October 17, 2017
Day 2. Tired of Tires
We were in good spirits as we rolled out of the Brush city campground. We were up early but waited for the sun to warm the air and melt the frost before heading out. A good night's sleep and a couple of warm meals improved our perspective on the distance still to cover.
We pedaled past cornfields and grocery stores. Old run down hotels and feed lots. Trains rumbled by on the nearby tracks and cattle trucks rushed both east and west in amazingly large numbers. Relieved to be making good time, we put our heads down and pushed harder to make up for yesterday's shortened mileage.
Just after crossing Interstate 76, we stopped to make a phone call to Estes Park. Our original goal was to ride through Rocky Mountain National Park; however because of high winds and snow the road had been closed. There was a chance that the Park service might have been able to get a plow through which was the reason for the call now.
With Rebecca on the phone talking to the ranger, we heard the tell tale sound of rushing air, I had gotten another flat. Just as I was starting to change mine, Ben rolled his bike (not riding) over another goat head and instantly got another flat (his first). Needless to say, I got two or three additional flats by the time we got to Greeley where one of my friends, Ryan (different Ryan than my North Pole partner) met us with two new tires and tubes. We had gone through all our spares.
People often say that adventure happens when something goes wrong but I think that's only part of the truth. I believe that adventure is simply a way of putting yourself in new situations where you face an undefined outcome. Sometime it goes well and other times you get a flat (or nine). Regardless, it is that process of moving through uncertainty that creates an adventure.
Obviously, I've had a lot of time to think about this. When we interviewed one of the city workers driving through the Brush municipal campground, he compared our adventure to the settlers coming across in wagons.
'You know, I think when they got here they must have looked West and saw those mountains and assumed they would be there at the end of the day... that definitely wasn't the case - it was more like a week or more.'
For our part, we watched those same mountains and wondered if we would reach them. But in the end darkness fell before we got our answer.
If you haven't already, please consider donating to Big City Mountaineers through our Coloradathon fundraising page. There are some great 'thank you' packages with awesome swag form MSR, UCO, Therm-A-Rest, Granite Gear, Garmin, Stanley, Sole, Skratch Labs and Zeal Optics.
https://www.classy.org/campaign/coloradathon/c148619
Image: bikes on ice.
We pedaled past cornfields and grocery stores. Old run down hotels and feed lots. Trains rumbled by on the nearby tracks and cattle trucks rushed both east and west in amazingly large numbers. Relieved to be making good time, we put our heads down and pushed harder to make up for yesterday's shortened mileage.
Just after crossing Interstate 76, we stopped to make a phone call to Estes Park. Our original goal was to ride through Rocky Mountain National Park; however because of high winds and snow the road had been closed. There was a chance that the Park service might have been able to get a plow through which was the reason for the call now.
With Rebecca on the phone talking to the ranger, we heard the tell tale sound of rushing air, I had gotten another flat. Just as I was starting to change mine, Ben rolled his bike (not riding) over another goat head and instantly got another flat (his first). Needless to say, I got two or three additional flats by the time we got to Greeley where one of my friends, Ryan (different Ryan than my North Pole partner) met us with two new tires and tubes. We had gone through all our spares.
People often say that adventure happens when something goes wrong but I think that's only part of the truth. I believe that adventure is simply a way of putting yourself in new situations where you face an undefined outcome. Sometime it goes well and other times you get a flat (or nine). Regardless, it is that process of moving through uncertainty that creates an adventure.
Obviously, I've had a lot of time to think about this. When we interviewed one of the city workers driving through the Brush municipal campground, he compared our adventure to the settlers coming across in wagons.
'You know, I think when they got here they must have looked West and saw those mountains and assumed they would be there at the end of the day... that definitely wasn't the case - it was more like a week or more.'
For our part, we watched those same mountains and wondered if we would reach them. But in the end darkness fell before we got our answer.
If you haven't already, please consider donating to Big City Mountaineers through our Coloradathon fundraising page. There are some great 'thank you' packages with awesome swag form MSR, UCO, Therm-A-Rest, Granite Gear, Garmin, Stanley, Sole, Skratch Labs and Zeal Optics.
https://www.classy.org/campaign/coloradathon/c148619
Image: bikes on ice.