Day 49: seeya, rockies!

Vega State Park, CO -> Grand Junction, CO, 60.9mi, 1551ft

I woke up after Ishaq but before everyone else our cosy campsite overlooking the Vega Reservoir. I biked to the bathroom and saw a bunch of geese going for their morning swim in the reservoir. I sat there for a bit. The sun kissed mountains, the geese in the water and me. I couldn’t imagine needing anything else.

Of course I did not have my phone to take a picture for you guys, however Ishaq came in a clutch with these pictures from the morning.

After some food, we packed up our stuff and I headed out with Ruth, my trusted companion. We attempted to speak only German for the first part of the day, an idea we had the day before. It was possible to string together sentences, but it definitely limited our conversation.

- Wie hattest du geschlafen?
- Gut, gut... aber leider habe ich keine Träume.
- Ah, ja. Träume?
- Träume. Dreams.
- Ah, klar. Ja, ich habe auch keine Träume.

The conversation was also made difficult because after we got out of the park, it was all downhill for quite a while. That also meant that the first rest stop came super quickly. We filled up on ice at a gas station and spent some time scheming how to make up for a deficit in water bottles (some were lost in battle with gravel yesterday) and electrolytes.

Soon after we headed out, we missed a turn, going fast downhill, but we saw a deer and then corrected our course. I drafted Ruth until the next major turn, but Ruth was without navigation, so then Ruth drafted me. It was still downhill, but there was a fair bit of headwind and the road was fairly busy. The shoulder was good, but lots of debris. Was good, but tiring.

Then we turned on i-70, which was even more busy. So I was glad when we turned off it, only to be faced with a gravel hill and after that something that could only be described as not a road and very steep.

Me and Ruth let others know about this scam, but ultimately decided to climb the hill in hopes that there would be an existing road somewhere on the top of the hill. It took us solid 20 minutes to climb the less than 0.2 mile long stretch. There were times I thought that if my foot slipped, I would probably roll back down with all my bike, hit the prickly bushed and I was not sure I would have it in me to try again. But we persevered and made it up. And, guess what, there was a gravel road up there after all.

And to make it better, the gravel soon turned to asphalt and we were back in business. The next rest stop was in a sweet little ice cream place in Palisade that was also space themed, called the Milky Way. I got some coconut and some peach ice cream, the latter of which was very good. But the rest stop soon turned a little sour by a discussion about budget and Spokes spending. The team ended up giving Charles and Tian space to discuss and headed further. They were there for over two hours. Poor ice cream shop. But these are conversation to be had in a project like this, so huge thanks to Tian and Charles for taking it on.

Then we arrived at a rest stop by the Colorado River and what I think was Corn lake, where we took a dip first in the lake and then in the river for the full experience. The current in the Colorado really is powerful, as we have found out on multiple occasions. But it was also more refreshing than the lake. After this we were almost exclusively on bike paths and continued so up until Grand Junction.

At the very end, we climbed a hill, short but not easy, only to find out from Steph that its the wrong house and we did not need to climb the hill. Once we descended and got to right house, we met Greg, who showed us the house they had been renovating for 3 years, which featured a frige full of fruit and electrolyte drinks, so we successfully rehydrated. Greg and Steph made us some amazing vegan burritos, let me tell you, I was so happy about the veggies, it’s always difficult to get enough of them on the road. And their friends, both of whose names started with K, but I cannot recall them exactly, brought us brownies!!! After nourishing our bodies, we spent the evening talking with Greg about our trip and hearing his incredible stories from travel and work. At some point I did all my evening tasks and went to sleep. I could hear Greg starting to talk about peaches and how they need cold temperature, but not too cold, and how in Palasade the geography makes it possible with Million Dollar Wind and the gas law and … I dozed off. I later heard the conversation continued about peaches and travel. Laying on my sleeping pad, I was thinking. I aspire to have that amount of wonder and awe for the world around us that Greg seems to have. A perfect peach, a solar eclipse, a beautiful road. All the things beautiful things in life I so often take for granted, that are actually quite remarkable. I think most people actually have the wonder, the interest in the world around, I definitely have had it, but somehow it tends to get burried in school, college, the future, plans, the past, whatever else and generally trying to do the right things in life. But it is also something that this trip is helping me find. Appreciation for the things around me right where and when I am.

It was during this train of thought that I fell asleep.

The next day, somewhere during our 115 miles, many of which we spent looking at a bleak, dry and flat landscape around us, I did a redo of a famous poem as a way to say goodbye (at least for now) to the Rockies, which we officially exited when we left Grand Junction. Here it goes.

Whose lands these are I do not know.
The mountains vast, the river cold.
I stop mid climb, awe fills my bones;
If I stayed right here, could i skip the low?

These peaks and valleys
They make me dream,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

/Robert Frost messed up by me