Round Two

Alright so if you haven't read the previous blog about the trip you should do that first and then read this one since I am writing them chronologically. So sorry it took me until tonight to get this blog out I had a lot of anxiety built up I think from not being on the bike and from not being busy all day. I haven't really adjusted from being in the outdoors all the time and back to the "real world." However, I went out today and climbed Lefthand Canyon just north of Boulder. I think it may have been to0 big of a ride for just getting back on the bike but it kicked my ass and got rid of the twitchy can't hold still anxiety I had. It was a 3 hour 50 mile ride and I climbed about 3500 ft. The legs are hurtin but it is a good hurt for sure. I was also welcomed back to the Boulder bike community with a couple of killer riders flyin right by when I was ripping a decent pace (for myself). A couple Slipstream Chipotle pro riders were out in the canyon as well. Man they make it look easy.

Onto segment two of the trip. Heading into Yellowstone from Livingston. The second morning of the ride we woke up and packed our things to make the 50-60 mile ride down to Gardiner, MT and the entrance of Yellowstone. First we stopped at a local dinner and killed a breakfast before we hit the road. After that we headed down east river road which got us off of HWY 89 for a bit and away from traffic. It was a good ride all by ourselves taking pictures with a bit of haze. Below is a picture of AJ on East River Road. His bike is definitely a tank.



Once we got off of East River Road we were back on HWY 89 for a while stopping along the way for photos here and there. The ride was peaceful and pretty uneventful. Just the way we like it. Once in Gardiner we stopped in to the National Forest Service office to get some local up dates and what not. Here is a picture of AJ getting goofy, singing a tune, and dancing a little jig. The guy behind doesn't look to entertained by it!



After that it was as short jaunt into Yellowstone to Mammoth Hot Springs where we would camp. Fireworks went off at the entrance when the Ranger told AJ that his National Parks pass would only get him in not Marie and I who would have to pay $12 each. We held up the line for a bit arguing before another Ranger came out to take us aside and discuss the situation. First off I will say she did an amazing job with the situation. Now for the argument. It was pretty ridiculous. We told the lady that if she wouldn't let the three of us in we would just jump in a truck and get that vehicle in for free as well. She said that was perfectly fine which makes NO SENSE! Yellowstone has long been fighting to get pollution and vehicle traffic down in the park and they are not going to let 3 bikers get in on a pass but they will let a Ford Excursion with 5 people in! Not to mention the park would be losing out on money by us getting another vehicle in for free along with ourselves. So we asked that a Ranger from the head office be called down. The lady kindly met our request. However, after further discussion and reading the regulations on the back of the card as to how it works the lady made another call coming back out to us telling AJ that he was correct and that we could all pass into the park. AJ was still upset at the situation because he knows that many people would have just laid down and paid the extra money. All in all it was a pretty crazy event that we came out successful in. Here is a picture entering the park and also a picture of Mammoth Hot Springs from afar. I am going to conclude on that tonight and I will get another blog out tomorrow hopefully covering the next two days in Yellowstone.

Here it goes.. and to be cont'd

Alright the moment everyone has been waiting for... I reveal the story of how I traveled 500 miles from Bozeman, MT to Logan, UT by bicycle.

I'll start from the very beginning. So I awoke Saturday morning Sept 15th with no problems and was excited to catch the bus and begin my journey. I woke Tim up and he drove me down to the Boulder Bus Depot. I was there about 45 minutes before the bus was supposed to leave. After about 15 minutes I started to feel like something wasn't right. I asked one person where the Powder River buses (Local Greyhound Contractor) come in. He didn't know. So then I thought you know I never see anything but RTD (the local bus system) buses around here. One guy then over heard me and told me that Greyhound stop was not there! But rather it was like 10 minutes away by car out on 30th and Diagonal Hwy in northeast Boulder! So I jump on the horn and call Tim hoping, wishing, pleading that he answers his phone and that he wasn't back asleep already since it was only 8 am! Sure enough he answered it because he thought I had probably forgot something. So I asked him to get me the Greyhound number so that I could make sure where the stop was and then come down and pick me up. He jumped on it and I found out that the station was clear out there at a gas station! So I got out there and sure enough I made it with about 10 minutes to spare! Glad I was up early and gave myself enough time in case something went wrong.

