The Snow must go On.
First off, let me apologize once again for the lack of posts. I’ve been biking through a lot of rural areas, and don’t have the most reliable access to wifi at night, thus I try to provide updates as much as I am able. These past three days have been tough. They’ve pushed me to new limits, and really have been challenging.
Let’s go back to Santa Fe. I started riding in the morning, and knew there was a chance for some rain. However, I got a whole lot more than I bargained for. The rain got colder, and colder, and before I knew it turned to hail, then sleet, then snow. Brutal and cold. Luckily, I was able to pull off to a rest stop to warm up a little bit while the rain passed.
Before long, it was already noon, and I had only biked 11 miles. I had a long ways to go yet, and needed to get my miles in. Thus, it took a bit of perseverance and determination, but I pushed through some more rain storms, and even more hail in the evening to finish the day off with 83 miles. I even got to see a rainbow. Mother nature sure was tempermental that day. I think she forgot the tornado or hurricane!
That’s one thing you gotta just fight through. The rain isn’t fun, it’s not the most enjoyable, but you gotta do all you can to stay on track and get your miles in. Luckily for me, all of my gear is always going to be dry in my panniers. I don’t mind getting wet, but you’ve got to overcome the mental hurdle.
It continues to be a blast to camp and relax with the rest of the B4B’ers. Camping at night is a whole lot more fun with campfires, talking, laughing, and a great dinner. They’ve been keeping up with me over all the rides. They’ve been long rides to. I’m doing a ton of centuries (which means biking over 100 miles in one day). They’re long, exhausting, and challenging, but I keep on persevering. Day after day, hill after hill, mile after mile, I keep on pushing.
Sunday was another long day of riding. I finished with 110 miles, and slowly but surely traversed the country side. For the most part, there wasn’t very much elevation change. Which was nice. I was at about 7,000 feet elevation, which results in nice weather. Cool, not too hot, and relatively comfortable weather.
I had my first extremely close call with getting chased by a dog. A german shephard dog saw me coming down the road, and took off after me at a full sprint. German Shephard’s are great dogs, and are extremely fast. I swear I was pedaling at about 25 mph, and this dog was keeping up with me, right on my tail, barking and chasing me down. I yelled NO STOP! And fortunately, the dog listened and pulled up. There’s just no knowing how the dog has been trained, or if it will bite you. Thus, it can be pretty frightening.
After a good long day of 112 miles of biking, a few afternoon rainshowers, and fighting a frustrating headwind, I made it to our campground. The campground was at the UFO Watchtower, which was an odd and intriguing roadside attraction. It had all sorts of alien memorabilia scattered amongst the property, and posted the history of UFO sightings in the area. As the sun set, the stars appeared, and they were phenomenal. No light pollution. No clouds. Just a sky full of the universe. It can be breathtaking and mesmorizing to stare into the nightime sky and take in its beauty. It’s good to do. It reminds me, how small we are in the grand scheme of things. How big and mystery filled the universe is. From extraterrestials, to different planets, to so many other unanswered questions, it’s incredible to ponder the dilemmas of the universe.
Today was another long, frustrating, and challenging day. Another 110 miles were ridden, and they included two rocky mountain passes that took me to heights of over 9,500 feet elevation. There was even a slight head wind. Bring on the challenge.
It really was gorgeous riding amongst the rockies. They really are magnificent. However, they are also challengin via bicycle. The winding climbs, the fast descents, and rocky views all combine to make for a ride that really tests you. Of couse, I’m not used to the elevation either. Shortness of breath was a regular occurance over the course of today’s ride. It may lower my average pace, but doesn’t keep me from completing the climb.
Then things got really interesting. The weather threw another punch. We found out that we’re expecting 10-20 inches of snow overnight. That’s a ton, and I’m gonna need to bike through it. There’s no doubt it will be tough to navigate the rocky mountains after a huge snowfall, but I’ll prove that it’s not impossible. Just watch. I got a ballgame to catch in Denver.
The last 20 miles of today’s ride were the prelude to the storm arriving overnight. It got colder, and colder, and colder, and the rain turned to sleet which turned to snow. I threw on some winter gloves, and pedaled through it all, but I was cold. Freezing. My clothes were wet, my feet were cold, but I kept pedaling. I had to get my miles in. That I did. As darkness set in, I had pedaled 110 miles. 80 more to Denver tomorrow. Let’s do this. Bring on the snow, because the snow must go on.
Matt
PS: Sorry about no pictures, the WIFI here isn’t great, and loading the pictures would take forever. I’m headed to bed. I’ve got a snow day tomorrow.