4262 for Kids

Hey hey!

Ok, So this blog has gotten a bit stale I’ll admit. I made it though! If you didn’t hear through Facebook or e-mails, let me tell you now I successfully just cycled accross America. Go me! 5002 miles total in about 90 days. Thanks so much to everyone who supported me along the way in whatever way you did. That was a lot harder and at the same time a lot more rewarding that I thought it was going to be.

Now the real work begins though.

Here’s a list of what I need to do as it concerns this project to give you an idea of where we’re at and to help me organize my thoughts on all this:

Consolidate journal entries on paper and on this website and finish writing up the stories about the trip.

Get photos all tagged and posted on here as well.

Make a master list of everyone who gave me a place to stay, made me a meal, donated to 4262 for Kids, or offered some help down the line as this project moves forward. “Thank You” cards are in order, I think.

Make a consolidated list of all of the donations received. Using this, calculate the costs 4262 for Kids had (this is not my food/lodging costs, just website/promotions costs) and figure out how much is available for U-Locks of Love and Books on Wheels. Honestly, all this shouldve been better organized along the trip. Tight records were kept, but I got a bit sloppy with where they were kept as the trip went on (not easy to do after a long day on the road!).

Ideally it would be nice to have an event of some sort within the next few weeks here in Richmond, VA to talk about this project and where it’s heading and to formally present the funding raised to U-Locks of Love and Books on Wheels. I’ve been talking with one group and some pals of mine about this, but nothing has been solidified yet. Stay tuned!

501c3 paperwork has yet to be submitted. This is an important step that needs to be done before a lot of other steps can be taken. This also costs money.

*Note* Money was raised through out the past 6 months with the intention of filing the non-profit status paperwork, promoting the project, and donating to our two benefitting groups. No money was raised to help me bike/eat/not-have-a-job-for-a-whole -summer. More cash was spent along
the way to make sure I finished than I’d hoped was necessary, but by the end of the year (much sooner I’d hope) everything will be balanced out and the company of 4262 for Kids, Inc will have only spent what it took in in the ways I said it would.

To continue, 501c3 paperwork submitted, a ridgid direction for the company needs to be defined.

Who is on board for the organizing of all of this through to next years ride needs to be defined. From there, how the ride will work and many other things can be decided. I, Zack Hinkley, am signed up to continue to serve this company at least through next year’s ride. All things going as planned, I will be biking with the rest of the team as well.

The list of contacts and groups we’d like to work with next year that I’ve collected throughout my solo trek this summer needs to be put to use. Groups we’d hope to work with need to be decided on and a basic structure of what we hope to do along the way needs to be worked out.

*Note* To explain, “next year’s ride” will be a group event (twelve people maybe) with some degree of support (not carrying everything on our bikes as I did this year!). Along the way 10-15 stops will be planned. Currently the plan is to work with Boys and Girls Clubs, the Safe Routes to Schools national partnership and local bike clubs and other groups. Improving bike paths and children’s access to safe cycling is the goal. A well organized event with twelve healthy, passionate cyclists could be very productive in this. No groups have been contacted yet and nothing formal has been planned. This is just a hope and a good idea to work towards.

After these groups have been talked to and some ideas about exactly what we hope to do along the way have been defined, it’s time to work on promotion.

This website needs to be more than just a blog. Plenty more can be done too to make this project all fancy looking and well constructed and to increase our exposure, but it will be up to the group (the “board of directors”?) to figure out what’s worth the effort/money. I’m excited though.

A team of riders for next year needs to be found. Hopefully this will be a diverse group of people, college age if I had to guess, excited about bike riding, healthy lifestyle choices, the non-profit sector, and working to improve the lives and health of children.

Funding needs to be secured. Oh boy!

There are so many more things to consider it’s absurd.

——————-

That’s the basic plan from here folks
1. Thank everyone who helped this year.
2. Settle finances.
3. File 501c3 paperwork.
4. Get a group together and plan next year’s ride.

I’m pretty excited about it all. Here goes!

It has become clear to me that perhaps I’ve let some of you down who follow this blog. Oh no! I didn’t mean to!

The thing is, we (me and a few people Ive been traveling with) have been camping a bunch lately and it’s been steadily getting harder and harder for me to go down to the library and type a little before bed or even just send some stuff from my phone. It’s laziness is what I’m saying. Please forgive me.

I’ll try and fill in the gaps since my last post and put up some photos soon enough. I just wanted to let everyone out there in Internetville that I’m doing just fine and the trip is almost over! I hit about 4,600 miles today (a good bit past the 4262 goal, I know, but there’s so much America to get side tracked with along the way!) I’ll be staying in Sister’s, Oregon tonight (last state!) And should be done Aug 1st (less than a week!). I’ll be in Portland for a couple days after that and, all things going according to plan, arrive safely back in good ol’ RVA on Aug 4th. Stoked!

Facebook has all my photos at this point, but I promise I have lots more than that and plenty of notes about where ive been and what I’ve done, don’t you worry. Thanks for reading! Wish me luck on this last week! And if you live in the greater Richmond area, see ya after the 4th!

