Hello from Jeff City!

Made it safely into Jefferson City, MO last night to stay with Ron, whom I know through my sister. I'll be here until about the 20th or so, when I head into St. Louis to meet my girlfriend. Then we'll head north on the 22nd.

So between now and then I'll be updating my blog, as (you all know) I am quite far behind. I'll also be doing some work on 90:90, preemptive graduate school hunting, and seeing if I can make a spare few dollars while I'm around. But the part you care about is that I'll be catching up on my blog. Expect the first post by tomorrow night!

K

Map Update

A third of KS in one day?!  Hes a speed demon!

Brief Kansas Update

Hello everyone,

Typing today from the public library in McPherson, KS. Kansas is quite windy! Fighting a headwind all day today, my average speed is 9. Yes, 9... on flat Kansas. In any case, I'm going to focus mostly on pedaling, and will do a thorough update when I get to Jeff City, MO, where I'll be staying for a few days while waiting for some company (!). More then!

K

Map Update

In Ness City, Kansas today, one more state down!

Montrose, CO to Salida, CO: Sickness, Stealth Camping, and Swords

...ready to be all caught up?

Me too.

Wonder how long it will last.

*ahem*

So I spent the night at Rob and Robyn's in Montrose, CO, and stayed up late to update my blog (which you had better all comment on! I want to know what you think, and also, once I get caught up I might do a Q&A if people want... and/or special requests, like photos of objects or verbs). One of the cool things about warmshowers is that people tend to be very "hands off." We did talk for quite a bit, but at any point you want, you can say, "alright, need to go update my blog!" and people are cool with that. Of course, I think that talking and sharing stories are what really make warmshowers special, but at some point, everybody needs alone time. So I guess this is turning a little big into another warmshowers plug... no, you don't have to "entertain" or "play host --" just be yourself and leave out clean towels. I have been fed every stay so far. Usually I have been cooked for, once I convinced my host to help me cook, and once I "helped myself." But meals aren't required -- just a place to stay. Even a yard is fine.

Okay, enough of a plug. Back to the story...

Rob said pancakes would be out at 7:15. I woke up right at 7:15, as it ends up, but said "5 more minutes..." and then woke up at 8:15. So I did miss out on goodbyes, as R/R left for work at 8, but I did get to sleep in. Anyways, pancakes were left in the microwave for me (thanks Rob!), which I had four of (the big fluffy ones, too). I called K/T, who said I should start without them, so I did. After lubing my chain, which was completely dry from the rain yesterday, I looked back to see where I'd come from:

They look so peaceful from far away.

It was pretty satisfying. I knew I still had one hard climb left (...), but I had done one already, and it was sunny, so maybe this one would be better.

I started a climb to about 8500' and halfway up had to stop to catch my breath. I had also been breathing heavily up the stairs to Rob's guest bed. At first I thought my body was simply expecting hard climbs all the time, but then I realized I hadn't had altitude sickness yet. I was sort of hoping that I had just bypassed that stage... apparently it can take a few days to set in. In any case, that was my hardest climb for the day, and it was done in two hours, so no big deal.

I stopped in Cimarron at a convenience store for lunch, where I bantered with the husband and wife cashiers. It was swell. Anyways, I hopped on for another climb, this one longer, but not as steep. And pretty rewarding to boot.

The views, the views... Colorado, you're spoiling me. And ruining Kansas.

From there it was all downhill to Gunnison, where I was planning on spending the night. I had contacted a warmshowers host who hadn't gotten back to me yet, so upon arriving, I turned on my phone and waited a bit for the data to process. Nothing. I had passed a few viable stealth camping locations headed into town, but didn't really want to go backwards, so I decided to "practice Kansas --" I called the parks district and asked if I could stay in the city park. That was illegal in CO, as it ends up, but Molly the receptionist directed me to some BLM land just outside of town, which worked great.

BLM = Bureau of Land Management = Government Land = Taxpayers Land = Camp there legally for free.

Except oh, the next morning it frosted.

But nothing froze shut so... it's k guys.

