My memory of today's ride is far too vague to make a good blog post about. I apologize; had I been more on top of things, little days like this wouldn't have faded from memory, and there might be something more substantial here. Be that as it may, I'll tell you what I do remember.
I woke late, and hit the road even later because I wanted to get some more food at the local café I have been spending so much time in. I even did another blog while I was there. Still, leaving so close to noon is not something I should be making a habit of. Plus, considering how strong a cyclist Nate is, with him getting ahead of me like this I don't think I'll be seeing him again. Well, c'est la vie.
I remember absolutely nothing of the ride except for small details. For instance, I know I met two cyclists.
I know I finally got a pic of the strange mile marker signs Wyoming is so fond of – the ones that go out to hundredths of a mile.
And today I passed into Colorado.
One thing that I do remember about this is that there was such an stark difference in the roads the moment I crossed into Colorado, for better and for worse. On the one hand, the road quality was notably improved. On the other hand the shoulder disappeared completely. Not sure how I feel about this yet.
Somewhere along the way I stopped in a liquor store in a minuscule town that actually had flask sized containers of scotch! The owner was really funny, I tried to compliment him on how great it was that he had these sized bottles and he immediately started to apologize that they didn't carry anything larger! I and the motorcyclists that were there at the time had to quickly reassure him that it was actually a good thing, and we liked it. I ended up talking to him for a long time before I left for the final leg of today's ride.
When I reached today's stop - Walden - I made a quick beeline for the closest restaurant. The first thing I saw there, and I SO wish I had taken a picture, was a family of four sitting in the restaurant wearing cowboy hats – completely unironically. I didn't have the guts to just snap a pic right there, and it didn't occur to me that, with my smartphone, I could just act like I was texting and take a shot.
In any event, I stayed there until they were closing and ended up talking to the staff. All of them were from different countries: one woman was from Peru, the other was from somewhere in Europe, and this guy was French.
I talked the longest with the Peruvian, and she told me that she was mentally preparing for the day all the Great Divide Race cyclists would be passing through. Last year they had so many people hit them at once that every restaurant in town literally ran out of food! I still had the link to the live tracking on my phone and have her a tentative estimate of 5 days to a week until the mob hit them, and wished her the best of luck.
The Walden public park is one of those great parks that lets people put their tents up for the night, and I joined about 6 other cyclists in using it. Unfortunately, they were already set up and asleep, so I didn't get to talk with any of them. Still a pretty good day though.
I woke late, and hit the road even later because I wanted to get some more food at the local café I have been spending so much time in. I even did another blog while I was there. Still, leaving so close to noon is not something I should be making a habit of. Plus, considering how strong a cyclist Nate is, with him getting ahead of me like this I don't think I'll be seeing him again. Well, c'est la vie.
I remember absolutely nothing of the ride except for small details. For instance, I know I met two cyclists.
I know I finally got a pic of the strange mile marker signs Wyoming is so fond of – the ones that go out to hundredths of a mile.
And today I passed into Colorado.
One thing that I do remember about this is that there was such an stark difference in the roads the moment I crossed into Colorado, for better and for worse. On the one hand, the road quality was notably improved. On the other hand the shoulder disappeared completely. Not sure how I feel about this yet.
Somewhere along the way I stopped in a liquor store in a minuscule town that actually had flask sized containers of scotch! The owner was really funny, I tried to compliment him on how great it was that he had these sized bottles and he immediately started to apologize that they didn't carry anything larger! I and the motorcyclists that were there at the time had to quickly reassure him that it was actually a good thing, and we liked it. I ended up talking to him for a long time before I left for the final leg of today's ride.
When I reached today's stop - Walden - I made a quick beeline for the closest restaurant. The first thing I saw there, and I SO wish I had taken a picture, was a family of four sitting in the restaurant wearing cowboy hats – completely unironically. I didn't have the guts to just snap a pic right there, and it didn't occur to me that, with my smartphone, I could just act like I was texting and take a shot.
In any event, I stayed there until they were closing and ended up talking to the staff. All of them were from different countries: one woman was from Peru, the other was from somewhere in Europe, and this guy was French.
I talked the longest with the Peruvian, and she told me that she was mentally preparing for the day all the Great Divide Race cyclists would be passing through. Last year they had so many people hit them at once that every restaurant in town literally ran out of food! I still had the link to the live tracking on my phone and have her a tentative estimate of 5 days to a week until the mob hit them, and wished her the best of luck.
The Walden public park is one of those great parks that lets people put their tents up for the night, and I joined about 6 other cyclists in using it. Unfortunately, they were already set up and asleep, so I didn't get to talk with any of them. Still a pretty good day though.
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