Day 48: the menagerie

Glenwood Springs, CO to Parachute, CO — 47.6 mi, 1705 ft

This third stretch of the trip has become far more. The first was spent trudging up and down PUDS in the east and midwest, the second staring at endless planes of farmland biking on highways. In the third, we have seen shorter mileages and many more centuries, far less elevation and far more striking landscapes. Longer rest stops and fewer sidequests, more luxurious housing and more visits from family.

It seems we’re building up to something by approaching these extremes. In a good story, the ending is as great as the build up, satisfies the tension woven through the beginning and the middle, and gives purpose to what has been endured. I hope this will be a good story.

In keeping with this theme of extremes, we woke up at what might be our latest time ever: 10:20 am. But we were all okay with this, since today was also one of our shortest days ever, only 47 miles. 

Since we got back to our host’s house at 1 am last night (this morning??), we did not have the chance to eat this wonderful key lime pie Greg made for us. So our breakfast consisted of fruit, key lime pie, and the most delicious buttery, flaky, perfectly sweet homemade pastries called Kougin-amann. We all ate two and the smartest of us packed some in the car for later.

Greg not only provided breakfast, but entertainment while we ate. He pulled out his numerous decks of playing cards and a blue mat, on which he was able to fan out cards in the same way a stereotypical magician might. We sat there watching him do card tricks for about an hour. We tried to reason through how he might make some cards reappear or how he knows to choose the exact same one we had, and normally we made it halfway, understood it was some slight of hand trick, but then got stuck on the rest, unable to figure out how he would signal for the correct one. 

After the first six tricks or so, Nate and Nunu came inside to let us know they were about to leave and start the ride. We eventually followed suit, but not before my mind was sufficiently blown by this sorting card trick. Essentially, you get a deck of cards and are told to sort the black ones into a black pile and the red ones into a red pile without knowing the color, and then switch sides of the piles halfway through. The story is that Greg has “performed it for Obama” who of course got everything correct because he’s a smart man who was trusted with our national security. So should I be in charge of this country too? Apparently so, since I was able to sort them perfectly with no mistakes. All of us were incredibly confused, until Tatiana remembered that Greg flipped one pile around 180 after turning the cards face up, to give the appearance of the black and red checkerboard piles. But really, there must have been black and red stripes, so all I did was distribute the black cards evenly to each side, and then the red. Sorry for spoiling this one Greg. We were all so excited that we managed to figure out one of his tricks. The other 19 or so are still a mystery though.

Eventually we had to get going, but Greg gave Tatiana one last magic trick to go: a deck of cards that she’d open later on a call. She’d be doing the magic and surprising even herself. 

Since Nate and Nunu left earlier, and Drew was driving, it was Caroline, Aarushi, Tatiana, and I who all rode together. The first leg was relatively uneventful, a lot of calling family and old friends. The first rest stop however, was absolutely amazing. I can say that because I was the one who chose it last night, as Aarushi and I put the route together in the dark the night before.

When we got to the rest stop though, Nate and Nunu hadn’t yet arrived. I had no idea how this was possible, since they left like an hour earlier. But apparently their desire for speed didn’t align with the universe’s, since Nunu had a nail go through the side wall of her tire, which caused it to start spraying bright blue sealant everywhere. After exchanging back tires with Drew, they were on their way, and only arrived a few minutes after us.

We stopped at an…alpaca farm! They were utterly adorable. All of them must have recently been shaved, since every alpaca looked like a poodle, with fluffy legs and a big floof of slightly matted hair on their head that remained. They also liked to spit at whatever they could target. So we became victim to a few of their attempts.

Behind the alpacas was the enclosure for the highland cows. They were also perfect in every way. A little scary to pet though, since their horns could definitely take someone out. 

After spending enough time with animals, we decided to change it up and take the next rest stop with a different kind of animal: homo sapiens who yell at soccer games on their tv. We met up with Tatiana’s mom, Olga, and grandfather, Victor, at a Mexican restaurant with a sports bar in Rifle to watch the World Cup third-place playoff. 

When we got there, the game had already been going on for half an hour or so, the score was 4-0, England to France. We didn’t expect much to change, but it turned out to be one of the most exciting games to watch. France locked in and scored three more goals, thanks to Mbappé which secured him the Golden Boot (meaning he’s now scored the most goals at this World Cup), almost tying England. But then England had to go score a penalty kick or, making it 5-3, then 5-4, and then England scored at the last second, making sure France never got a comeback at 6-4. 

I’ve never been one to pay attention to sports of any kind, but because of this summer, and because of Caroline’s extensive knowledge of soccer lore, the team got me into watching the World Cup. Surprisingly, it’s more than just kicking a ball around on a field while the crowd looks on with crossed arms and concerned faces. Each player on each team has a back story, each team formed through a complicated series of negotiations, each country with a unique history.

According to Caroline, England’s fans are notoriously obnoxious, but that’s because their league is the most popular. Every player on their team is some famous superstar. France has several star players and apparently young ones with a lot of potential. Both teams lost in the previous round, and in this game were playing for third place, not with any serious hope of advancing rank. The typical way is to play defensively, by focusing most effort towards blocking the other team from scoring a goal. But in these conditions, where the pressure was halfway off, both teams played more offensively and focused on scoring as many goals as possible. Who knew there was an actually very interesting strategy behind each game? Those who avoid ignorance through their curiosity. I’m trying to become one of them.

From there, we continued biking along this relatively peaceful side road until we reached the hotel in Parachute, graciously provided by Olga.

We unloaded as usual, and then split up according to who did and did not want to take a dip into the Colorado River behind the hotel. Caroline, Drew, and I were the first ones out, opting to stay back, shower, and work on our blogs instead. 

Caroline and I then went to a nearby gas station to get some drinks for our evening work session, still in our bibs and shoes. We must’ve looked incredibly stylish because we were stopped by this one random lady outside the front entrance who was showing off her guard dog, this large stuffed St. Bernard, that she carted around with her. It was around this time Aarushi called me to say she made up her mind, wanted to stay back to work as well, and if it was possible to split the drinks. I of course said yes. 

I realized we had no good way to carry the drinks back besides stuffing them in our jerseys, and so with each of us filling up our back pockets, we looked like ridiculous pack animals, maybe a couple of two-humped camels.

We got back and soon after learned that Tatiana, Nate, and Nunu did not get the chance to swim, since the river was moving too quickly.

So we further divided into groups of who wanted to go back to the hot springs we were at last night, and who wanted to stay. 

In the middle of this discussion, we got a surprise delivery from Olga: Artemis hats! We all were incredibly excited to receive this awesome gift, we even heard our picture would be shared on internal NASA channels?? These engineers and astronauts must have had an appreciation for 7 MIT students biking across the country and teaching STEM along the way.

Continuing our discussion that tends in a circular direction, I saw our two options as such: 1.) Drive 50ish minutes each way to the hot springs, get back in the early morning and miss out on some good hotel sleep, be forced to wear my same unwashed sulfury rotten egg smelling swimsuit from yesterday, and potentially change the magical memories from last night, OR 2.) Go because there might not be another chance. 

Apparently there wouldn’t be another chance to swim in the Colorado river or jump in a hot spring for the rest of the trip, fears which a quick google search was able to rectify. But sometimes fear of what might not be is greater than what could be.

Needless to say I stayed back, along with the same people previously hard at work, now plus Tatiana. I enjoyed my quiet night in trying to be productive, an opportunity I haven’t had in a while. Nate and Nunu enjoyed the hot springs and a midnight McDonalds run. 

Sleeping in a queen bed was a wonderful feeling. 

– Carmen