Oh yea! It’s Pledge Week!

I updated everyone on Facebook, but for those of you who don’t follow me on there let me explain:

This year I’m riding across America to meet people and learn about groups who work within local communities helping to get more kids out there riding bikes and doing so safely. Next year I hope to be able to pull together a twelve person ride across the same route and work with these groups. The labor force of twelve fit, enthusiastic people and the press and community support we can pull together around an event can do a lot of good. We’ve got to get it off the ground first though.

Biking for three months isn’t exactly cheap as it turns out. The startup costs of a non-profit corporation aren’t either. That’s where you come in. I wont be able to support this project out of my own pocket as easily as I had at one point hoped to. So far this week we’ve raised over $300. That’s awesome! It’s quite a ways from the big goal of $3,000+ though. The plan is to help some groups that are already doing good in the Richmond, VA area too as that was the talked about from the get go. Donations will go to these groups and 4262 for Kids’ start up costs doing some good this year and setting up the foundation for the 2011 ride.

If you support this project and would like to see it get off the ground and actually do some good next summer, please support it now. Without non-profit tax exempt status we can’t ask for support from corporate donors and the project can’t continue. There’s a Paypal “Donate” button up at the top of the page if you’d like to support. Every little bit helps so please don’t feel bad about only being able to give a little. Heck, if everyone who is a fan on Facebook donated $5.00 we’d be at the goal!

Thanks so much for following this blog and for your support of 4262 for Kids.

-Zack

A) Freeheel and Wheel is an awesome bike/ski/hiking/clothing/coffee/breakfast/jewelery shop in the heart of beautiful downtown West Yellowstone, Montana.

B) I’ve been on the road 70 days and that’s absurd.

C) The people and espresso here are both delightful and warm. I’m going to stick it out for a few and update you, my loyal fans, of my adventures.

6/29 Tuesday Riverside to Saratoga
Hot springs! I met Nick that night. He would later be known to me as Lil’ Bear even though he hates it. That night he was Nick and I was stoked to meet a westbound guy about my age who was up for riding together. The hot springs in town were awesome even though they were 118F which burns the skin. I remember the backs of my hands being sunburnt after having been riding gloveless the past few days and not being able to put them under water. Hilarious!
We hung out in the springs for a bit, asked around for a free place to set up camp, settled on the $7 camping near the lake and rode down there to set up. The lake was nice and all, but the dark grey clouds quickly approached with winds in front. Absurd absurd winds. At a point Nick and I were just laughing at the winds trying to stand up and watching our tents buckle and twist. Oh well, we survived and neither of us woke with a puddle in the tent.

6/30 Wednesday Saratoga to Jeffrey City
Jeffrey City. Oh, Jeffrey City. If you’ve toured on this route, you remember Jeffrey City. It was a Uranium boon town in the 50s with a population topping out at about 10,000. That was the 50s. Now its down to about 50 people as the Uranium industry in America has dried up. It’s one of the most depressing places I’ve stayed thus far and everyone I’ve met can agree on that much. Mosquitoes, a less than sanitary looking cafe, a hotel clearly closed but one that can be opened with crowbars upon request, and a dozen or so boarded up buildings are the highlights of this fine community. I probably shouldn’t dwell on it too much, I suppose. I’ll be finding an alternate next year, I know that much.
The was one nice bit though. After a 108 mile day battling those famous Wyoming winds, Nick and I arrived after 10 o’clock in pitch darkness. Looking at our maps with nearly dead cell phones which probably weren’t getting reception anyhow we were both were starting to worry about if we’d have to sleep on the side of the road. Jeffrey City is dead. Three street lights maybe and they aren’t showing you the way to anything worth seeing. What we do see is a tiny little light bobbing down the road in our direction. A headlamp as it turns out. Tom an eastbounder was our savior that night. He’d seen ride pass and stop. Thought we might be crazy and on a night ride, but came over to say hi anyhow. Thanks Tom. He led us through the darkness and showed us the picnic table he’d set up under. We set up, started a fire, ate some beans, complained about the mosquitoes, and went to sleep. Not a terrible night at all, but probably a little closer to ending badly than we should’ve risked.

7/1 Thursday Jeffrey City to Lander

7/2 Friday Lander

7/3 Saturday Lander

7/4 Sunday Lander to Dubois

7/5 Monday Dubois to Hatchet Resort

7/6 Tuesday Hatchet Resort to Jenny Lake

7/7 Wednesday Jenny Lake to Flag Ranch

7/8 Thursday Flag Ranch to Madison

7/9 Friday Madison to West Yellowstone

Sheesh! I’m never going to get caught up! I’ll see if I can get on one of these guys laptops next time we stop somewhere with wifi. I’m riding with three other guys now by the way. Nick (a.k.a. Lil’ Brah a.k.a. Lil’ Bear), Tony (a.k.a. Dad a.k.a. Papa Bear a.k.a. Les Stroud), and Robin (a.k.a. Meat?). We’ve been through Yellowstone the past few days and it’s been amazing. We’re camping a lot and having pals to do that with helps out a lot. I’ll write up some more details late, but for those of you who worry about me, don’t fret none. I’m doing just fine.

