Bike Trip Log

6/4 (Fri) - Departed from Hartland at 6:30 am. Drove to Williamstown to pick up Trevor at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house. Left Williamstown 11:00 are. Drove to Keith & Kim’s house in Latham. Left at 12:30. Ate supper at Bob Evans in Missouri.

6/5 (Sat) - Drove straight through to Colorado. Trevor drove through the night. I drove 6 hours of the trip. Ate supper in Hays, Kansas. Arrived at Pam & Roger’s house in Westcliffe at 9:30 pm. Wonderful to see them. Still very family oriented, but now instead of their two children; they are very involved grandparents in the lives of their 4 grandkids. Stayed up until 1:00 am Mountain Time talking and catching up on elementary aged kids I knew when we moved from Westcliffe who now are grown and many with children. Introduced to Face Book on which Pam showed me pictures of kids and friends from when we lived in Westcliffe 10 years ago. Where has the time gone?

6/6 (Sun) - Hung out at Pam & Roger’s house. Mal tuckered herself out riding on the ATV in the driveway all day long. Good thing it was geared down for their grandkids because as it was she was doing donuts at high speed. Roger helped us put light and flags on our bikes. Ginger, Judy, Tammy, Laura, John and Nina Piquette, Toloa & Jerry came over who I worked with at the clinic in the 1990’s. Toured Westcliffe and Silver Cliff with Pam. Town have grown quite a bit. Our old house is for sale. A bit run down but the patios still look good. Trees in the yard are big. Todd’s silver Cliff welcome sign which he spear headed when he was a Silver Cliff trustee still looks great. Carol, who I did my cross country bike in 1979, arrived in the evening, driving from Oregon. She looks the same and it immediately felt like it was only yesterday that we had spent time together.

6/7 (Mon-biked 29 miles) - Departed from Westcliffe on our bikes at 9:30 am. On our bikes. Biked down rte. 69 to Cotopaxi for 23 miles. Trevor biked ahead and Mal, Carol and I biked together. Hot (95) and very windy. Fortunately mostly cross winds. Ate lunch in Cotopaxi and then rode in the car 15 miles to Rte 9. Mal got in the van and Carol & I biked together. Biked uphill 8 miles on Rte. 9. I fretted the night before that I crazy to think that I could bike any distance and relieved to find out that I was plugging along just fine… Trevor biked ahead Nice to spend time chatting about our lives while biking. I was relieved that Crystal picked us up in the van and then drove 10 miles up a dirt road to the top of a mesa with amazing views of the Rockies. Stayed in Nym’s cabin which is owned by Peace Corps friends of Crystal, Janet, and George. Beautiful huge log cabin. Janet and Crystal cooked us an amazing dinner with steaks from “T-bone’ which Crystal raised and slaughtered. Played a rousing hand of Pinochle and went to bed. I’ve enjoyed getting to know Janet and George better. They were in Peace Corps with me in The Central African Republic, but lived in a different region than me.

6/8 (Tue-biked 31 miles)-Drove back down 10 miles of dirt road. Bikes coated with thick layer of red dust so had to clean them off. Trevor took off in high drive while Carol, Mallory, and I moved along in low drive. Pedaled gradual uphill for 10 miles when Crystal came to check on us in the SAG van. Mallory decided she had enough pedaling for the day so got in the van with Crystal. Carol and I pedaled on towards Hartsel. Because it was mostly uphill, gave us a chance to catch up with each other’s lives over the past 30 years. It felt like the old times on our cross country bike ride…We thought it was 23 miles to Hartsel so around mile 29, we wondered if somehow we made a wrong turn. We headed into South Park which has wide open, desolate, valleys, bordered in the distance by the Rockies. At mile 31, Crystal came to check on us. She and Trevor had been hanging out at a bar for a few hours which served home-cut fries and buffalo burgers. Hunger prevented us from riding the last 4 miles into Hartsel. The bar looked like from the Wild West and the owner was a character with lots of stories. The walls and ceilings were lined with decorated, one dollar bills. The owner said if you could find the bill you decorated when you came back, you could have a free drink. Of course Mallory was into decorating a bill to be tack up on the wall. Some of them looked like they had been on the wall for quite some time.

Drove to Cottonwood Hot Springs resort in Buena Vista. Somewhat dilapidated, but a very popular place. We rented a cabin which had a hot springs fed hot tub on the back deck. There were also a number of hot springs pools at the main lodge which Trevor and Mallory floated around in until they were literally pruney.

