I had no idea that I was looking at a 3,000 foot climb out of Fort Collins, but the road just kept going up. Finally I did a  check to see how much more I had to climb. Here’s what I saw.

The blue at the top is an elevation profile. I’m at the top of that blue point now, looking forward to a twenty mile downhill.

So, you might be wondering, what is it like biking at this altitude? Well, the air is quite thin, but manageable. The wind is stiff at around 15 or 20 mph. Fortunately it’s a cross wind not a head wind, but it definitely makes for some extra work. The day is lovely with blue skies and now patches of clouds are appearing. Here’s some pictures of where I am.

It’s all quite amazing to this East Coaster.

Here’s some pictures from this morning.

Entering Wyoming.

This one is for Cliff.

One of these two should have pronghorn antelope. I’d never seen them before, but I think that’s what they are. I read all about them in fourth grade. They might be s bit hard to see.

Leaving Fort Collins yesterday

Ok that’s all for now. Be well!

I dropped in at a little coffee shop and bookstore in Loveland. I met Connor who works there…

And I met a very generous woman named Peggy who invited me to stay at her place with her and her folks.

Peggy at the coffee shop.

Norman at home.

We cooked up a fine spaghetti dinner and shared stories.

I last passed through Longmont a week ago. (See earlier post for those pictures). This morning things were looking a lot better.

The creek has gone down a lot.

The bike path off still far from passable.

This is the Boulder bike co-op. It is totally awesome! You can use a stand and tools. There are people around doing the same thing who are happy to give tips. They stock new and used parts cheap. Good music playing and feels so right hanging out there. I got new brake pads, front and rear, trued my front wheel and adjusted my shoes. The guy on the other truing stand described the process add meditative, which I totally related to. I even say the guy named Archer from the electric bike shop that I met the day before there. He seemed to be instructing a small group. Here he is in one of Boulder’s two electric bike shops (he’s on the left, with anther guy who works there).

Finally here’s me doing a serious chain cleaning and lube, removing many miles of dust and grime.

Some things I saw yesterday evening …

All within a couple blocks. What a town! Here’s the park and ride in the way into Boulder.

Hey everyone! I’ve been hearing that a bunch of folks are following this blog of mine. I’d love to know who’s stopping by, so just comment and say hello!

I’ve also just added a page on the bike gear, because I needed somewhere to put these thoughts down. It may be of interest to you cyclists out there. It’s here:  bike.joncaplan.net/bike-gear/ .

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.