Thanks for reading and all that!

Hey there faithful readers!

Today’s going to be a layover day for me here in beautiful Lander Wyoming. Seriously though, no sarcasm meant. This is a rad town. Hiking/fishing/cycling/whatever capital of The Cowboy State (or so I’ve decided)

Let’s start with a huge recap and then talk about why Lander for the day:

6/20 Sunday night Denver
I made it safely into Denver after much hassle and route-planning-on-the-go. Everyone out here has an opinion on the best way to go and where I appreciate the gesture, if you’ve never done that road on a bike, DON’T TELL ME IT’S FINE!! Route 6 from Silverthorne to Golden doesn’t allow bikes on it the whole way! Having to change my plans last minute and climb some huge hills to get into the Denver area meant I got in way late. I had a cousin of a friend from Richmond putting me up for the night (Thanks Ashley!) so I had to keep calling her to keep her updated on when I’d be there. Ugh! Such a hassle. Her boyfriend though was around when I finally rolled in (she was doing something with her church) so I got washed up, we went and got a beer, met her and then they cooked me dinner! Oh the hospitality! He’s a mountain biker and she works in the non-profit sector so we had lots to talk about there. Also we watched 40 Year Old Virgin which is Hilarious.

6/21 Monday Denver
Being by yourself in a full on city (Ashley who I was staying with was at work) is kind’ve a bummer. I slept away most of the day. Got my laundry done. Went and rode around the city for a bit, but I’m not a rich man so city life is only so appealing. Got some lunch. Got some dinner. Went home and watched some World Cup highlights. Sorry my story of Denver isn’t more exciting to tell, but honestly I didn’t see too much. I need to go back with with some local pals who have some free time for me I think.

6/22 Tuesday Denver to Boulder
Boulder is awesome! If you have some money, a liberal sociopolitical viewpoint, like hiking, ride a bike everywhere, think rock climbing is awesome enough to wait in line for, Boulder is your town. It scored about a 96% for me. I put it on my “definitely someday” list in fact. It’s got more bike shops than I knew what to do with though. The one I settled in for the conversation about “who in this town helps kids ride bikes?” was University Cycles in the heart of the Pearl Street shopping district. Awesome. There’s a program out here that tags kids bikes electronically somehow to see how many miles they ride thoughout the school year and then rewards the leaders. It’s awesome! That’s a perfect example of what I’m looking for on this trip, but that might have been very hard to just google search for from back in Virginia.
After the bike shop I spent a good bit of my day hopping from coffee shop to coffee shop and chatting with as many people as I could handle, impressed with or curious about how much gear I was hauling. I think its so funny how stark the contrast is between people’s reactions on the official TransAm route and off it (which Boulder is).
Boulder also held for me the appeal of being the home of a college buddy of my dad’s, Bruce, and his wife. Such a nice home they’ve got! I was put up in a very comfortable and hilariously moose themed basement suite. Well obviously I’m going to have to stay an extra day and enjoy this.

6/23 Wednesday Boulder
Breakfast with Bruce in the morning and some more conversation about how awesome Boulder is, how kind it is of them to put me up, and how going to college with a 20year old version of my dad was. Good stuff. Then it was back in to Boulder proper (they lived about 7 miles east of the city) for some more exploring. I had a long talk with my mom (awww) laying around on the grass of Chautauqua park. I roamed the shopping district some more, got some coffee, hit up a bike shop. I think I have Boulder a fair assessment to confirm my 96% rating. Yes, I think I will spend some more time there later on in life.

6/24 Thursday Boulder to Lyons
Breakfast with Bruce again and a very warm goodbye and some kind words of encouragement and about my father and I was on my way! Ooops! Not so fast! I’d forgotten all about a care package (from a lady) waiting for me in Lyons (NW of where I’d left that morning) as I was well on my way to Greeley (NE of Bruce’s) Dang. I call back the fella, Kent, I’d be staying with in Greeley and make almost a full 360 to head for Lyons.
Could be worse though. Lyons is home to one of my favorite microbreweries, Oskar Blues and I was excited about that (that’s why as I later remembered I’d told Tamara to mail me that care package to Lyons). A bit of excitement on the way as I passed a man in his 40s or so on the side of a 4lane with his bike upside down, grease all over his hands, and his rear shifting components (derailleur) dangling from his chain. “Need some help?” He did. About half an hour later I’d taken off his chain, handed him the very broken shifter as a memento to keep (the hanger had broken off and the whole piece needed to be replaced), cut off about 6″ of now unnecessary chain, put the chain back on fixed around just one commonly used pairing or front/rear gears, and was shaking his hand. I’m not an expert at stuff like that, but when I know how to do something helpful like that and can do it with confidence rather than guessing around, it makes me feel like a dang hero. Seriously.
Ok so, with him having ridden in front of me for a bit to make sure everything was on good and tight, I took off down the road for Lyons.
A couple beers, some hangin’ out with locals, some giggles at me walking around in spandex, a truck on fire, a pinball tournament next door, setting up my tent in the dark and paying $20! for the privileged since it was too late to call around for anywhere cheaper and I got some rest. That was Lyons.