So I settled in on the bus glad I didn't waste a day missing the bus. The ride was pretty mellow until in Greeley, CO where I was lucky enough to have a bum sit pretty much on top of me falling over sleeping on me and stinking to high heaven! Luckily he got off in Ft. Collins and I once again had two seats to myself. There are a few things I learned while riding the bus, 1. You have got to be a smoker or drug addict! Everyone on those damn things smokes and they rush off at every stop to get their nicotine or perhaps smoke mary j, 2. You have to eat total shit and gut bombs, you only get fast food and gas stations, and 3. The bus sucks and takes way to long but it's cheap! Probably the most ridiculous thing I saw was this guy while at a layover in Gillette, WY trying to get every last puff out of a roach. I don't even know how he could hold onto it. He then threw it on the ground made a comment to another guy about how he finished it and the other guy was like "man how you going to do me like that?" because he finished it without him. That guy then proceeded to pick up this little roach of the ground and tried to smoke it! I had to laugh. There were other events that went on as well but nothing really worth mentioning just kinda funny.

So I finally made it into Bozeman at 4am made the call to AJ to head down and meet me. I started putting my bike together and had everything together but the pedals when AJ arrived. We exchanged our greetings and headed through downtown Bozeman on our bikes to his friend Ben's house where he was staying. We made a quick stop at Safeway to see if we could get some donuts but they weren't open yet! So we proceeded to Ben's and got some sleep before waking up the next morning at 10am. I got my first glimpse of AJ's burn that morning when Marie helped him change the dressing on it. It my friends is pretty gnarly. It is healing well but at a very slow pace that weighs heavy on his mind. However, he takes great care of it and I am sure it will continue to heal without any problems or infection. After the dressing change I then made a call to Lincoln so AJ and I could meet up with him for breakfast.



After a delicious breakfast we went to Lincoln's studio to get some copies of the segment Lincoln did on AJ's ride that was broadcast all over western Montana. Here are a couple pictures of AJ and I at the studio.





We then headed back to Ben's house to pack our gear and get ready to head out to Livingston 30 miles from Bozeman where we would head south into Yellowstone National Park the next day. We enjoyed a 15-30 mph tailwind up, over, and down the pass into Livingston. That would be the only tailwind we had the entire trip. I'll end this first post with a couple of pictures from our night camping south of Livingston and pictures of our delicious dinner. I'll try and get another post out tonight or tomorrow about the adventures through Yellowstone.

Why I Ride Tour

Well I made it into Denver this morning from Salt Lake at about 6 am. It was a long ride but I had some good time to reflect and got a bit of decent sleep. I then had to strap my boxed bike onto my bob trailer and push it about 10 blocks to the RTD station to get a free ride back to Boulder with my ECO Pass that work pays for. Strenuous but can't complain about saving a 2 hour layover in Denver waiting for Greyhound vs going straight to the station to get a ride home. Anywho I will have a couple of blogs coming about the trip with a few pics but be patient work is going to be a mess and just trying to recover from the trip. But I will get them out!

Departure for Adventure

I sit here tonight all packed up but the minor things that I will be taking with me in my backpack on the bus. I am making final adjustments to the ipods contents taking music from Tim's Computer to my harddrive and finally onto my ipod. It has great benefits working at a software company as I got my buddy Robert from work to hook me up with 4 movies to convert and put onto my ipod as well to help the 19 hour bus ride pass when I am not reading or hopefully getting some sleep.

I looked at my bus schedule and it turns out I have a hour and twenty minute layover in Cheyenne and then another 2 hour layover in Gillette. Should be amazingly boring, especially since I have done the same drive numerous times! Oh well though a small price to pay for the adventure I am going to embark on!

Not much else to say other than I can't wait to get the show on the road and I will be sure to blog about all the details of the ride. I hope to have some good pictures that either AJ or myself take and some good stories to tell about the ride. The later is guarenteed whenever AJ and I get together! Until then peace, love, and hairgrease.

