robdale.ca

Hey folks,

This will be a short post, only because I can hardly keep my eyes open. I did 900 kms (560 miles) today, and was on the bike for 13 hours. In fact, I was only off the bike a total of one hour the entire day!

I started out pretty early. I was awake around 5:30 am, and so I got up and got ready to go. I figure I was on I-70 just before 7 am. It was cold! In fact, it was so cold, I put on the full face helmet! It didn’t really warm up until close to Noon. Even then, I rode all day with a sweatshirt and my jacket on.

I ended up going into Colorado Springs and then just started cruising whatever road I felt like taking. It was incredible. The excitement I felt when I first saw the mountains in the distance was huge! With each mile, they were more visible. A few times, I caught myself going pretty fast, all because I couldn’t wait to get out of the flat mid-west and into the mountains.

I’m attaching two pictures from today. I almost didn’t attach any, because they simply do not do the real thing justice.

This first picture was the view as I was still approaching the mountains. Like many of my pictures, I took it while riding, and I found myself constantly distracted by the scenery. It was the one time I wished I was “riding bitch” on someone else’s bike. Remember, you can ride helmetless in Colorado, so there was nothing obstructing my view. And what a view.

The second picture I took as I was coming down the other side of the mountains. I still can’t decide which I liked better: the incredible rock formations on the East side of the mountains, or the beautiful view of the West side. Both were spectacular. Again, these pictures do not even give a small sense of the beauty you see on these roads.

A few years ago, Heather and I travelled to the East Coast of Canada with friends. As part of that trip, we rode the Cabot Trail. Until today, riding the Cabot Trail was the most unbelievable scenery I had ever experienced on a bike. It is still a must-see trip for anyone who rides, but I now have a new number one experience. I dare say that every North American biker needs to find a way to ride this area. Even if it means trailering your bike until you get here, and then spending a few days just riding every road you can find. It is that spectacular.

I pulled over at one point to have a drink of water and a power bar, and I pulled out my iPhone to see if I had a connection. I didn’t. But I did take a couple of pictures with the phone. My plan had been to send a picture home with the caption, “Look where I’m having lunch.” Instead, I sat down on the gravel, and just stared at the beauty. I got lost in it for three or four minutes.

Near the end of the day, I pulled over at a gas station to figure out where I was on a map. Turns out, I was in Alimosa, Colorado. No where close to my original planned stopping point: Grand Junction! I decided I would go a little further down the road and then find a campsite. However, I was warned by someone at a gas station that there was a threat of snow overnight (!) and that I would be wiser to get over to Durango. However, that was another 2.5 hours. And it looked like rain was coming.

I decided to go for it, put on my rain gear, and took off for another few hours on the bike. Sure enough, the rain hit, just long enough to make my bike filthy. I thought I was going to be into the rain the entire ride, but after going around one more corner, I was in a clear spot the rest of the way.

Tomorrow, I am planning on heading to the Grand Canyon, since I’m further south than I had originally expected. Then, on Monday, I will start toward the coast. I hope to find a decent campsite on Monday night, because I think I’ll take a “no ride” day on Tuesday and just relax and do nothing.

I was told that most KOA campsites have wifi, so hopefully I’ll have another update tomorrow night.

Again, thanks for all the comments!