6/25 Friday Lyons to Greeley
Back tracking to Greeley. Note also this is the opposite direction from my final destination. Oh well, it was family. Kent is on my dad’s mom’s side of the family. An estranged cousin “but not removed. Never remove me!” and a heck of a nice guy. It was him, his wife, their daughter and her two adorable 10/11 year old sons. By the way boys that age love 25 year old guys with big ol’ bikes who as them follow up questions about there toys, “Dude, is that a rodeo hat??” “Yea! I’ve got spurs upstairs, too! Wanna see?! I’ll go get ‘em!” “I’ve got a sword! Wanna see?! I’ll go get it!” You’ve got some cute kids there Audri.
Kent is also the official keeper of the Moore family history (grandmother’s maiden name) and so there was lots to talk about there and lots of old family stories. I also got the “whirlwind tour” of Greeley and got to see where my dad went to college and where his parents met and all that. It was actually pretty cool. It takes a trip of this pace to make a stop in a town of that size worth it, but I’m sure glad I did.

6/26 Saturday Greeley to Fort Collins
Ok, now we’re heading in the right direction. Not that far though. I’d maybe done 30miles that day when I hit Fort Collins. As soon as I’d gotten in to town though I see off in the distance and bike shop with some GRAND OPENING! signs out front. That looks promising and I could always use a pump up (i carry a very small hand pump with me that’s kind’ve a pain to use as often as I should). This grand opening includes not only some awesome people, but a friggin’ cookout! I love cookouts! How’d you know?? I hung around for a bit, eatin’ burgers and talking about 4262forkids with the employees, before deciding to drop the money on some much needed new tires. Throughout the course of having them installed and making some adjustments I’d been meaning to, I ended up with three different offers of places to stay! I’ll pick…. that one! A fine dinner, some pals to hit the town with (Fort Collins is a rad, Richmond VA sized college town) and a comfy place to sleep courtesy of Lahna and Louie. Thanks guys!

6/27 Sunday Fort Collins (Laporte) to Roosevelt National Forest State Park
Laporte is the little town next to Fort Collins where stayed and left from that Sunday morning. At the very good advice (as they bike!) of the guys at that awesome bike shop (VeloPro by the way) Louie included I headed through Poudre Canyon up and over Cameron Pass. That was beautiful, maybe the highlight of the trip. I love meeting new people and exploring cities, but the simplicity of riding a big full day and just being immersed in nature all day… wonderful. As I was pulling in to the camp site near, but over, the peak a camper with a broken water line was pulling out and offered me his reserved spot for free for the night. I’ll take it! As I was setting up for camp, after having talked to them briefly about firewood or something, the couple set up near me brought over a big bowl of chicken stew and some bread. I’ll take it!
Camping out under the stars the night at about 10,000ft elevation with nothing resembling a city for hundreds of miles in every direction was perhaps the most beautiful night I’ve spent out here so far.

6/28 Monday Roosevelt National Forest State Park to Riverside
That same couple with the chicken stew the night before came over the next morning with some sausage and a big ol’ cinnamon roll the next morning as I was packing up. Too much! I got some “safe travels!” and was on my way down the mountain. Through Glen Echo for lunch.
Here’s a bummer, I took off my gloves when I went into that restaurant/convenience store in Glen Echo for some lunch. I like to turn ‘em inside out and lay them out in the sun to dry out when I can. I was inside for maybe 45 minutes, came back out, and my gloves are gone! C’mon! Asking around no one had seen ‘em. Such a shame.. The owner though, being just an awesome person, gave me $20 out of the register to buy some new gloves. That’ll bring back up the average of America!

[More to come later. Library closing. Lander is awesome. I'm stoked!]

6/29 Tuesday Riverside to Saratoga

6/30 Wednesday Saratoga to Jeffrey City

7/1 Thursday Jeffrey City to Lander

7/2 Today Lander!

I’m writing this recap from a German restaurant in Lyons, CO. Lyons being home to one of my favorite microbreweries, I am writing this post with a bit of a hangover. Me admitting that is a clear example that this forum has become much more a travel log than just a resource for information about 4262 for Kids, Inc.

Oh well. I’m making progress on that front as well I assure you.

When we last spoke I was taking a rest day in Guffey, CO. A fine idea. Not only did I get a chance to write that big post, but I also uploaded… tried to upload a bunch of photos. Guffey is so deep in the mountains not only do cell phones serve no function, but any Internet service available is through a satallite dish; not too fast. The night there alone was worth the stay.
If Guffey has 25 perminant residents, 24 of them were out at THE bar that night (including the Rabbi!) Me and a couple locals (Steve, Jimmy, and… that guy who raises horses… Dang.) closed the place down. Talking about travel, old cars, running moonshine, horses, Pompei, and Guffey. It was far and away one of the most articulate discussion held at a bar I’ve ever had the pleasure of being involved in. Guffey, as Steve told me, is a Briggadoon type place though. It’ll only be accessable to outsiders once every hundred years. So that’s a shame.
I crashed (perhaps quite literally) at steve’s that night as no one thought I had the ability to set up my tent in the pure darkness of this mountain town. Thanks Steve.