Since that night in Nevada when everything froze, I had learned to keep anything I didn't want frozen in my tent with me, so it wasn't too big a deal. The fly opened more like a door and less like a tent flap, which I found comical. I also had to lay it out to dry... sad. But anyways, a good night, and that morning a hot air balloon flew overhead. That's some kind of good sign or something, right? The "I'm alone" part of me worried it was a police balloon, but... well, I can hear you laughing already, so I'll just stop there.

I did have to search around a bit for donuts, but I found them eventually.

About 15 miles out of Gunnison, 5 miles before the impending highest-altitude-of-the-trip, I met North. He passed me and pulled over about 500 feet up. I assumed he needed to check something on his car, but he got out and held up some bottled water.

"Water?"

"Yes please!"

Okay, I didn't need water. I'm about 85% sure he knew that. It was good water. But mostly it was that good-vibe get-to-meet-people-ness I was going for. North was pretty cool. We philosophized for a bit, talking about the implications of offering water to a complete stranger, and accepting water from a complete stranger, and so on (Matt A., you would have really appreciated this guy). After about 15 minutes of bantering, we took each others' photos, and continued on our ways. It was swell.

Did I mention we did silly poses, too?

Who knows if we'll meet again? Either way, I'm grateful for you, buddy.

So after meeting North I continued on my way to Sargents, the city just before the 6% grade of my highest climb yet. I had lunch, including some food given to me by North and a cycle commuter named Carol earlier that day (thanks!). After some soaking in of the moment, there was nothing to do but start uphill.

I had to stop a few times to catch my breath due to the altitude, but I won't make it out to be a dramatic story. It was 8 miles of 6% grade... nothing I hadn't done before.

After about two hours, I reached the top. Presumably the pinnacle of my trip, not just physically, but emotionally. I was more than halfway done -- the hard half -- had all the big climbs out of the way (one left of about 2000', then the rest of my ride will be below 1500' or so), and was standing on the Continental Divide. Or, sitting (see below). I don't know if it was the pinnacle or not -- we'll see -- but it felt pretty good. And oh, the downhill afterwords... I could have coasted all the way to my next warmshower.

I pedaled a little bit. But really... the rest of the day was 90% downhill. I made it to Salida about 5:30, I think, and to my warmshowers host, Harry and Mira, shortly thereafter. It was uphill to their house. *sad face.*

But Harry and Mira were great! They were both very humble, had a great sense of humor, and had good taste in food -- for instance, Harry had a wine cooler underneath the staircase. Or, perhaps we resonated so well because they shared my Minnesotan roots, having moved to CO a few years ago from St. Paul -- small world, I guess. I didn't take any photos of them or their lovely home, but it stands to be one of the best warmshowers I've had to date. Thanks, you two.

That night while updating my blog I was Facebooked (is that a verb yet?) by a friend of mine from high school, Abbi D., whose blog I had followed last year and who was, apparently, living in town at the moment. She had actually been in Telluride the same night I had, and was hosted by Rob and Robyn in Montrose about a week before I guested. Small world... again. In any case, I decided some catching up was due, so here I am, in Abbi's house in Salida, CA. But wait, there's more!

Aside from exploring the city (where apparently my mom, her boyfriend, and one of my sisters have all been before me, including my sister having won 4th place in a worldwide kayaking competition on the Arkansas River), we stopped at the farmer's market. It was a nice market, but there were some even nicer events. For starters, I was given a wallet made from bicycle inner tube by someone who makes things from recycled bike parts. That was pretty cool. I haven't switched over to it yet, but will probably do so when I return to MN. My current wallet is about 12 years old.

Second, I found the best book in the entirety of the planet. It's called "Practical Encyclopedia of Crafts." It's 500 pages of small print on how to do everything from woodworking to molding plaster to candle-making to copper engraving... the list goes on. For those of you who don't know me that well, I am a DYI-er whenever possible. I would rather have something I made myself than something I bought, even if it requires extensive labor. I've made desks, bed frames, soil sifters, bikes, rings, plaques, and so on. So I am ecstatic about returning to MN and reading this book cover to cover.

Third, this happened:

The guy hiding behind the shield is me.