Dan and Barb drove down from the Evergreen area, but were stuck in traffic fro 3 hours because of a bad accident, so arrived in the evening. Between buffalo burger, fries and biking uphill, I was wiped out so headed to bed around 11:00, although I was tempted to stay up because the stars were amazingly visible. Mal, Trevor, Dan and Barb were raring to go, so headed up to the hot tub pools and floated around, watching shooting stars.

6/9 (Wed) Hung out another day at the hot springs. Trevor, Carol, Mallory and I decided to climb Mt. Princeton, but could only find a car route. Headed back to the cabin and Janet and Crystal joined us driving to the top of Cottonwood Pass. Still snow at the top. Trevor and Carol screamed back down the mountain on their bikes. I’m still a speed wimp, so declined to join them…Janet and Crystal cooked up another delicious dinner. Played a rousing game of pinochle with Trevor, Crystal and Janet.

6/10 (Thur) - Spent the morning packing the van and mucking out the cabin. All of us managed to squeeze into the van and headed back to Westcliffe. Stopped in Salida for lunch and ate Amigos which has changed names but the same menu as when Todd and I would eat there after a day of skiing at Monarch Pass.

We parted ways in Westcliffe. Carol headed back to Oregon; Crystal up Evergreen and Janet rode with us up to Colorado Springs where we met George and Claudia. Before embarking on this trip, I totally stressed about logistics, but since the trip began, all of the details have organically been falling into place…food, transportation, SAG support. This latest detail, Janet arranged for George to pick up Claudia in her apartment in Lakewood on the outskirts of Denver on his way home to Pueblo. (He had to leave a day early from Buena Vista to go to Denver for work).

I bought a handle bar at REI which fit my bike. My old one didn’t fit on Ngangu, so now Trevor is using it. I really missed having a handle bar bag to throw munchies and my camera in for easy access. We ate at Paneras and then hit the roads at 9:00 pm. Drove until1:00 am. We all piled into a room at a Day’s Inn in Colby, KS.

6/11 (Fri) - Up at 6:00 am. Eight hour drive left to Springfield, MS. Got a drive through breakfast at McDonalds. Traveled to Topeka, KS, making good time. Stopped at Barnes and Nobles so Mallory 7 Claudia could buy books. Ate lunch in the mall and Mal had her hair corn rowed in a salon to try to keep her cooler in the intense heat. It ended up taking over two hours t braid, plus ran into stop and go traffic outside of Topeka due to construction. Didn’t arrive in Springfield until 9:30 pm.

Becky and Brad Gillmore, (who were our first Warm Shower hosts), had out Tiki Torches at the end of their driveway to direct us to their house since they lived in a compact neighborhood. They made a welcome sign with all of our names on it, which they taped onto the front door. Wow…they opened up their home to us, lavished us with home cooked meals, and treated us liked family. Mallory quickly took on the role of guardian to their five, 5-week old kittens.

6/12 (Sat-Biked 28 miles) - Got up at 6:00 am to participate in the “Cycle for Life,” fundraiser for breast cancer. Both Brad and Becky were going to ride in it, but Becky wasn’t feeling well. They lent us a hybrid bike for Claudia to use. Traveled 20 minutes in the van to Ozark, at the James River Assembly of God for the start of the ride. The church was massive, with a video billboard. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more elaborate church.

Trevor headed out on the 50 mile ride and Mal, Claudia and I got ready for the 25 mile ride. Brad arrived in his own vehicle we started a bit behind the pack because we had our tires inflated by a volunteer bike shop. Following the route was a bit confusing because there was signage painted on the road from a number of different rides. Road through rolling hillside and farmland. Farmers were out haying. Claudia did great riding despite not having trained, plus she quit cold turkey cigarette smoking on this trip. There were a few steep hills, but she refused to get off of her bike and walk. Despite riding the 50 mile route, Trevor arrived back about ½ an hour before us. Brad finished the ride and headed back to the house.

Our check engine light came back on a few hours before we arrived in Springfield, and didn’t go back off when we started the care in the morning. After the ride, when we started up the van, it had an engine smell which went away. We debated whether or not to stop at the Toyota dealership, but decided against it, as the check engine light came on our drive to Colorado, but eventually went off.

When we got back to Brad and Becky’s house, Trevor and I mucked out the van to get ready for our ride in the morning. Mal played with the kittens and Claudia crashed in the recliner chair for the entire afternoon. I was amazed that she was able to sleep that night. Becky and Brad barbecued up a slew of hamburgers and hotdogs. I personally ate two of each and Trevor ate a lot more than that. I am amazed how thin Trevor is considering how thin he is. Spent the evening chatting with B & B, and after a bunch of rigor moral managed to add cell phone minutes to my cell phone.