An early start the next morning, Thursday, had me climbing Hoosier pass (11,500ft) like a champ. Early mornings are far and away easier to do such things in.

Then I got hit by a truck.

Ok, so I didn’t get hit by a truck but one did get close enough to me that I fell and scraped my knee a bit. Appropriately enough it was a truck owner by Stampede Tractor Services. Hilarious. So what happened was this guy, who Ive decided must have been bitten by a bicycle as a child or something and just held a grudge, decided that I wasn’t allowed to be on the road. To show me his dissapproval he gets real close behind me, me riding in the right third of the lane instead of the two foot wide shoulder and blares on his horn. To explain, bicycles are allowed to ride there. In most areas there’s a two or three foot law such that a bike can take up that much of a lane. It safe that way. If I were to ride on that skinny shoulder a truck would try to pass me, an 18wheeler I mean not just a pickup like this guy was driving, and wanting to do so even though there is a car coming in the oncomming lane the truck would squeeze between us going 70mph a foot or so away from me. Not cool trucks. Think about not only how scary that is but also how much wind you pick up. What’re ya tryin’ to do? Kill me??
Ok, so this pickup leans on his horn right behind me. I can hear him getting closer, but when he hit the horn I knew he was right behind me and still fully in his lane (unnecessary though as the only oncoming traffic was a good 1/2mile down the road). It’s windy as it is and I get startled thinking that maybe somehow he just noticed me and doesn’t have time to get around me. I swerve over into that narrow shoulder and he immediately passes me going full speed still fully in his lane. As in, if I hadn’t swerved he wouldve hit me, I’m sure. I wobble from having to swerve and the wind off him and fall over. Just a scraped knee (thanks gloves!). I get up and start cursing loudly into the wind in his direction knowing that he has no intention of stopping to see if I’m ok. Thanks. Sorry about riding my bike on the road. You’re right. You do own it.
Remember that car I mentioned being at least half a mile down the road coming towards us. That car is a cop. A dream of mine everytime something like this happens. She stops to see if I’m ok. I yell, “Yea, I’m fine, but that guy just tried to hit me!” or something to that effect.
“The pickup hauling the trailer?” and with that confirmed she flips a quick u-turn and chases him down!
With a big grin on my face I ride on almost happy this whole thing happened as it has almost happened without police involvement so many times. I get a polite horn honk from behind a few minutes later. A corporal. He takes a statement and we talk about me appearing in court to witness against him since the other officer didn’t actually see this happen. That’s not worth it to me but he promises to chew out the guy pretty good for me. Thanks Officer!
About 10-15 minutes later I catch up to where now this guy is standing next to his truck with the name of his business printed real big on the side, being talked to by two police officers, lights flashing behind them. Perfect. I pull up, pause, take off my sunglasses, think about how to handle this calmly, and blurt out, “You almost hit me with your truck.”
His attempt at, “Well, I don’t know…” is quickly cut off by the officers saying they can handle it from there and that I didn’t need to be there. Fearing a fight I suppose. I chuckle and thank them and get on my way.
By funny coincidence, as I’m telling the story to a friend back home at my lunch stop down the road (you guessed it, a Subway) the Corporal comes in. I get off the phone and we joke around about what happened and how he saw the possability of us getting into it on the side of the road. He also tells me that they held the guy up about half an hour explaining to him how wrong he was about the rules of sharing the road. Police, rap songs are wrong, you guys are awesome.

I finally get on the road and that took me to Breckenridge. I met up with Clay, a friend of my pal Drew from Richmond at a cleverly named microbrewery, Breckenridge Brewery. (You’ll notice quickly a theme in what I enjoy doing in Colorado if you read closely.) Clay works at the Vale ski resort so there was lots of talk of that as a profession. I pretty much interviewed him actually, and everyone else the next two days thinking very seriously that I may want to work there some winter season soon.
So I stayed with Clay that night. Tried to leave the next morning. Got sidetracked by a cute girl where I was eating breakfast. I’m such a sucker for for the cute girls! Lingered around Breck as I wanted to do anyway waiting for her to get off work to go to some festival the next town over that night. Oh, that’s when I got those photos uploaded, at the Library in Breck. This girl has a boyfriend, I shouldve assumed since it’s a 5:1 guys:girls ration in this town. Oh well, she’s still nice and so are her pals so we keep hanging out. Breckenridge looks to be a very rad town. It’s got a big shopping district, but clearly focused on outdoor sports. It’s absurd actually. There was some live music that night in town. More of a hippie vibe than I could be excited about every night of the week. Some of us move on to a local bar at my request. Clay and his roommates are there. Awesome. My bikes’s at that girl’s place but oh well. I tag along with Clay and pass out on his couch eventually with everything I own somewhere else in town. Good plan, Zack.

Clay, a roommate, and I get breakfast that Saturday morning. Terribly slow service and an undercooked omlett for me, but oh well. I certainly wasn’t in a hurry so that stuff’s always funny. I get on my bike finally, Clay new the girl and where she lived as it turns out (that 5:1 thing again), and head into the mountains.

