*I came, I saw, I ate lunch!

Warm Showers came through again with an excellent host in Salt Lake City (SLC), Austin. We got up early and headed to the FrontRunner station and boarded a car that was outfitted with bike racks and plenty of seating. It was a 25 mile ride to the Clearfield station where we got off and I headed to Antelope Island. Austin had an errand and was then heading back to SLC.

After bidding farewell to Bret & Nora, I rode from Lindon to Salt Lake City on the previously mentioned Murdock Canal Trail & The Jordan River Trail. 50 miles of which 48 were paved trail. The Murdock trail It’s about 10 years old and is in almost pristine shape, except for some cracks that do give you a little jolt. The JRT is older and as many more cracks and tree roots in spots. Overall I went between two major cities without getting on the road. Pretty impressive. And the bike infrastructure in both Provo in Salt Lake City areas are great.

Seems much drier here in Provo and Denver was pretty dry. After a very long summer’s sleep, I did the ride Bret suggested today, solo, since he wasn’t able to come along. It was an excellent suggestion as even though temps were cool-er today, they were still in the high eighties when I got back mid-afternoon. The West Alpine Loop was reached by the Murdock Canal trail which is smooth, new blacktop and about 20 feet wide. The climb up to the summit was through woods and shaded by the mountains. There was even a mountain stream next to the road for most of the ride up. “Up” was 8,000′ at the summit, and in 42 miles I climbed 3,700′. I also had a “light” bike today as I left the front rack off after reassembling it from the box.

Prefix: Writing this from Bret’s & Nora’s place. All settled in and ready for a completely horizontal sleep after 13 ½ hrs on the train.

Day 32. I’m on the California Zephyr headed to Provo Utah. I had originally intended to ride from Denver to Moab, then catch a train to Reno, but that proved logistically hard and riding in the 100+ temps and wildfire smoke would have been quite dangerous. So, I settled for the Colorado adventures I did have, including that 12,000’ pass, and will save Moab and Canyonland for exploration with Dana in the future.

A couple days without big mileage have been a nice break. Still riding, just not at the same lengths as last week.

Friday (day 27, Sept 2, also 1 month of retirement!), I rode over and up to Boulder, CO to visit with old friends from State College, Chuck and Susie Anderson. It was a 25 mile ride up and I picked a route that was the most direct and mixed between on road and trails. Can’t say enough about the great cycling infrastructure in Denver and Boulder, and Colorado in general (at least what I’ve seen so far). I rode most of the way on low traffic streets and most of those with bike lanes or shares, but half of the ride to Boulder was on the US 36 trail which runs between the outskirts of Denver into Boulder along the highway. Under-and-over-passes made for a conflict-free 14 miles.

Ahhh. Mountain air and cool temps. I had a lazy morning hanging around the motel and just relaxing. Had a short day planned with a round trip to Breckenridge and then meeting Aaron to head to Red Rocks.

I headed out about 11 and Aaron called and told me there was a Pearl Izumi (cycling clothing) outlet in Dillon. Oooooo. I have some older shorts with me and they’ve seen better days. I ended up with a mountain bike short that has pockets, a little longer leg, and built-in chamois. A better choice for urban riding than ruining my civi shorts, and/or putting on full cycling gear. In other words, I can look almost normal and still have the riding comfort of a chamois pad.

Dillon to Vail Pass today, and the views were spectacular. As I look at the photos, I realize that most of them don’t really capture what was also an emotional experience. It’s really hard to convey in 2D what is going on all around you, or experience the vastness of a steep, rocky, tree covered escarpment. So, I can only hope to trigger some memories if you’ve seen some of this area, and encourage you to come see for yourself if you haven’t.

I had to remind myself to ease up on myself when myself was berating my lagging performance on the littlest climbs with only the bike and no panniers. I’m at 9,600+’ and have only been at this altitude one day, and above 5,000′ for only 4. Duly noted, self. You made it over Loveland, and up to Vail Pass today at 10,000′. Chill.

With a head start to Indian Springs provided by Aaron, I climbed over Loveland Pass today. I was able to leave the camping equipment at Aaron’s, too, so I was half-loaded, with only rear panniers. Was probably carrying 25-30 lbs vs. the 50+ when fully loaded.

The ride to the top of the pass was 29 miles, 4656 ft up, 254 ft down. More than a little unbalanced. Most of the day was climbing and I was happy that I was able to make it without any altitude problems. I took a lot of breaks, esp. when my heart rate was soaring, but breathing was OK. I’m guessing my body said, “Oh, you did this to me when you climbed Grey’s Peak a couple of years ago. I gotcha!”

Most of Monday was spent dealing with my tire issues, Barclays (still), and cleaning and readying the bike for trip up to the Dillon-Frisco area which will take me over a 11,000 ft peak. My previous I was 9,800 so this should be interesting. I’m going to spend two days in Dillon and and head towards Vail and/or Breckenridge. Aaron promises the views are spectacular.

I’ve ordered new tires, but they won’t be here in time for this part of the trip. I did buy a inner tube with sealant in it and hopefully that will get me over the pass. I also rotated the tires so the fresher front one is now on the back. Going to be a much lighter load since I don’t have to take camping equipment.

Well, I handed Papa Hobo over to the baggage agent in Lincoln with a flat in the rear tire. Sometime between getting to the station and boarding, it went flat. The California Zephyr was an hour and a half late, so we finally got underway about 1:30 am. It was a long night’s ride and I did catch some fitful naps and got into Denver around 9 am. Almost lost PH as the conductors directed me to baggage claim (PH was checked to Denver), and baggage claim didn’t have the bike and directed me trainside. Fortunately, Denver was a 20 minute stop or PH would have been headed to California without me. I had to get a conductor to open the baggage car and get the bike out. Close call. So far, Amtrak’s been great for hauling the bikes along, but policies aren’t quite the same everywhere and I’ve yet to master the process. Learning as I go though.