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34: Colorado, ho!

Started the day on some lovely Forest Service singletrack. It is so nice to be actually “mountain biking” again—seemingly for the first time since Lionhead. My body is feeling like it is finally settling in and slowly getting stronger day by day (though I’m interested to see if I can find a scale—I think I’ve actually gained a bit of weight, presumably due to my civilization eating binges). After weeks of wishing for a 28-tooth front chain ring, I’m finally feeling happy with my 30-tooth oval on the climbs.

After a brief stop at Hog Park Reservoir, I crossed into Colorado around 4 pm. The trails in this section are a mix of everything—appropriated game trail, nice single track, ugly jeep/ATV road, etc. I’m very much looking forward to Colorado, which I expect to be the most pleasant portion of the route!

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33: A Return Home

I spent much of today riding with Elk Mountain prominent on the eastern horizon. It’s a landmark of special significance for my family, where my dad hunted for the elk that was the culinary cornerstone of my adolescence—hunting there variously over the years with his hunting buddies, me, my mom. Tomorrow I’ll pass Hog Park Reservoir, where my parents frequently took me camping as a child. Needless to say, this area is rich with significance for me. It’s odd to return to a place of my childhood in this format.

I spotted my first turkey vulture of the trip today.

I entered a stand of trees today around 4 pm—for the first time since leaving the Wind River Range. The increased prevalence of aspen trees is immediately noticeable. I’m *very* excited to spend the next few weeks riding among aspen trees, with their soft white bark and leaves that rustle in the wind with the sound of water.

The first 40 or so miles out of Rawlins went quickly, consisting mostly of fast, smooth dirt roads. The road surface deteriorated as the road itself climbed out of the Muddy Creek Basin. I hit single track at 4:30, or, rather, a path more akin to a well-trodden game trail than anything expressing human intention in its creation. This travel was slow, but pleasant—for all that the route seems to be an appropriated game trail, most of the downed trees have been cut out, and it’s lovely to be pedaling singletrack in a forest.

Finished “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt” today. I don’t know that I’ve enjoyed another biography more!

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32: Out of the Great Basin

Up at first light. On the trail by 6:30 AM. I found myself delighted by how much easier and more pleasant it is riding in the early cool.

Fortunately the cooler weather persisted all day with consistent cloud cover. Generally firm surfaces and negligible climbing made for a day of quick, pleasant travel to Rawlins to grab my next resupply box.

I’m grateful to traveling by bike, having crossed the Great Basin in approximately 24 hours, as opposed to 4 – 5 days typical for host hikers.

Listening to: The Replacements – Let it Be; Nirvana – MTV Unplugged; Radiohead- Hail to the Thief Live Recordings (2003 – 2009)

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