Getting a late start I only make it to a ski resort town called Keystone at the base of another big climb. I get some pizza and a beer. Enjoy them at The Goat which I’m sure is a fine venue during tourist season, but which was dead that night. Talk with a man vacationing with his family about my trip and some bike touring he’s done. Find a place to set up a tent and am out by 9:00.

Sunday morning I find a nice little cafe. I have an amazing avocado and spinach eggs bennie and watch New Zealand beat Italy 1 to 1. Such a good morning.

I then climb Loveland Pass at 11,990ft like a champ. At the top I got the required tourist photo and showed off my 65lb rig to everyone comparing notes on the climb seated on their 16lb carbon fiber chump-mobiles. Just kidding guys! Congrats!

Sunday night Denver

Monday Denver

Tuesday Denver to Boulder

Wednesday Boulder

Thursday Boulder to Lyons

Friday Lyons to Greeley

I’ll write up the rest of that tonight I hope, but it’s well past morning right now and I’d better be getting on the road. Thanks for reading! Check back later!

This post, I feel will be one of the finest examples of why I shouldn’t wait so darn long to update. I appologize in advance to everyone I’ve forgotten to mention and every memory I’ve let slip away.

Last Sunday I stayed in Cassoday, KS. Oh Kansas, you are a hard state to recall details about. I stayed in a park that night, I know that. I got rained on… Oh yea! So there’d been a huge motorcycle event in town that day, but I’d just missed it. I got in after doing a 147mile day (I calibrated my computer/odometer on my bike a week later and lost a few miles off that). There was only one place open in town, a convenience store. The very nice woman working said she’d be open another hour so I got back on the bike to do some loops to bring it up to 150miles for the day (a personal goal of mine). Instead I rode maybe 1/2 a mile while talking on the phone with a friend of mine, Emily, and called it quits. My legs were tired and it’d been a long day, what??
I ate a pizza and set up a tent across the street in the city park. Terrible, unuseably gross outhouses, by the way. It rained that night so I had to frantically get up after an hour of sleep and put the rain fly on my tent. Oh well.

Monday I woke up to a drizzle and lingered around that convenience ’til almost noon I think.
I continued on to Newton. Ahh Newton! It’s actually a pretty quaint little town with a surprisingly hip feel to it. I stopped in a natural food store !!! called Prairie Harvest and had some coffee in the attached book shop. As I was getting lunch though they asked me to sign their passing cyclist log and I started to ask about campsites in town. Some phone calls were made and I was given directions to a family’s house down the road! How kind is that??
Nate and Peggy were the generous couple. Nate used to bike a lot so we had plenty to talk about there. They were cooking up a wonderful meal, too. Something about a church raffle had them cooking dinner for a few friends that night and I got on that guest list. African Curry! That I’ll remember for a while. Curried beef and chicken, lots of little bowls of fruits and coconut and peanuts and absurdly spicy pickles. Oh! And the beet greens! Mmm! So it was Nate and Peggy, their daughter, Greg and [his wife? I'm bad with names!] and [Marlene??] and me.

After dinner we went out back and had some pie. Greg mentioned he had a recumbent bicycle (one of those laid back things where you sit maybe a foot off the ground) I’d never ridden one so it quickly became a walk down the block to Greg’s place with the dog in tow. Man, the bike was goofy to ride at first! I needed a push down the driveway like a 7year old to get going. But it was fun.
The hospitality of that family did as much to brighten up my trip as did the use of their Internet, washing machine, shower, place in a garage to dry out my tent, etc etc etc. Thank you so much.

The next morning, after breakfast being made for me (C’mon Nate! Too much!) I was on my way to Hutchinson. It had a bike shop and a decent population so I thought it might be a good break from the wheat fields.
The wheat fields I should interject, are beautiful. I’ve said quite a few time that I was quite bored in Kansas. The scenery doesn’t change much, this it true, but what there is to see is amazing. Amber waves of grain and all that. Kansas, you ain’t all that bad.
In Hutchinson I stayed at a hostel in a Lutheran church. There was a group of nice lil’ old ladies there when I first arrived. I’m in rather revealing spandex by the way just so you understand the entirety of this scene. I ask one nice old lady to mend a hole it a pair of my shorts but aside from that I lingered around until they left. I walked down the road to get some dinner. I found a very tiny natural food store (I love those!) and stopped in mostly to just poke around. The woman running it and I got to talking and she ended up giving a ton of free food to help me along the way including some of the tastiest figs and dates I’ve ever had. Thanks so much!
I had apparently hours left in me because I watched Mission Impossible III, Chain Reaction, and Blazing Saddles that night back in the hostel. Things like that help a lot to maintain a connection with normal society for me.

Wednesday I biked to Larned, KS. I feel like there’s probably something to say about all those hours of biking, but I didn’t take much in the way of notes and nothing stands out in my memory. I did end up with a free camp site at the public athletic fields. I even took a quick dip in the pool. PS being the only person remotely my age (most everyone else was 8-12years old or a parent) sitting around the pool made me feel like a creep after a while!

