Photos and folks

Finally a little photo summary of my trip to this point. I'm happily resting in sunny Boulder, CO. I made it out of the mountains before it snowed (again!).



Send-off party in Seattle. Me, Katie, Dave and Rahul. Photo by Justin W. Thanks guys.






There's an espresso hut around every corner in the northwest.








The little sign says "Keep Going!" Needed encouragement for my cycling partner, Zabyn, and me on the hill up from Tonasket, WA. I rode with Zabyn from Winthrop, WA to Whitefish, MT. He was the best cycling partner ever (I learned from him to always use superlatives).



Glacier National Park is too spectacular for words or photos (at least by me). This is up by Logan Pass. LP was the sight of my first and second crossing of the continental divide. I think I've crossed it nine times now, but who's counting?






Missoula was fantastic - it had so many bike lanes... and the Adventure Cycling office had bikes on the walls. Thanks to my fun hosts Senna and Hillary.





Beautiful Montana. (I love clouds.) Did I mention that I spent the evening in Hamilton, MT in the home of some generous and interesting folks, Frank and Maggie Wright?







Luke is amazing. He's taking a year off after high school and riding across the country to look at colleges. Check out his blog. Other fun people --> I also met Nancy and Matthew who're moving from Atlanta to Portland on bikes. They've been out for 4+ months and they seemed the sunnier for it. Matt, Brendan, Tom and Jeff were also headed east, as were Ben and Maria, Karen and Emma. They gave me some great advice on places (not) to stay!


Yellowstone's a big zoo. And the people are the silliest creatures in it. Had a great day ride with Cyril (no photo, no blog!) from Switzerland. He's easily been to five times as many US national parks as I have. Maybe I'll catch up after I get that motorcycle...





Animals really seem to be interested in bicyclists. The deer, elk, cattle and even bison on the side of the road will stop and stare as they see this odd creature ride by.






I stayed at the Baptist Church in Jefferson City, WY though I never did meet the pastor. Or see anyone really. The few folks I met in Wyoming said they loved being far away from other people. And they must not mind driving an hour in their pickup trucks with their dogs to get groceries either.




I had a lot of time to think in Wyoming. I thought after a couple of days that it was landscape only a geologist could love. Or a prairie dog. Or a seller of fence posts. I've never seen so much fenced sage grass in all my life.





Blaise from Switzerland. He's ridden the Alps, he's ridden the highest roads in Colorado. It's all about "interesting" ascents and descents, staying in hotels and riding 80-90 miles a day. Blaise kindly treated me to dinner and let me draft off him on the windy ride down into Granby, CO.




Rand, CO. Given the windy conditions, I was surprised this part of Colorado and Wyoming didn't have more actual wind turbines, though I suppose there are so few people and cattle don't require much electricity.








Well, the climb through Rocky Mountain National Park was definitely my toughest day so far. The continental divide was over 10000 ft, but the road just kept going up. I don't think bicyclists do so well at 12000 ft. At least this one doesn't! Stubbornness has it's positive side, though. Despite the climb and a couple of thunderstorms, I made it to the other side. I'm very grateful to the kind Dave Cast who hosted me in Estes Park at the end of that long day.


Boulder at last! Many thanks to my friend and host Dave. Do you know how exciting it is to cook and eat dinner in a kitchen and have access to indoor plumbing? Boulder has the nicest bike trail/lane system I've ever seen. Oh, and Dave's fun to hang out with too. =:u)




2381 miles and I'll get rolling again in a couple of days. Onward and eastward.