Day 36

Through oilfields all day on washboard to Baggs. Need to restock a few groceries there. Still no trees. Wind. Sun. Wind. Oil fracking units. More endless wind…

Eventually in Baggs, I get a cozy room among many oil field workers at the Cowboy Inn. After grocery restock at the Stage Stop, I walked up to El Rio for a GREAT Mexican dinner. Carne Asada tacos with roasted jalapeños on the side, Negra Modelo x2! Absolutely delicious!! Licked the plate clean!!

Then an early sleep… True fatigue after days of relentless unfavorable winds crossing the Great Divide Basin. 

Day 37

A hot breakfast to start the day at the Cowboy, and on the road about 845 for about a 54 mile day. Turned out to be 50. Hmmm… More on that later…

It’s almost as if someone turned on the tree switch. Suddenly there are trees!! And in such spectacular fall colors!! I didn’t realize, until I saw them, how barren and desolate the last few days have been!!! So if I’m overkill on the trees and leaves photos, that’s why…

Somewhere in the first 20 miles, I entered Colorado! That means I’ve passed through Alberta, British Columbia, Montana, a piece of Idaho, Wyoming, and now into Colorado! Just Colorado and New Mexico to go!!!!!

A good day riding, first few miles on pavement then on to GREAT gravel, compared to that shitty washboard industrial zone gravel around Wamsutter. More trees, decent grades, but definitely had to push a mile or two today…

Near the massively wealthy looking Three Forks Ranch, I took a break to talk to Doug who is motorcycling some of the same parts. 

We talked for quite a while, he is using BDR maps, Backcountry Discovery Maps, that are available for some states. Similar to what I’m doing in the GDMBR, but they’re maps focused on motorcycling. Great routes!

We talked a bit about life philosophy, him deciding he needed to do something different than working, kids grown, wife “gone” (I didn’t ask further) and he talked about how hard it was to start his trip, not knowing for sure where he would go. And the criticism from friends that his path wasn’t preplanned… It was if the weight of what direction he would go held him from going at all! (His explanation…) I shared with him some wisdom passed to me years ago from a wise person: “If you sit and do nothing, nothing will happen. But if you get up and move, you enable the possibilities of life!” (A simpler version is “If you do anything vs nothing, you enable possibilities”) 

I’ve always thought that had great meaning for me, he agreed and we laughed a bit about that… A very nice guy, similar age, I regret not getting his photo… He asked if I blog, yes of course. He does too, though until I have web I can’t look, but his is djwebbsgs.wordpress.com

One wisdom tidbit he shared with me is “You expend much of your life working toward some goal. The trick is to like it once you’ve attained it.”

So more pushing uphill, no problem… I figure I push nearly as fast as I can ride in my lowest gear up the really steeps… I’m riding through such spectacular colors, almost as if someone has plugged in the yellow trees! 

Continuing uphill, I knew I would pass Columbine, CO (a different one) but didn’t expect anything to be there; I was planning to camp at Steamboat Lake. 

Well… As I topped the hill and rode over the top of the pass into Columbine, I see the Columbine General Store and Cabins! What the hey??? So only four miles (all downhill) to the campground, I look at the grey sky and think… cabin vs tent? Cabin always wins for me. 

I walk into the store, which is more of a gift shop with a few candy bars, and ask is there a cabin available? I’m always surprised that hunters are filling these places this time of year. But yes, the woman behind the counter says yes, “the honeymoon cabin” is available! At this point, I’m 50 miles into a planned 54 mile day, I’m so in for the honeymoon! 😄😄😄

While I’m there in the store, I notice VERY few food items, but there is a box of spaghetti and a can of Hunts Pasta Sauce! (Also chicken Rice a Roni. Yum!) Would I buy this in real life, probably not. But in this paradigm of cycling all day, day after day, hellya I’m having spaghetti tonight! The cabin has a stove, water, pots/pans!!!

Now these are old old cabins, and when I enter the honeymoon cabin, I’m instantly reminded of Confusion Hill, a place we went to when Rory and Zeen were young on old highway 101 somewhere in California, I think? (Do you guys remember?) It was one of those places where rooms are slanted, walls aren’t square, and you sit in a chair and experience angular disorientation. 

Well, the honeymoon cabin had that! The floor is slanted very downhill… Who cares, I head up to a glorious hot shower in the central building. There are about a dozen very old cabins here, and a central bath/shower place, though all cabins have running water, kitchenette style…

After shower and laundry, I’m sitting in my heavy duty Adirondack porch chair, Dave walks up and introduces himself as the “manager” and hands me a can of cold beer!!! Now that is too cool, after a hard but really beautiful day of riding! We chat a bit, and he invites me up to their trailer if I want a second!

Of course, eventually I do head up there! Dave and Margie are recent retirees and found this cabin renting gig on workamper.com which I never heard of. Will look when I can…

Anyway, we start talking about stuff, and Vickie the general store lady joins us. They are in a trailer and motor home above the cabins. There was lots of discussion about hip replacement as Margie is getting her second done soon, and Vickie her first in a couple of weeks. They all “manage” the cabins on a three month deal with the owner, thought it was something different to do as recent retirees! And they’re enjoying it!

Side note: seems like I’ve met a lot of boomer retirees trying out different things, figuring out what they want to do next. Living the journey, not the destination…

Such very nice folks, happy to have met them, and very happy to be in solid walls! I bid them goodnight cuz I had some ‘ghetti to cook! 

And damn, it was so good! I added some spices and a can of ham to the sauce, absolutely but very simply delicious!! 

Today was a great day, very colorful and scenic, met some nice folks (including a Brit couple riding that I passed in the hills) Dave and Margie and Vickie; the potential rain visible in the distance held off, had a tasty din, and I’m in the honeymoon cabin!! Woo hoo!! Seriously, a very good day…

Tomorrow it’s almost all downhill to Steamboat Springs, I should be there by 1pm, I think.

Biking life is good…

Day 38

Woken the honeymoon cabin well rested as the setting is so quiet. Made my oatmeal, I had my coffee, set out on the bike for the day.

Mostly downhill to Steamboat Springs, I arrive there sometime around noon. Checked into the Rabbit Ears motel, named after a descriptive of the pass I will go through or see you tomorrow.

I could talk a lot or a little about Steamboat Springs, it is a cute little town, but not unlike many small US towns that you go through these days where there lots of aimless tourists walking around with large waists and ice cream cones in their hand, dipping in and out of the random art gallery or whatzit shop selling shit you certainly don’t need.

Yet, as I am a tourist of a different sort, my focus was on cold beer and lunch! I stopped at the Old Town Pub and Grill in a historic building, had a steak version of a room that sandwich, was actually very good! On the bartenders recommendation, I proceeded to Sunpies, a funky little place right on that Yampa River which runs beside the main downtown.

Spend the rest of the afternoon tracking down a couple of specific things I needed, a replacement for a broken bottle rack, some instant oatmeal that of course only the “natural food” place was nearby and they have a more expensive version of the exact same thing I needed, picked up a couple little gifts for the grandkids and sent those off at the post office, needed an additional dehydrated meal so stopped at a place called BAP for that, got sweet and sour pork dehydrated! I know it will be tasty, but I absolutely guarantee that the consistency will be prison cafeteria slop! Headed back to the motel to check on my drying laundry and rest my eyes for a few minutes…

So while I had pondered a full day off and two nights sleep here, since I got here so early today, I will proceed tomorrow and continue along my way. Lots of climbing tomorrow… I expect to be in Silverthorne in three nights.

Various body parts complaining, but spirit is well…