Early to bed, early to rise. I hit Rush Center for lunch. There’s one place to eat in Rush center and the guy running it is a prick. There, I said it. I met two nice older guys there biking my way. Three of us total. And I got chewed out by the owner for parking our bikes “all over the sidewalk” his best excuse was that “little old ladies gotta walk all the way around” when we park out bikes there. Come on, man. You don’t like cyclists. You’re the kind’ve guy who drives these trucks within inches of me on the highway. Thanks. That really helps out my mental state getting chewed out while I’m paying you for your terrible fried bar food.
Ugh. Sorry for the negativity, that guy just got on my nerves something awful.
I did meet Greg and Dannie there though. They were heading my way on recumbents but after some speed comparisons we decided I’d go ahead and we’d meet up later.
Which we did at Elaine’s Bike Oasis in Bazine. SO nice was Elaine! A tent in the back yard, some laundry, and a hot shower for a decent price. She even insisted I finish off the breakfast she’d made knowing I was too broke to pay for anything extra like that.

So, Friday night I stayed in Scott City. I had probably 20-30 miles left in me, into the wind but oh well, until I popped a tired after stopping for lunch in Scott City. That gave Greg and Dannie a chance to catch up to me and then convince me to stay the night. Part of that was that they carry a full size bike pump on one of the trailers they each tow; a hundred times easier than my tiny little hand pump.
We stayed in an athletic club, just sleeping bags on the floor of a carpeted room, and had Chinese food for dinner. Not a bad night at all.

Saturday had me say goodbye to my pals again and head towards Colorado. This by the way it probably the halfway point distance wise of my trip. Maybe 3/5 the time? Something like that.

Hmm… What’d I do Saturday? I wish I hadn’t just mailed home that map section… Hold on. I’ll look at a google map…

I know I stayed in some small town 60 miles or so east of Pueblo. No wait, that would’ve been Sunday night.

See? I gotta take better notes or update this thing every day.

Saturday night I set up that tent just JUST before the rain started pouring outside of an expensive looking side-of-the-road restroom. I even debated for a minute setting up my stuff and sleeping in that restroom. It was some rough rain.
It let up, the rain, and I got my tent set up and went to the bar down the road for a beer. Me and the 80 year old owner Jan sat around for a bit, watching Cops, talking about small town America. I left and with some energy left in me went to the only other bar in town for another beer, this one looking a little livelier.
That beer turned into a few as I played pool with some locals until entirely too late.

Late to bed means late to rise, but eventually I was on my way the next morning.

Sunday I guess it is now. I’m in Colorado, I know that much. Another small town and everything closed by the time I got in there save for one convenience store. I had some pizza for dinner and asked some sheriffs standing around out front if the city park was ok for camping. As one of them was escorting me there, it was pitch black at this point, we passed three guys about my age, looking lost, sitting on fully loaded touring bikes. We all four end up camping for free in the park and I end up feeling like I inadvertently did a good thing that night in finding them a place to stay.
I feel the need to interrupt at this point with a personal note. As anyone who I talk to on the phone regularly through this trip could probably tell you, being alone out here 24/7 is one of the hardest parts for me. I love the company of the people who have put me up for the night and the warmth of everyone wishing me luck along the way, but it’s not the same. Those three guys confirmed that having a friend or two with you that you’ve known for a while can do a lot of good to keep you in a positive frame of mind. Just something I’ve noticed.

Anyway. We all get up Monday morning, eat some breakfast together, including some amazing fresh baked doughnuts! And I’m back on the road by myself (they were heading into the sun rise).

I get into Pueblo Monday afternoon. Peggy(from a few days ago)’s brother Merle and his wife Nancy were putting me up for the night. I also had a package from REI waiting for me at the post office. I went there first. As soon at I get there, or more like 30 seconds after because I didn’t get a drop on me, it started pouring. Then in started hailing! It was at the point where you could see people sprinting to their cars and me and the couple guys in the post office were all standing at the windows watching. It was hilarious.
I love watching nature like that. When, even in a city, it can make you feel like you have no control over your environment. An umbrella at that point, for example, would’ve been useless. Just amazing.
Merle picks me up after a bit and we drive to his place in Pueblo West about 20 minutes away. It’s silly to compare his hospitality to his sister’s family, but once again I was humbled by someone’s generosity. We went out to a very nice Chinese food dinner. We talked about where I was going and played with some maps. I even stayed up kind of late with Nancy talking about this trip, what I’m doing with my education and career goals, and that business I was just mentioning and being out on the road for such a long time essentially alone. That was very nice Nancy. Thank you.