Yea.. the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) was at the farmer's market. Basically, they exist to re-enact the 17th century... and they had loaner gear you could use for free. I have some experience with fencing ("light" swordplay), so they were impressed given it was my first time as a "heavy" (using a broadsword and armor, that is)... but I still got owned. I jumped between three or four different people, all wearing various kinds of suits of armor (some of which had been made by the wearers themselves), each teaching me something new. Each schooled me. But they were patient, friendly, and in general, pretty awsome. I had a blast. And I'm totally going to hang out with the SCA in Minneapolis when I get back.

Thanks to Abbi for the photo.

So, I'm finally caught up, and I have two more warmshowers in a row lined up... so with any luck, I'll stay caught up, at least until Kansas. There are few warmshowers hosts there, and in any case, I need to stop spoiling myself... sleeping in a tent has its merits too. For real though.

In the mean time -- questions? About my bike, my stuff, the people I've met -- anything is fair game. Requests, either for photos or for things I should do? I'd love to hear from you if you're reading this.

'Till next time, from Salida, CO. K-dawg, out.

Lewis, CO to Montrose, CO: Cold with a Chance of Freezing

Okay, so when I last left off, I was taking a bath in a complete stranger's backyard. Did I mention that I had no idea any of that was going to happen when I woke up that morning? Yea... bicycle touring.

Anyways, the next morning after packing up my things, I was invited in for coffee. Linda (the woman of the household) was just leaving to take Ben (the son) to school. She regretted that we didn't get to talk more, and I did, too -- maybe some other time? You never know, I guess (warning: small world story coming up (but not one involving Linda)). Anyways, David (the male of the house) and I chatted a bit over coffee. He offered to sell me some wool socks, as the part of the ride coming up was apparently deathly cold, and I only had one pair (thanks, dad!). I said I couldn't offer him a fair price on my budget, since I was doing most of my clothing shopping at thrift stores. But it was nice of him to offer.

Before I left I thanked him again for having place to stay, and he said, "We love Jesus, so we try to live in his image." Honestly, I think that's great. I'm not particularly religious, but there is one thing I have learned about religion, which this trip is only affirming. It seems that all religions, and even most non-religions (atheism included), have one goal in mind: Love thy neighbor. It may come out in a less biblical sounding form, but I really think that -- whether it's god or God or your conscious or whatever wanting you to do it -- we should just care about and respect each other and offer help whenever we can, within reason. Maybe that's altruistic of me, but I think that the number one reason this trip is turning out so great is because of the kindness of others. And I don't just mean that they gave me physical objects, like food or even property to sleep on -- I just mean that they gave me company. And it has been swell. I don't rely on it, of course, but let's just say that so far, I haven't lost any faith in humanity.

Okay, enough of the cheesy. My two cents are spent.

So I left David/Linda/Ben's house (thanks again! I really do hope we meet again) and biked the ten miles into Dolores, where I assumed Ken and Tim (which I've started calling "K/T," if you haven't caught on in the last few posts) had gotten a motel for the night. It wasn't raining on the road, but it was doing the "I'm going to taunt you by raining on either side of the road" thing again, so I figured it would rain later that day. It was beautiful, yes, but still threatening.

Colorado is definitely contesting for the "most beautiful state" award.

I stopped by a hardware store looking for glove liners, as all I had were fingerless riding gloves and a pair of windproof-while-dry shell gloves (...), and yesterday the rain had gotten to my fingers a little bit. They didn't have anything that wasn't 80% or more cotton, so I said "Thanks, but no thanks." On my way out I noticed a bike shop across the street, which I thought was interesting, as it wasn't on my map. It was called "Lizardhead Cyclery" and had some cool art outside. Given the artistic demeanor of the place and my imminent need for an Underarmour top, I headed in.

The place was empty.

Okay, not empty, but when I asked for Underarmour, the guy said, "Nah, we just opened 6 months ago, so we really don't have much." They didn't have much, but the more I talked to him, the more I liked him. They had a few jerseys, a few bikes, and plenty of parts. So, had I been in the market for a derailleur or a chain, I would have been set. They also had some really cool recycled bike art, including a lamp made from a fork, some wind chimes made from derailleur cogs, and belts made from old tires. I was inspired, awed, and impressed.

So I know what I'm doing with my tires when they die.

As I started to head out the door, he said, "Are you touring?"

"Yea..."

"Oh... you must really need Underarmour then."

"Yea."