Count Down 3 Days

The last two days I have had a couple of good rides after work. Monday was a pretty cool day and it was nice to go out for a ride without sweating my butt off. Today was what I would consider a perfect temperature. You could get a bit of a sweat going but it was not to hot at all.

The legs still seem like they might be suffering a bit from the Rabbit Ears 10K. It's amazing what kind of a toll running takes on my body these days. Also sitting at a desk all day makes it hard to get the legs going. It usually takes me about 30 to 45 minutes to get settled in and most rides after work are only about an hour to 1.5 hours since it is starting to get dark early so I barely get going when I have to come back in. I also find it hard to just go out for a calm ride when I am by myself. I always end up really pushing the pace which I think will help me when I am touring. Hopefully anyway.

I talked to AJ again today and he is going to see a burn specialist tomorrow and hopefully he will have good news sometime tomorrow that they wound is healing how it should. He is in Bozeman now and will be there until I arrive on Saturday. I also made what I hope to be my last trip to REI to purchase my final gear. I got some shoe covers that will keep my feet warm and dry if we happen to get into any rain. I also got some compression bags that will help keep my load in the trailer compact and stable, not to mention keep all my wet dirty clothes seperate from the clean stuff. Although I am sure a lot of my stuff will not be clean for most of the trip haha. Part of the price you pay. I am sure it won't be any worse tha the pig crap I used to come home smelling like working on the farm!

On a final note I am flying through a book called Ultra Marathon Man that I got from Graham. It is a biography of Dean Karnazes. This guy is absolutely insane and motivational at the same time. The limits he has pushed is body to are unimaginable. He has run the Western States 100 (an extreme 100 mile trail run through the Sierra Nevada Mts), the Badwater (135 miles through Death Valley on the road), and a marathon to the South Pole in Antartica and there is more to come as I finish up the book. Reagan you should tell Matt to read this book he would love it for sure.

That's all for now. Only three more long busy days at work and I am free for almost two weeks! The anticipation is building!

Is fall arriving?

Last night may have been my best night's rest in quite sometime. I actually had to pull my down comforter on in the middle of the night instead of just sleeping with a sheet. Granted my fan was still on as well but there was definitely a little nip in the air. It was amazing to say the least. Timmy also had a snowboard dream so I definitely think fall is in the air. We both bought our Colorado Passes last weekend which is good for unlimited riding at Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, and 10 restricted days at Vail or Beaver Creek. We are both pretty excited about it!

So yesterday instead of a ride in the canyons on my road bike Tim and I went down to Golden Gate State Park between Boulder and Golden for a mountain bike ride. I had ridden the trails up there once this summer during a house warming party at my bosses house who lives up Coal Creek Canyon just a half mile from Golden Gate. I knew some parts of the trail were pretty loose and sketchy but there is a section of fast completely amazing single track through a meadow that makes the rest of the torture on the loose stuff completely worth it. Tim wasn't to happy during a lot of the trail and I asked him what the hell he wanted haha. I just think he needs to get those biking legs back and he might be in better humor. But he was also having a few mechanical problems and that is never easy to deal with. Been there dealt with that... no fun! Below are a couple of pictures of Tim coming through some of the fast singletrack which he really enjoyed.





Today is going to be a day of running around getting some things for the ride with AJ. I need to get a bike box from a shop, some spare parts such as derailleur cables, brake cables, spare chain links, and lights for night riding if needed. I just got off the phone with him a bit ago and we have come up with some ideas for the ride that are going to make it a lot of fun and probably quite comical. But you all are going to have to wait to find out and see what they are. AJ is also going to be going to the doctor again when he gets into Bozeman tomorrow and hopefully the Doc will say everything is ok. Otherwise the ride might be put on hold and I will be out of a bus ticket but let's hope there is no need for those thoughts. Anyway that's all for now.