Tuesday I wake up to Merle cooking me breakfast (of course you would!)

and I get on the road into the Rockies. I couldn’t be more blown away by the beauty of these mountains. Appalachians, your tree covered majesty is breath taking, but these are MOUNTAINS!
I passed a bunch of tourism spots as the day went. Not my favorite part of the trip, but it’s bound to happen. Making my way up to 8,000 feet or so I came to a rest in Guffey. If I could retire at 25, I might do it here. So much to say, where to begin?
Rita’s. Rita’s Cafe is an amazing and eclectic oasis in heart of this little mountain town. Not only is the vegetarian food selection here very impressive (I had Dalmadas and a Mediterranean Gyro last night), but it’s delicious! She stayed open a half hour late for me too I think without making me feel the least bit like I was intruding. I even got in a good chat with her “better half” Carl about cycling and a trip he’d done down the west coast from Washington to southern California (something I’m thinking very seriously about tacking on to the end of this trip.) This is clearly a favorite among cyclists, but the evidence of this is presented in a tasteful and not overwhelming way (ie The Cookie Lady!). Rita’s also sells little crafts and jewelery and such from every local artist of which there seems to be a lot. If Boones Mill, VA had a Rita’s Cafe, I think my mom would stop by every day.
Next, let me talk about Bill. Bill runs the hostel industry here in Guffey and this is why he and I became acquainted. Oh Bill. Bill has a garage here in town. Let me get up some photos as I don’t think my description could do it justice. He’s a real heck of a friendly guy, too. Even took me on a ride in his ‘37 Plymouth and gave me a tour of the area. I elected to stay in my tent (this is last night) to save from spending some money I don’t have, but he was nice enough to let me use a shower. He’s built all these log cabin style cottages as bunk houses largely for touring cyclists. I poked around one this morning. Ok, I broke into one this morning.
Convinced this door was the one in his directions I forced it open about 6″ even though bill had built in a slant in the floor I realized to prevent this door from being open. That door is now a window. I got the door jammed. So now, in my underwear as I was looking for a shower, I jimmied open the window next to it banging my knee pretty hard. That was first thing this morning. Once inside and after a good struggle of pushing that door shut from the inside, I had a look around. You did a good job on these things, Bill. If I come through here next year with eleven other cyclists, we’re staying in your cabins, I know that much.
I showered and packed up my tent this morning and walked across the road to Rita’s for breakfast. I’d bought some new brake pads in Cañon City yesterday and decided to put those on. The coffee was so good and I already had the wheels off so I swapped my front tire with the rear. The rear tire on a bike with 40lbs of gear on the back will wear a lot faster so this was something I definitely needed to do. I also decided to upload some pictures off my nearly full camera. This too is necessary. Rita being so nice and her three cheese and peppers sandwich on a sesame seed bagel with a side of chilled tomato soup sounding so good, I decided to stay for lunch. A quick walk down to the post office to mail home some old maps, a pair of khaki shorts I haven’t been wearing and a German version of Into the Wild I won’t read came next. What’s that you say, Rita? There’s Volleyball tonight and then the whole town’s getting together at the local bar. Well, I do have a big blog article to write and would sure love to finish that Henry Miller I’ve been reading.
Ok, so I’m taking a rest day in Guffey, Colorado of all places. The wind sounds just nasty as I type this so maybe this was a good bet. I’m excited about Breckenridge tomorrow, but honestly, it can wait. Tonight I’m going to rest my legs and enjoy Guffey and I couldn’t be more excited about it!

Quick post.

Just made in into pueblo after a short 60 mile day. The brother of the wife (Peggy) of the couple (Nate & Peggy) I stayed with a few days ago has offered for me to stay with him and I am all about taking him up on this offer! I’m waiting in a McDonalds for him to pick me up right now actually. Why am I waiting? Because it’s off and on raining absurdly hard here right now. There was hail a second ago. I’ll take a ride to avoid hail.
I did manage to get to the post office successfully before the rain hit though. Not a drop on me. I picked up this thing i’d ordered from REI. A climber pal of mine, Chris McCann told me about it. I hope it’ll help with some hand strength problems I’ve been having. To me it looks like a dog chew toy, but oh well.
PS. Ya know what’s bad for you even if you bike an average of 6 hours a day? McDonalds. I’m so glad to be staying at a home tonight and getting off the road for the night.

It worked! My tires, properly inflated, on not an increadibly hot day are 2165mm in circumference!
This presents a bit of a problem though. My computer is set right, but the numbers I’d been so proud of are not. Everything needs to be dropped back by 99.08%! (2165mm/2185mm)
I have currently travelled

We now continue with the exciting adventures of. . .
Zack Calibrating his Bike Computer!!

Ok, so now stopped in Tribune eating some trail mix and drinking a Muscle Milk (mmmm) I’ve got some me adjusting to do.

Over a 20 mile stretch I have what I hope to be a very accurate calibration. For every mile I now actually move my computer shows me going 0.990 miles. If my mileage is showing lower than the actual distance, my tire circumference (as far as what’s programmed into the computer) is set too small. So we take 2155mm where it’s set now and divide by 0.990 which yeilds. . . 2175mm dang. That’s where I had it earlier today. The computer adjusts to every 5mm and road conditions, the heat, and tire pressure are all factors, but still.

Ok, so I’ll try it at 2165mm and see how close that is over the next 20miles, right? Problem is that I have to reprogram all the information (gear sizes, odometer, time, etc) to change anything in here. Oh, it gives me something to do out here, right?

Next time I check in I should be in Colorado! Every truck drives with courtesy in Colorado, right?