So he sold me his. Yes, he was ex-military and had brought his army issue sand-colored Tactical Underamour to work that day and sold it to me for $25. Win. Everybody go like Lizardhead Cyclery on Facebook right now.

Did I mention AWESOME?

Anyways, after a rather abrasive stop at motel #1 ("Sorry, we can't tell you anything about any of our guests, not even if they were on bikes or waiting for you to find them"), I found K/T at motel #2, and we took off up the hill. It was about 35 miles to the top of Lizard Head Pass, I believe -- 10,222 feet, our second highest climb to date and our third highest of the trip. And of course, on the way up it started raining.

We stopped at a coffee hut for... well, K/T got coffee and sandwiches, I got a breakfast burrito. Mmm... I can never get enough of those on a cold, rainy day. We were freezing cold by the time we got there, roundabout mile 20 since leaving Dolores and mile 15 or so with rain and wind, so it was just about the best thing in the world to sit somewhere warm and eat something warm. Before leaving, K/T had contacted a warmshowers host, but they used this opportunity to set up a hotel, not wanting to be left in the rain should warmshowers not come through. Then we left, and then it started sleeting.

So we biked 15 more miles in sleet and wind.

And had the summit been any higher we would have needed snow tires.

But we made it. Well, by then of course, K/T were well ahead of me... so, I made it. I was okay being by myself by then, of course... this was day 35 or so, so my resolve was sound and not wind nor rain nor sleet nor cold could break it. I have now biked Lizard Head Pass.

Coming down the pass was fine. It was, as we bicycle tourists say -- always with quotations -- "All downhill" (that's code for "It wasn't all downhill, but we told ourselves that to make it easier"). About ten minutes down I realized I couldn't feel my toes... not good. So I pulled over, tore off my socks, and lo and behold... they were alive.

(I don't have any photos of this part, but I'm guessing nobody minds)

For some reason I had decided to wear my sport socks that morning, which are "magic synthetic" fiber: They work great for what they are made for... they are not made to handle four hours of sleet. My toes had frozen together.

Yes... frozen together. There was enough moisture between them and not enough heat that I had to pick my toes apart before drying them. But yea, they were still alive. In any case, I dried them off with a towel, put on wool socks (did I mention "thanks dad?") and continued on my way.

Then there was Telluride.

This also goes in the "most beautiful state award" pile.

Telluride was swell. It was all color with snow at the top and the houses were colorful too. The city itself is actually off route 3 miles, so I started on my way, figuring K/T would be somewhere around. I got 2.5 miles before seeing an interesting guy pass by on a ledge. He was wearing an old-fashioned trapper's cap, among other unique clothing items, and then he said,

"Are you Kyle?"

"Yea...?"

"Wait there!"

He came down and introduced himself as John, my warmshowers host for the night.

So, okay.

Apparently, about half an hour ago, Tim had been looking lost, so John offered him directions... only to find Tim was his warmshowers guest for the night. They somehow stumbled into Ken, who was at a bike shop getting a new jersey, shoes, and other items not in my budget. Ken and Tim confessed to reserving the room, but said John should keep an eye out for me, and lo and behold... he found me!

So we biked back out of town the 2.5 miles I had just come, and another quarter mile or so (uphill, but not as bad a hill as Winnie's house in Sausalito) to John's house. I met his wife, Suzanne, a DJ for the local radio show, and we had an experimental dinner. John and Suzanne get vegetables from a local farm, so they cook whatever they can with whatever they can -- this evening we had soup over bread with egg (all local, including the bread). The soup cooked the egg, so it was sort of an egg drop soup. It was (I thought) quite good, but of course, it wasn't enough. For the next two hours John and I played "Are you sure you want to keep feeding me?" before I was finally full. It was a good time. John then went off to bed, and Suzanne and I stayed up listening to music. The next morning I awoke to a note saying "Help yourself to whatever you like," which I did, leaving a thank-you note in return before heading out.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. It rained again, making Colorado 3/3 on rainy days. I made a pass at 8,300 feet or so, but that was, nowadays, nothing special (...). I didn't see Ken or Tim, but had received a text from them the previous night, so assumed all was well. John apparently had a warmshowers train with a guy named Rob in Montrose, CO, so I was all set up for that night (and any cyclists coming the other way who stayed with Rob were set up with John on their next night -- quite the system). Oh, there was one change I made that day...

