Using the EMERGENCY shelter

Day 35. Tuesday September 20th. 50.2 miles for 1418 miles to date. Hardest day to date. All 50 miles were into a brutal headwind, and we had to pedal both up and down the hills. As Tara went down one hill she said: “please gravity, win this battle with the wind”. We are not complaining though! We miss our friends and their help in a headwind! We choose to do this and everyone is so stoic- but I am a bit of a fraidy cat whiner - I don’t know why I am afraid of the hills because when you get to them, you just go up- for as long as it takes, sometimes hours. Everyone has their battles and you only become aware of them through advice quietly solicited. Or an off hand comment or question but never voiced as a complaint. Butt sores, raw crotch, stiff back, sore neck - everyone copes quietly and keeps on pedaling. Enjoying the incredible views, the unique perspective of seeing the US one mile at a time, and feeling grateful for the opportunity to be out here. Lois especially has a great attitude- the ailments come with the adventure. I guess if it was easy, the trail would be crowded! I am tired after keeping up with the younger folks for 4 days. My legs feel spent so we’ve planned a full day off in Steamboat Springs, 3 days away. We listened to the trucks all night and were up early, around 6 am. Some folks thought about sleeping in and everyone planned a bit later departure to make some phone calls and sort food. Tara and I decided to stay a bit longer in camp to map out the dates to meet Mimi and Larry who are coming to visit, and to estimate when we will be near our friend Maggie, so we can plan to see her too! We also wanted to drop postcards and some gear at the post office, which took us off route a bit. The other four headed out before us and we hope to see them again in Steamboat. But, that is the nature of friends on a trip like this, you cross paths or travel together for days and then perhaps you don’t cross paths again, or for many miles. Our day was hard due to the wind and we were not able to get to the campsite where the others were headed. We stopped for lunch near a cattle guard and talked with a north bound cyclist. We saw a large animal skull on the roadside today, and a large dead snake and rabbit. At one point we deployed the emergency shelter and sat out a 10 minute storm - thunder and lightening. The shelter is great- warms up quickly, deploys in seconds and keeps the rain out. Then a beautiful rainbow came out! The cows all around were mooing and mooing. Maybe they didn’t like the wind either! Or were on the wrong side of the fence or cattle guard. Late in the day we climbed into the aspen forests from the open scrubland. We rode until after 6 pm and I think I was barely moving. The FS site had no water. And we set up our tent right under the deer hang….or maybe those cross beams are for a bear bag? But we are out of grizzly country and Tara says black bears are scaredy bears. The sunset through the trees was a pretty red. It was a bit windy as we retired and we were camped near some hunters who were up at 5:30 headed out on their 4 wheelers. It is bow season for elk hunting.