating.

Standing int he direct sun on the side of the road I tried to plug the tire and refill it. At first the plug held and did not deflate. Well this only lasted a few minutes before the tire went completely flat again. Removing the back tire again it was time for a tube. This whole process takes a good half hour or so. I had always wondered how much of a mess it is to put a tube in a tubeless setup. Well my thoughts were correct… It was a huge mess. Liquid latex all over my hands, sweat dripping from the brow the tire was repaired.

Off on the Journey again. With some more climbing to do I was running out of water and still had a long way to go. As I reached the summit there was a truck driver pulled over. Stopping and asking for water yielded a friendly driver and a nice cold bottle of water to help finish the day out. This was refreshing and helpful. I didn’t think there was enough water left in my pack for the rest of the day. Makes me even more happy I split the ride up over two days.

As I started to descend the headwind decided it was a good day to continue to pedal constantly. Normally when you get a nice downhill you can coast and relax. Not today. Constant effort just to sustain 18-20 mph. The pass going down had construction on it. Which meant instead of 3 lanes we had two lanes and almost no shoulder. Also the speed limit is 60 mph still. Not much bothers me while riding but there is an occasional close call that scares me half to death. This pass was one of the worst passes I have been on. Being Sunday everyone and their brother had a pull behind camper and often a boat behind the camper heading home. A lot of these campers are WIDE and well past the mirrors of a truck. Well people though they were leaving room only to have a trailer pass me close enough I probably could have licked the side. Just stupidity and nerve-racking for me.

Which makes me wonder something. When I was repairing the tire earlier I had moved off the road, into the ditch to work. Now this was a two lane hwy again. People went out of their way to move over into the opposing lane to give me tons of room. Now I am 15+ feet off the road. At this point there is now reason what so ever to need to move over. Get back on the bike where I am a foot or less off the road, if not on the white line often… Most seem to now understand moving over a bit is the correct thing to do. People make ZERO sense.

After 20 miles of downhill and treacherous cars interaction I was happy to reach Heber, UT. The temp was really hot and dry.

Day 73…. I have a choice this morning to try to make it to Heber, UT, which was over a 100 miles or split the ride up into two days and stop in Duchesne, Utah, which was only 28 miles. With the heat and hills I figured to be a little safer and split the ride up. It’s getting hard to carry so much water for this dry heat. I haven’t been taking to many pictures since I entered Utah. It’s mostly a repeat of dry hills and sage brush. Not very interesting to me.

As I entered Duchesne there is a grocery store and as station. Figuring it would be nice to not go out for food today I grabbed dinner and breakfast here. No for the place I was staying. I rented what I thought was a single bed hotel room. Well when I arrived come it was a well-kept town home. 3 full beds, 3 full bathrooms, full kitchen, laundry, large living room, dining, etc. The house was stocked to live in. Winterton Suites blew my mind. The place is large and immaculate. With a price of $85 (1 bedroom) for the evening I wish I could find these more often. If you even travel to a place that they have suites do not hesitate to rent one.

Spending most of my night eating and drinking tons of fluids it was time to crash and get ready for the long, hill climbing day coming up.

Day 72…. I was offered a ride from Dinosaur to Jensen this morning. Couldn’t pass that up and knock 20, hilly mile off the days ride. Once I was dropped off and we said our goodbyes it was to to ride 15 miles into Vernal for breakfast. We left Dinosaur to early for the restaurant to open. Decent temperatures to start mild wind and a few hills the day was going to be great. Food at the local Country Cafe was great. Friendly service, the typical coffee clutch of older guys and perfect small town feel as usual.

Vernal was large enough to have a Walmart and Walgreens. Walgreens is not the easiest place to come across in small town America. Unfortunately the only place to sell my beloved sunscreen is Walgreens. So as the supply runs out I always hope to find on for replenishment. After supplies and food it was time to ride on into Roosevelt, UT. With only 45 miles and under 2000 feet up climbing the entire day was fairly chill and enjoyable.

