Wednesday, July 7 – Day 24 – 75.5 Miles - 1742.7 Total Miles

At bedtime last night Kim and Anna made one last trip to the little girl’s room while Kyle, Nathan, and I lounged in the cabin and Bobby went outside to brush his teeth. Moments after Bobby re-entered the cabin, the van alarm began to sound. Not knowing what was happening, I searched frantically for the van keys to mute the alarm. When I couldn’t find the keys, I looked outside into the darkness and saw Kim sticking her head out of the restroom. She was screaming about pushing the alarm to get my attention because an animal had her and Anna pinned into the restroom. I walked toward the restroom with my headlamp and escorted the two frantic girls back to the cabin. They were both trying to explain the noises that they heard….that is when it hit us….actually Nathan was first to make the call. It turns out (as we had just poking fun at earlier) that when Bobby brushes his teeth, he evidently also tries to clean his esophagus with his toothbrush. This results in a gagging, near vomit reflex (2 times per day). It was the exact sound that the ladies described. Kim and Anna were held hostage by a gagging Bobby Wiltshire. We laughed hysterically.

Today’s ride started with a small climb, but otherwise we were cruising along slightly downhill most of the day. It was quite a blessing on 3 sets of tired legs. We did have to pile in the support van five miles east of Kremmling for about 30 minutes to wait out a storm. But, other than that it was a pretty uneventful ride, which is a good thing. We were just riding our bikes through beautiful terrain. We have ended our day at a USFS campground on Green Mountain Reservoir on State Route 9, 15-20 miles south of Kremmling. Since our arrival at the campsite, we have had to deal with less than ideal weather. We had to use 5 people to set up each of our tents because of the wind. Now, as I write this, it has begun to lightening and hail on us. It is about 7:00 pm and we are just hoping this all blows over so that we can get some sleep tonight.

We have been looking forward to tomorrow’s ride for quite a long time. From the beginning of the day, we ride south on route 9, making our way to Hoosier Pass, the highest point on the Trans Am Route at 11,542 feet. From that point, we descend for quite a while. It will probably take a couple of days to get through all of the descending miles. That should be fun (and easier). I have tried a couple of times to get video from my bike while I am descending some of these steep roads, but both attempts have failed. I need to try again before we hit Kansas – not much descending in that state.

As of now, we do not know where we will be staying tomorrow. We have a call in to a woman in Alma (warm showers), but as of now, have not heard back from her. We won’t know about that possibility until we get cell coverage tomorrow. If that falls through, the only other options are other USFS campgrounds….cheap, but showerless. I don’t think people are too excited about that (except Nathan).

Tomorrow’s route takes us through some cool towns…Silverthorne, Frisco, and Breckenridge, to name a few. We will tell you about them soon. We have not been running into internet service very often, so we will post when we can. Take care and thanks for reading.




















Anna Is Succesful Again In Her Quest For Ice Cream...This Time in Grand Lake, Colorado




Bobby Catches Some Z's At Our Storm Break








Our USFS Campsite










Always Working.....Collecting Wood For A Fire We Did Not Have

Tuesday, July 6 – Day 23 – 72.9 Miles - 1667.2 Total Miles

We woke this morning in our hotel in Saratoga and had the support van transport us back to yesterday’s stopping point, Riverside. It quickly became obvious that it was going to be another windy day….and not in the direction that we wished for. Today, the wind was in our face, instead of yesterday’s crosswind. When we got to Kim and the kids in the support van, 28 miles into the day, we were only averaging 13 mph. It’s not that the day was physically terrible, it is more mentally taxing. To get the idea of what it is like, sit in your recliner and have 3 or 4 people sit at all angles around you (except at your back) and have them blow hair dryers (minus the heat) into your face for 6 hours. You can’t hear anything on the bike except for the non-stop, deafening sound of the wind in your ears. It just doesn’t stop. When you are riding at home, you do a loop ride, so for part of the ride you get favorable winds. Not so in point to point rides. I just peeled my contacts out of my eyes a few minutes ago and I believe my eyes are about to start making tears again. My favorite part of the day was when we came upon other bike travelers sitting on the shoulder, going in the opposite direction. We were about 30 miles into the ride at this time. One of the riders, whom I will call Captain Obvious, called out to us to warn us about the “vicious headwind”. I am glad he warned us, we would have really struggled without the heads up.

We stopped at the border as we headed into our 5th state, Colorado. We did not get a chance to get a Wyoming sign as we entered their state. It was in Yellowstone and all they had was a little marker. So, after we got our Colorado sign, we ran across the road and got the Wyoming sign. It was worded a little wrong, so the kids made a small change to it so that it fit our needs.

Kim and the kids did the support thing for us again today. The kids are really holding up well. I keep thinking that I will show up to the van and see them going nuts because they are cooped up, but they are finding things to do. Today, Nathan took off his shirt and painted his boobs with a pink highlighter. No problems here.

We had planned to tent at a campground tonight outside of Rand, Colorado. When we showed up, the mosquitoes were relentless. We waited in the van until Kim found someone to talk to about the sites. When she came back, Kim informed us that she managed to get a cabin out of the guy for 40 bucks. Kim rocks. We don’t have any running water, but we got showers and are sitting around in silence, reading and listening to music. It is the kind of relaxing that you can’t get at home because something is always distracting you at home. There is nothing that can distract you here. You are forced to relax. I don’t get to see Kim relax like this very often. I think we are going to watch a dvd on the computer later.

We will be moving further south tomorrow except for Kyle’s least favorite part of the day, where we head due WEST for 19.5 miles. He is a little put off by the fact that we are going AWAY from the Atlantic Ocean. Our plans are to camp at a USFS campground close to Heeney, on Green Mountain Reservoir.


Our "Leaving Wyoming" Sign

A Ribbon of Road From Kremmling to Rand, Colorado

The Campsite Where We Decided On A Cabin

Our"Palace" For The Evening