The rest of the weekend turned out to be windy and rainy so I was very happy to have crossed the Rockies. When we went out to do some shopping for my friend we could see the mountains to the west, and when the clouds cleared they all had snow. The news reports were that enough snow fell over the weekend (starting the day I went over) that the ski resorts all opened. Phew!
I spent some time looking at the possible routes to connect up with the Adventure Cycling TransAm route that goes across the southern part of the state. Although the traffic seemed to be a bit much, I decided to ride US 85 to Castle Rock. From there I’d take Colorado 86 east through some small towns until it met up with US Route 40 again near Limon, CO. (Looks like I’ll have a small stint on the interstate I-70…) Then follow US Route 40 through nothing in eastern Colorado until Kit Carson and then take 287 to Eads where I hook up with the TransAm. Distance is 171 miles, and I have heard it is pretty flat so maybe 2-3 days. The Colorado Dept. of Transportation says the shoulders are decent sized after Castle Rock. Hopefully it all works out.
I took my bicycle to REI for them to give it a deeper cleaning than my weekly chain cleaning plus to adjust anything that needed it. I was happy they had a 50% off offer for bicycle maintenance. I also bought an Ultrapod and tent. I took half of my brother’s MSR Hubba tent for the ultralight fly only option. However it was not entirely satisfactory. It didn’t stop the spiders from crawling into my ear. Nor did the fly go to the ground so rain could blow in under it. In the wild wind storm at Illipah Reservoir in Nevada, it also did not seem too sturdy when I was holding it down from the inside. The other cyclist, Nick, I met in Steamboat Springs said that he used a Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2. He liked it because it was a 2-person tent for just a few more ounces than a one-person tent for when he traveled with his girlfriend and when alone he could put everything inside easily. REI had a 20% off thing for members so I splurged on a new tent.
My new GoPro mount
The Ultrapod was to make a new mount for my GoPro camera. I’d looked at some of the video and thought it could be better if it captured more of the side of the road rather than looking straight ahead. Unfortunately, GoPro’s handlebar mount can only either look straight ahead or 90 deg to either side. Neither position seemed ideal. Digging through piles of stuff in my friend’s basement we came across some metal rods with loops at both ends. Not knowing what they were for and there being loads of them, he gave me a couple. I bent one around the other and zip-tied the loops to the handle bars and then used hose clamps to attach the other to the front rack. This made a secure place to mount the ball head of the Ultrapod which mounted to the GoPro with their tripod adapter. This will allow me to tilt the camera to the side and film more of the scenery instead of just the road.
Very nice weekend hanging out and sleeping on comfortable mattresses. Definitely will be hard to leave.
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