Day 71…. Plan today was get up early, grab breakfast at 7 am when the restaurant opens, ice at the store and head off before the heat. Today is supposed to hit 94 again. I was packed and ready to head off by 7:15 to grab food. Not bad since normally I am running an hour later than planed. Food in me, ice in the water bag, it was time to head off for the journey to Dinosaur, CO. 58 miles and 2844 ft of climbing this would be an interesting day if my pace was slow.

There isn’t much to explain of talk about heading this far west in Colorado. Just dry, hot and arid landscape. The few pictures I had taken on the ride were not very exciting for me.

Nearing Dinosaur the heat was peaking and sun was relentless on my body. Being so fair-skinned I am amazed that I have not fried often in the sun. Gingers usually do not take to hours upon hours in the sun everyday. Rolling through town it was time to grab an iced tea to cool off and replenish my glucose quickly. After some experimenting I have found that an Iced tea at the end of the day to replenish the glucose supply for morning well.

Once the tea was in me time to get a room for the evening. To hot to camp and the camp sites were still another 30+ miles away. Rolling up to the office another guy was trying to check in to. We started chatting and waited to check in together while the woman drove over to let us in. Next to the town is Dinosaur National Monument. We both wanted to see the site. Luckily I was invited to join in the truck instead of having to spend a day cycling through the park to see it. Word can’t explain the shear scale or beauty of this area. From the road it was 31 miles winding through Colorado and Utah, then back into Colorado. If it wasn’t for my new friend this all would not have been possible. So glad I meet awesome people all the time.

Day 70…. As I head west the temps keep climbing, the elevation goes down and the miles get boring. The next town is Maybell, CO. From what I see on the map it has a General Store, Hotel and not much else. Not using my better judgement the decision was to just head that way and hope for the best. The first part of leaving Craig is a nice long hill. But from what the map show this is one of the few hills for the day and the rest is down. Plus it’s a fairly short day with only 30 miles.

After pedaling through the dry, hot day I arrived in Maybe around noon. The plan was to stay at the local Inn and grab supplies from the General store. Stopping by Inn the door was open but no one was there. Being slightly confused I headed down to the General Store. As I walked in the store Mary said hi with a friendly greeting. I explained what I was doing and the need for a place to stay. Being a small town she said the owners were out-of-town but a lady was left in charge. After trying to track her down for an hour or so we found out that another guy, Norm, was in charge but out-of-town until later. At this point I was told to let myself in and find a room upstairs that I liked. Someone would be around later to help me. Small town fun…

Instead of heading to the Inn I decided to hang out in the store with Mary for the day. Over the four-hour period I think I met half or more of the town. Maybell only has a population of 72. So meeting most of the people was not that big of an effort. Along with Mary I talked with Judy for quite some time. Judy makes Mohair products from her Angora goats. Beautiful products hand-made from natural fibers.

Eventually I made it back to the Inn and showered up then headed back to the store for water. Norm was in the store at this point. We sat and chatted until late in the evening about anything you could think of.

Maybell was a unique town but not much different from any other small town I have been to. Everyone knows everyone. Common saying in town… If you don’t know what you’re doing, ask someone they’ll tell ya.

Also the cell service is getting sparse the father west I ride. In Maybell I had zero service the entire time.

Day 69…. It’s time to leave the main mountain range and head towards the desert. The weather is quickly changing to the mid 90’s by early afternoon. Luckily I am able to head off a bit early and the route is mostly downhill. Unlike before Steamboat Springs, US-40 actually has a nice wide shoulder. Making the ride a little safer and reliable.

While leaving Steamboat there is a great trail going North West. About half way down the trail was closed due to wildlife on it. What that means I don’t know but the bear picture made me decide to head back and take the road instead.