Mmm... microclimates.

Okay, so not the best solution, because after a few hours water does seep into the socks, and I don't have to spell out what happens after that. But your toes do stay dry for quite a while, and when they do get wet, at least they stay warm! Water can't keep cycling through your shoes, taking the heat with them. Just, you know, be sure to remove the Toe-Dri (R) every 24 hours or so...

Anyways, the point is that I was warm and toasty all day that day, despite the pouring rain. Okay, for the first half my hands were cold, but I finally found some glove liners that were only 20% cotton at a grocery store for $1 -- score! Not perfect, but I haven't regretted them yet. Also, the coffee shop there gave me a free cookie. I don't know if they felt bad or thought I was cute, but it really did help with the rain. You know, that whole sugar-makes-you... waterproof... thing... *ahem* (quick! Everybody go like Cimarron Books and Coffee House on Facebook!).

So I could build up the whole "it rained a crap ton" thing but I'm not sure how to do it without writing a whole other paragraph. Plus I was all waterproofed up so it really didn't matter. I pretty much just felt badass.

Made it to Montrose just before 6. Texted K/T to no response, so went ahead and moved in with Rob and Robyn, my hosts for the night. They have apparently hosted more than 100 people between warmshowers and couchsurf, so we had quite the night sharing stories. Also, the week before they had hosted a tourist named Abigail D., who I know from high school... there's your "small world" story. Pizza for dinner, homemade apple crisp for dessert... you people really have to stop spoiling me; or, I need to stay in a tent more often...

That's all for now! I'm currently in Salida, CO, two days ahead of the blog, but it seems like I'll be taking a break day tomorrow, so maybe I'll get all caught up... for real! Probably not, if history is any indicator. But it's fun to fantasize.

Rob has his priorities straight.

Hanksville, UT to Lewis, CO: Lakes, Rains, and Bathtubs

For those of you just catching up, there have been two posts today, this being the second -- scroll down and read the first... well, first. And for once I'll be posting about the same state I'm in! I do want to get to bed though, so I'll still be two days behind... but I'm catching up!

- - -

So we decided to take a half-break day, given we'd just ridden 96 miles. We went to breakfast at the place across the street -- I don't remember what it was called, but I do remember that our waitress was a gal named Sharley, and that she was swell ("Excuse me while I have a senior moment, boys"). We got a 10% discount for staying across the street, which was also pretty swell. Anyways, we updated our blogs, got pizza for lunch ($1.95/slice at the grocer -- deal hunting is becoming a skill of mine), and headed off about 2, after two more cyclists stopped by the bench we were on outside the motel to say hi.

Then we were back in desert land. It really wasn't fair. I mean, it was, because that's life... but we thought we were home free, and suddenly it was uphill into the wind both ways again. Oh, except that this time there were cliffs.

Tall cliffs, too.

So I guess it wasn't exactly like Nevada.

In any case, the longer we rode, the more surrounded by cliffs we became, until we were riding in a canyon again. Oh, and we also encountered a dust devil -- two that day, for a total of three for the entire trip. Something new for me (in NV I also saw my first tumbleweed... and we had a discussion about whether you could grow tumbleweed or if any plant was just called that once it broke off from its roots and started tumbling... anyone?).

You can tell we're in Nevada... er I mean, Utah, because this post is fairly event-less... so far I've talked about cliffs, dust devils, and tumbleweed.

Then we got to Lake Powell, where we had decided to spend the night, swimming included:

Nobody told us it could still be a lake if there were cliffs all around.

We got in at dark and putzed around until eventually finding a spot on the, er, "beach." This was the first state park we'd ever been in where collection of firewood was allowed, so we took advantage of it and built a fire. Ken and Tim had splurged on some whiskey, so went to a nearby RV to get some ice. The RV folks then invited me over to get my story, and also donated some calories -- er uh, marshmallows and chocolate -- to the cause. As it was dark, we didn't go swimming, but we did stay up until 12:30 AM around the campfire, drinking whiskey and eating smoked salmon and steak. Yea, we were roughin' it.

It looks rough to me.

