Day 42 Saturday July 2, 2005, 48 miles (77 km) – Total so far: 2,541 miles (4,090 km)
47.8 Miles and 5:27 pedal
Click Here to Visit The Table of Contents
Click Here to Visit Previous Page: Day 41: Royal Gorge CO to Guffey CO
Click Here to Visit The Next Page: Day 43: Fairplay CO to Breckinridge CO
Last night the temperature dropped pretty low. Must have been in the 40’s because my 50 degree sleeping bag wasn’t doing much. I woke up at 7:30 I knew the breakfast place didn’t open until 8
I ate another Mexican omelet for breakfast it was delicious. Bill & Colleens friend; Rita owns the breakfast place in Guffey. Halfway through breakfast Colleen came in to drop off Lowell so he could get something to eat. I talked to the old man for a little while. He asked where I was riding for the day and I said ‘I don’t know maybe Breckinridge.’ He told me I was crazy then wished me luck on my trip.
After leaving Guffey I climbed for another 5 more miles but then the hill leveled out a little bit. I was able to crank out my first 20 miles. All morning the mountains looked phenomenal and there were plenty of clouds in the sky so when their shadows moved across the mountains it looked amazing. I stopped riding several times just to watch the shadows move across the landscape.
Shortly before I entered the town of Hartsell I saw all these cars stopped on the side of the road. As I got closer everyone was taking pictures of the buffalo. I felt honored to see so many buffalo at once. They were soo beautiful.
When I got into Hartsell I stopped at a saloon for lunch. I ordered up a buffalo cheeseburger. The saloon was filled with motorcycle bikers it reminded me a lot of the saloon from Pee-Wee’s big adventure. I picked out the scariest looking biker, but then the guy I picked came over to talk to me about my trip and he turned out to be a really nice man.
After Hartsell the winds picked up and I was riding against pretty strong headwinds for the next 20 Miles. It was pretty rough. When I got to the town of Fairplay I was exhausted and I didn’t feel well. I decided I wasn’t going to make it to Breckinridge for the evening.
I stopped at a supermarket to buy some food for dinner. After I bought my food I noticed there was an electrical outlet on the exterior of the supermarket. So I plugged in my cell phone, saw I had service and started making some phone calls. While I was talking to Jamie another cyclist rode up to where I was. He was on a mountain bike. He was actually riding the Great Divide, on his mountain bike. We happened to be at the point where our 2 trails cross. I talked to the mountain biker for a while. He tried to get me to camp in the woods with him but I said ‘No way I’m going to the campsite!’ since I left Pueblo everyone has been talking about bears, Im an architect. I don’t have time for that bear shit.
After he left Chuck D. called, my friend who has been in Italy for the last 5 weeks studying architecture with the school. Chuck d and I talked about Italy for an hour and half while I sat on the ground in front of the supermarket. Lots of people looked at me like I was crazy because I had been sitting there for quite some time. I didn’t care I was having such a good time talking with my best friend.
When Chuck and I got off the phone I called Chris (The guy I met yesterday at Royal Gorge) and left him a message that I will be in Breckinridge tomorrow afternoon. I must have sat in front of that supermarket for almost 3 hours. While I was there a lot of people wanted to come over and talk to me, but I was so caught up in my phone calls I didn’t really talk to anybody.
I rode into the town of Fairplay to try to find these campsites. I went into town and some dirty hippie showed me which campsite was the better one. When I got there I saw 2 eastbound Trans am cyclists. Miles and Julianna. They are both from Long Island. We talked about Long Island and riding this crazy bicycle route for a while.
I cooked up my pasta for dinner when I was starting my stove a big gust of wind blasted me and the flame on my stove got crazy for a second but I got it under control. I burned my hand though but it’s nothing serious.
Tonight I’m sleeping at 10,000 above sea level in Fairplay and tomorrow i’ll ride over the Hoosier pass which is the highest point on the trans-am at 11,500 feet. I’m pretty excited I have been climbing uphill for 2 days straight and I have been waiting for this day for a long time. Hopefully I’ll get a good picture at the top of the Hoosier pass that I can use for my Christmas card picture this year. Tomorrows I’ll take a half day off. I really want to see Breckinridge.
Click Here to Visit The Table of Contents
Click Here to Visit Previous Page: Day 41: Royal Gorge CO to Guffey CO
Click Here to Visit The Next Page: Day 43: Fairplay CO to Breckinridge CO