6/13 (Sun-Biked 42 miles)-Becky made an egg and sausage casserole, biscuits and orange juice to fuels us for the ride. We headed out in the van about 9:00 to drive to Marshfield to embark on our eastward bike journey. Said our goodbyes to Becky and Brad. They were genuine, warm and fun folks to spend time with. Our stay with them will definitely be logged amongst more memorable times on our cross country bike trip.

Bought groceries in Marshfield since us we’re camping for the next four days. Finally hitting the road at 11:00 am. It must have been in the high 90’s because I was sweating even in the shade. Doused ourselves with water and then headed out to Hartville (26 miles) for a rest stop. Trevor zoomed ahead and Mal and I plodded along. Passed through rolling farmland. Passed by lots of road kill including possums from looking like was faking dead with its tongue hanging out to so smushed, that it was ¼ inch in diameter. Armadillos and turtles were also popular road kill. Trevor, Mal and Claudia played a card game of Zombies. Relaxed a while in the shade in the city park. Mal decided to sag and Trevor and I road onto Houston. Met Claudia and Mal pulled over on a side road waiting out to see if I needed anything. While I was eating a snack, a horse and buggy drove by with an Amish family on board. The father was driving and wearing a straw hat. The mother was sitting in front and three daughters in the back, wearing black bonnets and royal blue dresses. I’d saying we were equally gawking at each other. I would have love to have taken a picture, but didn’t feel right about it without getting permission first Starting to get hillier as we ride towards the Ozarks. Really enjoy hearing the birds singing. A few logging trucks passed by, but overall the traffic isn’t bad which is good because the road is narrow without any shoulders. Six miles outside of Houston, Claudia and Mal came back to check on me. I got in to sag the rest of the way.

Spent some time in Houston hunting down the Westside city park to camp in. Called to notify the police we were staying there, but no-one working on Sundays except for emergencies. Decided to head back to a swimming hole we noticed on the way into town with picnic tables. A popular spot. Looked like an old quarry fed by a river. On the other side of the swimming hole was a 40 ft. ledge with a wooden ladder to climb up. Popular place to jump off from. Trevor jumped twice. Although the water was deep, it made me nervous. There was also a rope swing which I swam over to against the current. I was pooped by the time I got there. Swung on the rope once and swam back. Mal probably swam back and forth 5 times. Made a rice mix dinner and used two packages of “T-bone” hamburger which Crystal left with us. When everyone left, we set up the tent. Took a skinny dip to cool off before heading to bed at 10:00. It was enchanting watching the fireflies flickering over the water.

6/14 (Mon-36 miles) - We were packed up by 7:30 am. Headed back into Houston and ate breakfast at a Sonic drive-in. Mal is totally wiped out and fell back asleep as soon as she got into the van. Decided to let her sleep and Trevor and I headed out around 9:00 am. So much for early starts to beat the heat…Rode 26 miles outside of Summersville where Claudia found a place to stop in the shade. Trevor arrived 45 minutes before me and was sacked out in the front seat of the van. Mal woke up when I arrived. Trevor was feeling really wiped out, but decided to continue riding and mal decided to sag for the whole day which wasn’t a bad idea since the road was very hilly and twisty and winding. Mal and Claudia flagged me down at the Ozark National Park picnic area about 5 miles outside of Eminence. Trevor decide to ride into Eminence. We checked out the campground which had a lot of shaded tenting sites and bordered the river. A tubing rental place was ½ a mile from the campground. Went into town to find Trevor. Tried to see if we could mail home our saddle bags and Trevor’s dilapidated tent which was mine from many years ago and was ruined by sitting a bog one summer when I camped out in Alaska. (Trevor didn’t want to throw it away since it was the only tent he owned). Post office didn’t have boxes and the local grocery store didn’t have the right size boxes.

Headed back to the campground and chose a shaded sight to set up. Rented tubes and floated down the river from one end of the park to the other, which took about an hour. The first run I picked up Claudia, Trevor and Mal. It really refreshed them, so I decided to do a second run with them and bag doing my journaling. We left a bike at the end so Trevor could bike back up to get the van. This time started in the popular swimming hole a little ways up the path from where they started the first time. This swimming hole had a 20 foot ledge to jump off from. I allowed Mal to jumped off of this one. She talked Mal and me into jumping off as well. Claudia is an afraid of height as I am so it took us a bit to get up the courage to jump. Before we headed downstream in the tube, a snake swam out in the swimming hole which created a little raucous. Some thought it was a water moccasin. The tube ride was really refreshing and a treat afterward to be able to take a shower. Made a collect call to make sure Bryce was set to fly out to St. Louis tomorrow. Cooked a spaghetti dinner using the last two bags of “T-bone.” Sat around a campfire for a bit and then managed to head to bed by 10:00.