It was the worst of days it was the best of days....

I left Denver after a warm farewell with my hosts.  Melissa gave me half a loaf of her [ridiculously good] homemade bread, and a short trip to Safeway helped me get set for the road.

The ride started off well enough, a little overcast in the beginning, and I pulled over to put on rainpants after a couple of drops.  At this point I met a couple Germans renting Harleys.  Tony and Bridget were very nice and very proud that they owned Harleys back in Bavaria.

Then it got a little colder.  Then the rains came.  All the while I'm still climbing the pass headed towards the Continental Divide.  I made a mental note maybe 15 times to look into putting handguards on my bike.  I also laughed at my stupidity when I told myself to not throw wool socks when I was packing.  But alas, I was determined to make it to Vail, as I knew there was a parking garage where I could at least do something about my soaked boots with a roof over my head.

An hour or so later, through the wet and cold I made it into Vail. A quick walk through the area and I found Blue Moose Pizza had a $5 lunch special and I convinced the server, Tony, to substitute coffee for my soft drink.  After almost an hour there, Tony mentions that he has never seen it really rain like this in the valley.  Generally only lasts an hour or so and then subsides - I laugh at my luck.  At the same time he tells me that it should break up maybe 25 minutes down the road as the valley opens up.  Wishing that I had asked that earlier, I get some homemade waterproofing for my boots, pay and get out.

Already the weather had lightened up a little and visibility was a tad more manageable.  But as Tony had mentioned, 20 more minutes and I was pretty much out of it. The scenery along 70 was pretty bland until Glenwood Canyon came up which was pretty awesome.  Unfortunately along the canyon there wasn't much of a place to pull over, so I didn't manage to take any pictures, you'll have to trust me that the high, light brown narrow canyon walls along the Colorado river are inspiring.

After entering Utah, I could see red jutted rock in the distance.  The scenery was pretty similar along the way and I took the scenic road to Moab (hwy 128) in and my excitement grew as I started to encounter additional motorcyclists headed in and out of Moab.

So needless to say, the ride was beautiful getting in.  I ultimately found a camping spot along the Colorado just outside Moab proper.  I met a young couple who invited me over for a beer at their campfire, so I knew  they couldn't have been all bad.  Steve and Ellen were from DC making a zig and zagging trip to San Francisco.  Ellen insisted on making me Korean ribs and rice.  I could hardly complain about the hospitality.

Leaving the land of the Rockies for the Moab of Utah...

So this post doesn't have as much to include about biking as I'm racing out the door.

My friends Andrew, Melissa and four kids were great.  Yesterday only the youngest put shorts on out of modesty.  The rest were part of an underwear wrestling club all day long.

But I had a great day in Denver, even with it being a holiday.  I was able to appreciate a lot of the culture and the city is reminiscent of Seattle or Vancouver.  I also picked up a couple items at REI that should help my panniers stay more organized, and a strap that should help the next gas tank stay secure.

And I decided that I would not make it down to Austin, TX.  I'm going back through Utah and hope to camp in Moab and Zion at least.  Who knows where else.  Should be getting into Huntington Beach either Thursday or Friday where I should be able to blog next.

Ahh, beautiful Denver

So the ride today was pretty easy, pretty straight, and pretty much high desert of Wyoming.  After I left breakfast with my friends (mmm, bacon...), I thought how nice the day was and going jacket less would be a bright idea to beat the heat.  Yes it beat any possible heat that I could have retained going through the mountains leaving Colorado.  I put it on as I gassed up at Park City.

Those were a couple shots after Park City, the scenery was beautiful and canyon-ish, then ascending into the high desert of Wyoming.  Kind of awesome.  Especially when I passed the guy wearing neon pink socks up to his knees, a red and white striped stalking cap and pushing shopping cart.  In the middle of nowhere.  Aside from that, I was able to spot a few antelope, the continental divide and a few gas stations

Yep, that was Wyoming.

I followed a couple for maybe a hundred miles in a black F-150, pulling over at the same gas station as them and getting into a little conversation.  Apparently I had made their trip a little more interesting as they kept referring to conversations on the ride about what I was doing... The wife had asked if I was getting better gas mileage drafting, but the husband told her I was too far away... they thought I was going to pass a few times, they were talking about how I was taking the same exit as them.  I'm happy to have made a portion of their trip that much more exciting.

On 287 I passed a rattlesnake on the road.  It was curled up and not hit yet.  I didn't see what it was and instinctively avoided it.  Its funny how I actually thought that I went through the snakes striking range and it could have grabbed my leg.

The excitement for the day was not until I reached Fort Collins, when I realized that somehow my spare gas can had been pressed against my muffler, and leaked out somewhere between there and Laramie.  I physically do not see how it could have reached this, and unfortunately half suspected the seedy looking group of bikers that I ran into at the last gas station.  I was kind of bummed at this, but ended having the joy stolen from me returned not much later.

As I cruised down my final stretch of 25 towards Denver, the cars started to back up.  I didn't know what the scenario that awaited, just bummed that I could smell Denver so close and it was being taken away from me.  As I was considering my options, a bike rode down in between lanes.  I realized while in Oregon this is illegal, in California it was not, and I had no clue if it was or not here.  After having a couple of vehicles close off the center lane after the bike in front of me, I decided the shoulder was the best option.  After I peaked the crest of the hill, I could see the traffic just go off to the next peak of the horizon and just keep going.  I'll be honest, I felt guilty a little as I drove by everyone else, a trail of bikes growing behind me, but really, not that guilty....

[Any legal entities reading this should note that this last paragraph was only a hypothetical situation merely intended for reader's potential pleasure, the writer of this blog did not break the law or intend to.  If what was written is against the law.]

And I got into Denver.  I was very thankful to pull up to my friend's house. Andrew and Melissa greater me, Joshua, the oldest of the little tyrants (adorable, precocious little things they are) put his hand on the muffler after he had been warned to avoid it.  He was brave and washed his hands in cold water.  They cooked me dinner and offered me a beer. It was fantastic.  All the while, the kids punched, kicked, climbed, sat in time out, were super cute, cried and laughed.  Joshua said that his tooth was loose but didn't want it to hurt.  I offered to pull it out after dinner and to my surprise he said he'd think about it.  It came out as I asked him the pros and cons of pulling the tooth out. We had ice cream on the roof and watched bats fly about through our view of the sunset and city.  Not a bad evening.

Some (better) pictures not taken with my smartphone are here, check them out!