So after arriving in Boulder, taking a nice walk in the rain, cleaning up and eating whatever appeared before me I had one important task left in my day. Anna, my girlfriend who I had not seen in over a month,was coming in on a midnight flight. Given the conditions and some reports of road closures I decided that I would leave at 9:00 and wait for Anna at the airport. I ignored my hosts’ advice to stay put.

I started running into road closures right away. I discovered that all the major roads leading in the direction of the airport were closed. This involved choosing a potential route, running into a roadblock, turning away and checking the map on my phone for another route. The city was out in force. Even the dog catcher (animal control officer) van was deployed to block a street. The end of one attempt was not marked by a roadblock, but rather by fast and deep water that had already claimed three vehicles. I didn’t stop for pictures since I was quite aware of passing time. A police officer, upon hearing my destination, simply wished me good luck.

Arriving in Boulder was supposed to be the beginning of a nice, relaxing break in my trip. It was 10:30 and I decided to head north, back past Lucy and Ole’s place to Diagonal Highway that I had biked into Boulder on earlier that day. This worked. Diagonal Highway did not go towards the airport, but did get me west of the city and away from the city. After navigating a bunch of side roads, and only one more road closure, I made it to the highways that took me to the airport, arriving at my destination just ten minutes before Anna’s flight landed. After a happy reunion, the return trip only took an hour or so with no turn arounds thanks to knowing where the good roads lay.

I arrived back at Lucy and Ole’s place exhausted from all the day’s driving and biking and quite ready for sleep.

Until this outing I hadn’t quite grasped how widespread the flooding was.

The rain started last night. I was hoping to make it all the way to Boulder, but the conditions weren’t good so I stayed at a classy motel in Johnson Colorado.

The next day I made my way towards Boulder, though I did run into an obstacle or two.

Here’s a little creek. It’s usually only eight feet wide. Fortunately, the bridge over it was fine.

Next up was the road to Meade. The trucker in the picture warned me that roads in Longmont were closed.

So, I got through the soggy dirt road (much better than a sandy road and made better by new tires) and got to Longmont. It looked like this:

This guy who converted his Porsche to electric drive gave me directions to get over the last open bridge over the river in Longmont.

After that my phone was too wet to work, so no more pictures and no Google maps. I had to ask lots of folks for directions. I was glad I happened to remember Lucy and Ole’s address. Once I arrived more than a little wet, it was time for a walk in the rain! Sabine was all ready to go and there’s no taking back a promise to a toddler. The walk was fine with a freshly toweled head and a dry hat.

Next post: Getting to the airport!

Yep, real prairie. This had been preserved and not converted to range land for cattle.

After a long ride on a quiet road, it was time to sleep. Just a sleeping bag under the stars seemed like just the thing until the rain came.

Also discovered my first cactus of the trip by running over as I walked the bike in search of the perfect spot to lay my head. This was not it. The new Kevlar lined tires survived this assault just fine.

As I was seeking a tent site last night,  I came across a badger a dozen feet away last night. We eyed each other for a while and then returned to our respective business.

Yeah, never the sign you want to see when you’re ten miles from your destination and the detour requires backtracking into the wind. I thought about it, asked a local who said that there were three bridges out for replacement, but that there might be points to ford the stream or dry creek bed. In the spirit or adventure and stubbornness, I decided to go for it. I’ve been three for three with these road closed situations before. I was rewarded with a nearly empty road and … three brand new bridges followed by this:

This is what happens when the railroad won’t stop for the smaller grain elevators anymore. Now trucks haul gain to more distant giant elevators and the small ones are abandoned. This puts a lot more truck traffic on the roads. It is also a much less energy efficient means of transport.

I was left wondering about the economics of this. Could added road maintenance costs of the truck traffic  possibly be covered by fuel taxes or is government subsidy of roads driving irrational and environmentally harmful policies?

I think about these things as I ride. I once got a long talk about the economics of round versus square hay bales from a couple of farmers at a little breakfast spot in Michigan.

A little roadside stand in Nebraska was selling these tomatoes. I thought they were so good that I put them on a pedestal. Great to find fresh food in farm country! I had been missing it.

I stopped in at the bowling alley for a bite to eat and ended up with home grown cherry tomatoes and red peppers just off the vine and a place to stay. Thanks Sarah and Brent!

Sometimes you just have to take a chance. I’m four for four so far in betting that there will be a passable bridge. I was ready to ford a couple creeks when I heard that the road was closed for bridge replacement rather than backtrack many miles. Instead I got miles I’m of traffic-free smooth pavement 

Ugh. It’s 2:30 am and everything is wet. I didn’t think I needed that rain fly in my tent tonight until water was coming from everywhere. This is not my best night. Not sure whether to set up to sleep more or just ride before it gets hot. The bit of good news is that the forecast for today’s high ifs only 92 not 97. Maybe I can just find dry ground and sleep.

OJ and water keeps me going!

Selfie of me lying down for nap.

Nope, not dragging bike down steep embankment to siesta-ville. It’s way to rural to even care about things like that. Slept well in this rare spot of shade in the sand hills.