The landscape becomes dry and rocky as the miles go by. The dry heat has some advantages but it is still something to get used to. The sweat dries on my brow well before I notice it. My clothing stays dry even though I am drinking and sweating out a gallon or more of water each day. Surely is not like Wisconsin with the high humidity.

As I the route nears Craig, CO there is a landmark talking about the area. Moffat County is approx 3 million acres of land with two-thirds of it being open public land. Pretty amazing that so much land is dedicated to public use.

The overall ride went really smooth and I seemed to beat the heat. Craig is quite a beautiful area. While the man mountain ranges are in the distance you can still see smaller ranges in your view.

Day 68…. Another Divide crossing this morning. Heading out of Kremmling to Steamboat there is a daunting 3911 feet of vertical ascension with a fun 3300 feet of descent. I had rushed around this morning to get ready and leave early. The winds pick up mid morning around here and create a strong headwind from the West. Makes for a tougher ride. For once I was off before 8 am an enjoying the lack of wind and heat.

Leaving town the entire route was on US-40. This has not been a good road to ride more often than not. Some areas have a nice shoulder, other areas have no shoulder at all. With a 65 mph speed limit it gets sketchy at times. After being buzzed one to many times by a-hole drivers it was time to turn music on a just ride. At 65 mph there isn’t much I can do if someone is stupid and runs into me. Which gets to a quick rant….

Why is it so hard to slow down a little and move over? If it’s not easy to move over SLOW DOWN!!!! The 5 seconds extra it takes won’t kill you in a car, however blowing by a cyclist at 65+ can kill them. It doesn’t take much for a mistake to happen. Also speeding up as you pass a cyclist doesn’t help either. It just scares the shit out of a person. SLOW DOWN. If you hit someone the 5 seconds you saved will turn into long headache and a memory that may never leave you. Are your few precious moments that important? Think about it. I had a discussion with a few foreigners while traveling. They asked me this.. Why are Americans such nice and friendly people in person, but in a car are complete inconsiderate assholes? That is pretty bad that foreigners are noticing this too. None of these were bicycle travelers…. Done ranting.

For some strange reason I have a hard time breathing from 7800-8900 feet. Above 8900 breathing gets easier. Well today was no different. Starting at 7300 feet I was doing well. Then the constant climb started and the breathing became more difficult. Also I had issues with keeping my heart rate down but I attribute this to coffee. Coffee to soon before exercise doesn’t work for me. The first 20 miles were exhausting. Legs became sore and weary. As I reached the base of the summit it was time to take a break and get energy back. Right past a guard rail section I figure this would be a good place to rest and be safe. Protected by the rail I could relax a bit and not worry about being hit. Eating a few different thing and drinking plenty of fluids it was time for a cat nap. Once I woke up a few minutes later I was refreshed and ready to take on the climb.

The terrain changes a lot from the bottom to the top. The base was dry, more desert like while the top was a conifer Forrest with patches of snow. The grade of Rabbits Ear Pass was nothing compare to Loveland Pass. More of a constant slope than abrupt changes and turns.

I reached the summit without actually knowing it was so close. Guess I was to deep into thought and enjoying the ride to pay attention to where I was at. I think this is the last major climb in the Rockies and the rest is fairly flat or downhill. Only difference is the desert starts really soon.

The best part of climbing is the Downhill. Rabbit Ears Pass did not disappoint. With 7 miles & 3000 vertical feet of descent, averaging 28+ mph, it was fun a relaxing ride.

Once I reached Steamboat everything flattened out and the heat set in. Being up in the Mountains spoils you a bit with not having a lot of heat.

Day 67…. After being exhausted from stupidity the day before I figured a slower down day would help refresh me for the next day of climbing. Kremmling has 3 Whitewater Rafting companies in town. Looking online to book a trip all the companies were booked or not taking any bookings for the day. I have always wanted to Whitewater Raft but I guess today wasn’t the day. Since rafting was out it would be a very slow day of walking a bit, eating a ton of food and resting.