I'm an Idiot

First things first:

1. I'm an idiot.
2. Good thing I work for a laid back Company.
3. Now the story of my Friday.

I woke up this morning with the plan of riding my bike into work. I hit the snooze alarm several times and decided to get out of bed. My coffee was already brewed and waiting for me as I had set the timer the night before. I sat down with my coffee and checked my email and what not. I hadn't packed the night before so I started throwing everything in my bag. I put in my jacket in case it rained, jeans, boxers, t-shirt, and all my toiletries. I proceeded out to the kitchen finally waking up as my coffee was kicking in. I made a delicious sandwich, fruit salad which I already had all cut up and put in a container, chips, and cookies. I put all of that in my bag as well.

I moved on to throwing on the cycling clothes, made a mental note to grab my sandals, phone, wallet, work key, and house key. I grabbed all of my tools and tubes for the bike ride to work, filled my water bottles, threw on the helmet, sunglasses, and bike shoes. I put my wallet, phone, and keys in my bag and I was ready to go.

I started out riding pretty hard as I made my way south through Boulder. As I came out the south side of town and started heading west up marshall rode I was feeling really tired and the legs were burning. I had somewhat of a head wind that made the rest of the ride kind of grueling. I blamed it on the fact that I didn't eat before I left but every Friday we have bagels at work so I never eat before I leave. I should have. As I finally made it to work I came up to the door to let myself in and rack my bike. As I opened the door I thought about taking off my riding shoes and putting on my sandals. Then it hits me and I say to myself; "DAMNIT! I FORGOT MY SANDALS!" Then I think wait I have shoes in my car. "IDIOT YOU JUST RODE YOUR BIKE YOUR CAR IS NOT HERE!" Yup I am an idiot. So I text Tim to bring my sandals to work. I take a shower, still no answer from Tim. He doesn't have class till noon so he is probably still givin the couch some love sleeping in. Yes he prefers the couch over his bed. So I decided to suck it up and see if my boss will take me back to my house to get my sandals. Of course he says no problem because he is awesome and we head back to Boulder because I'm an idiot.

As a result of this I will definitely be keeping a pair of shoes at work in case this ever happens again. Anyway the rest of the day was pretty uneventful but busy. The ride home was a little bit better but the legs are still sore from the 10K run last weekend. Oh well just glad I work for a good company with good people!

The Beginning

So I am putting this blog together for much of the same reason that many others do. It's an easy way to keep my family and friends updated with what's going on in my life since I am not to big on using the phone.

I'll just go ahead and get started with what is coming up for me in the next week since not much is going on currently. A week from tomorrow Friday Sept 7th I will be jumping on a Greyhound Bus from right here in Boulder with my bike and bob trailer all boxed up and head 19 hours to Bozeman, MT. It's actually only a 9 hour drive but with all the stops and what not it will take a lot longer. I am not looking forward to the ride but what awaits in Bozeman makes me super excited!

My good friend AJ Rowell has been riding for over 3 months now on his Trek 520 Touring bike and covered over 4,500 miles from his starting point in Prudhoe Bay, AK. I will be meeting him in Bozeman to tour from Bozeman, MT to hopefully somewhere between Logan and Salt Lake City, UT. We will ride through Yellowstone National Park, The Grand Tetons, and cross through the Wasatch Mountains to Utah. I am expecting it will be around 400 miles in about 10 days or less. I will also hopefully get a chance to stop in and say hello to my friend Lincoln who might put a story together for the news about AJ's ride. AJ will then continue on his journey down to the Mexican border and then head east to his hometown of Cullowhee, NC.

This vacation has been a long time coming as I have spent a lot of time talking with AJ during all of his planning and keeping in touch with him along the ride. I can't wait to be a part of such a great cause. AJ is not only riding for himself and his love of riding bikes but he is riding for a number of charities. Check out www.whyiride.org to see how you can help his cause. I will have more posts as the days till the ride dwindle. I CAN'T WAIT!

On a quick side note I should have a pretty active weekend as usual. I will probably have a good day climbing in the canyons on my road bike Saturday possibly pulling my trailer getting ready for the ride. Then Sunday I might get my first couple 14ers in this year with my former CFO. I have been doing so much riding this summer that I haven't even really thought about my goal of climbing all 54 14ers. Oh well though as long as I am outside enjoying the sweet mountain air we breathe!