Central & Southern WY to Steamboat Springs, Colorado

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Greetings from the idyllic riverside town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where Fi and I have been taking a couple of days off the bikes for a little rest and relaxation; also an opportunity to wash some clothes, do some bike maintenance, and soak up the luxuries that a clean motel room offers. So far, we've accumulated a bit over 1100 total miles of riding, and 53,000 vertical feet of climbing. Most days have been a lot of fun, although the hot conditions of southern Wyoming's arid, high desert was starting to wear us out. Passing over the mountains that comprise Medicine Bow National Forest, our last night in Wyoming culminated in a primitive campsite near a dumpster, amid a minefield of sheep dung and no clean water source, and where not a single square foot of bumpy ground didn't contain at least one well-embedded rock. Needless to say, we were ready for Colorado and a change of scenery. We shared that miserable plot of poop-festooned earth with David, another laidback, hearty, affable Kiwi (as if there were any other kind). He arrived to camp ahead of us and had a roaring fire going by the time we straggled in as nightfall was setting in. He was travelling fast and light, heading to Colorado to see some friends before riding southwest into Utah. Although the campsite and contaminated water source kind of sucked, we enjoyed hanging out with him and sharing our stories by the campfire that night.

The next morning began with a short climb on dirt road, followed by a screaming 13-mile descent into Colorado on a silky smooth ribbon of pavement through some of the most stunning alpine scenery that we'd seen by that point. So far, Colorado has not disappointed us. It's a cyclists' utopia where, so far, every turn has been a photo-worthy landscape of mountains, rivers, and valleys; a stark contrast from the rugged and unforgiving desert basin of southern Wyoming, or the densely forested mountains of Montana. Having said that, we had done several tough riding days that wore us out quite a bit, so when we arrived in the biking, hiking, skiing, and outdoor mecca of Steamboat Springs - where it seems like everyone who lives here is issued a Subaru with a mountain bike on the roof and a shaggy dog riding shotgun - we decided to hang out here for a couple of days.

Since our last blog post, we departed the town of Lander, WY (kind of a rats' nest, in my opinion) and rode south on paved highway 287/789 to Jeffrey City, population 35, including tumbleweeds and rattlesnakes. To make a long story short (you're welcome) we ended up sleeping in the town church, which welcomes long-haul cyclists, and even provides hot showers and access to a kitchen - what a thoughtful gesture, especially since camping in the area isn't too appealing, due to the aforementioned community of rattlesnakes, and lack of any other alternative for 50 miles in any direction. It was there that we met Patrick, riding from Vancouver to Washington, DC, a distance of over 4000 miles, about 600 of which pass interminably through Kansas! Although clearly nuts, Patrick was a great guy to hang out with that night, and a lot of fun to ride with the following day, as our separate routes led us down the same road to Rawlins, WY.

We also met Paul and Susan, a down-to-earth, affable couple from St John's, USVI, who, despite having ridden this same off-road route to the US-Mexico border 10 yrs ago, are doing it again. Between them and Patrick, I'm not sure who is more nuts. We met them on the route as we passed into Colorado and spent a little time with them here in Steamboat Springs. We've very much enjoyed meeting interesting and adventurous folks like Patrick, David, Paul and Susan, and continue to regard this social aspect as one of the most enjoyable parts of our trip thus far.

I think I'll wrap things up here for now; Fi and I are off to enjoy our last night in Steamboat Springs before we ride back up into the mountains tomorrow, once again leaving the pavement behind for a couple of days. We're headed south to Frisco, CO, then to Salida, CO.

On a separate IT note, we haven't been able to fix this website to allow anyone to post comments to our blog entries, and haven't been able to view any of the comments that some of you have tried to post to us. We apologize for that, we wish that we could figure out how to fix it. We love hearing from all of you, so if you would like to drop us a line, please feel free to send us an email (below). We may not always be able to send individual replies, but it really boosts our spirits to hear from you!

Ken: [e-mail]
Fi: [e-mail]

Thanks for checking up on us! ~Ken

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Photos

Headin' south
Wyoming highway 789 between Lander and Jeffrey City. Thankfully, the clouds rolled in to block the sun which had warmed the asphalt up to egg-frying temperature.

Patrick, from Switzerland
We met Patrick in Jeffrey City, where we all 'camped' inside the church basement. We rode with him to Rawlins, WY where we parted ways: he was on his way east to Washington, DC, another 3000 miles away.

Camping in the Jeffrey City Church
After a tough day riding in 100-degree heat, we rolled into Jeffrey City, WY, a tiny town of 50 residents that's seen better days. Since there are no other campgrounds or motels for 50+ miles, the local church keeps their doors open for weary cyclists, for which we were very grateful.

Ferris Mountains, south central WY
Between Jeffrey City and Rawlins, WY, with the Great Desert Basin in the foreground.

Rolling through the hot, arid, high desert of south central Wyoming on highway 287.
Thanks, Patrick, for snapping this photo.

1000 miles!
We took this celebratory selfie when we surpassed the 1000-mile threshold on forest road 71, about 20 miles south of Rawlins, WY. Moments later, we stopped to repair our first flat tire.

Our first tire puncture
Moments after our 1000-mile euphoria, this brought us back to reality. Shortly after we got rolling again, we were caught atop a hill in a pretty nasty thunder and hail storm. It was a tough day.

Steamboat Springs
A great little town with plenty of friendly folks.

Candy cigarettes?!
Are you kidding me?! I haven't seen these since they fell out of favor over 30 yrs ago. I was very surprised to see them in an ice cream and candy shop... in uber health conscious Steamboat Springs, of all places! The kid behind the counter (who was no more than 18) told me the kids on the little league teams here love them (!).