The next morning we woke and searched for a place to go swimming, but anywhere there wasn't a cliff, it was muddy. Disappointed, we stopped at the general store for breakfast (sausage, egg and cheese croissant for $2.75? Okay! -- also, Tim bought some donut holes) and took off on a big hill. Did I say that right? It was a big hill. Not steep, just... long. The maps we use come in sections so you're only looking at 20-30 miles at a time, and I flipped the map section over a few times before finally reaching the top. But oh, what a top it was. And on the way we passed Bear's Ears.

I mean, there's a bear in there somewhere.

I thought it was a cool name for a formation.

Also, in the lower left hand corner of that photo -- see the truck? There were about 10 trucks on the road. They were Native Americans from a nearby preservation, and they were picking pine nuts. Apparently you can roast them just like sunflower seeds and eat them, or sell them, and they turn quite a profit. I just thought that was interesting.

So yea, another boring Nevada *ahem* Utah sort of day. There were many beautiful parts, but mostly it was just climbing... and climbing... and oh, I met someone from Japan! He had started in Canada, come down the Rockies, and was now cutting across to San Francisco. I thought it was an interesting route, but it made sense to him... in any case. It was also quite hot, and rained about a mile on either side of the road... but not on the road. I made camp about 4 miles outside of town, figuring Tim and Ken (who had gotten ahead of me earlier in the day, as usual) would get a motel in town.

- - -

The next day I awoke to more faraway rain, which would, later that day, become very close rain.

"But for now I'll just hang out far away and be pretty."

I rode the 4 miles into town and went grocery shopping. They also had breakfast by the pound, which I thought was a great invention, because they were selling raw bacon for $8/lb in the meat department, but you could get cooked bacon for $5/lb along with biscuits, gravy, eggs, etc... it was swell.

Eventually I found Ken and Tim's motel. I coerced the hostess into putting breakfast back out while I waited for K/T to appear (thanks!). So I got two breakfasts in one day, and all for $5. Anyways, we took off, stopping in Monticello, UT for lunch, before getting sprinkled on, and turning east for CO.

I'm not yawning, I'm just blinded by how colorful Colorado is.

We made it to another gas station and stopped for a snack (corn dogs at $0.76/piece -- I'm getting good at deal hunting) before turning around and seeing what the "sprinkle" had become:

It had become a sprinkle of doom.

So then we rode a little faster.

After another hour of riding with rain jackets on, we were surrounded. Ironically, the rain didn't catch up to us -- it actually cut across the road in front of us, and we rode into it. It wasn't too bad at first, but eventually K/T pulled over under a church porch and called it quits for a bit. Ken was monologuing about how he would sleep there if he had to. I told them they were being ridiculous and they should come join the fun. They refused, so I rode on.

About 6 or so I passed a dot on the map called "Lewis." I would say it was a city, except that there was no population marked. There was a convenience store on my map, and I was interested in some hot chocolate. When I didn't find it on the main route, I pulled on a side road and ambled a bit before turning around. I didn't make it 50 feet before a car behind me honked, pulled up, and said, "Are you okay?"

"Yea," I said, "I'm fine -- just looking for a place to stay." There was a reservoir about 2 miles down the road and I had still wanted my swim that morning, so I had been planning on staying there... albeit I didn't want a swim so much now that I had been rained on.

"Do you want to sleep in our pasture?"

Well, I wasn't about to turn down a place to sleep. So I followed them about a block down the road before they got out and pointed out their yard. I could sleep with the horses. I could sleep with the cows. Oh! -- I could sleep with the turkeys! I was about to opt for the turkeys when they offered the garden as well, which didn't have any *decorations* on the ground. I gladly accepted.

I was happy to have a place to stay and didn't ask about coming indoors. They did explain that they wanted to offer me a bath, but that the house was so small there was just a 3/4 bath inside. Then they explained that when they wanted a bath, they just filled up their backyard porcelain tub. Yup, they had a tub in their backyard. So they connected the hose to the hot water spigot (yes, they had hot and cold spigots for their hose), filled up the bath, and turned the other way.

So I finished that night with a hot bath, outdoors, in the rain, in the backyard of a complete stranger.

The photo is the snarky comment.

Welcome to Colorado.