Back in town---Back in Action

Hey Hey
Heres some shots and words following a few weeks on the roads and trails of the Great Divide... I want to say thanks to everybody for their best wishes, encouragements, and congratulations... I never thought I would feel a sense of accomplishment after dropping out of a race, but I do... Not sure if I'll try the race again, though the longer I've been away from it the more I think about next year... Bike racing in general is kinda like that, always more fun after the fact, you forget all the temporary pain and just remember the thrill...
I'm a little rusty with this blogger thing so all the picks are mixed up.... Also I should get back to work....


Beautiful night climbing into Slater park (Steamboat springs CO )... This was one of the best climbs I experienced... Warm breezes, herds of elk... Shortly before the climb I was down in the dumps, bonked out from the last stretch of Wyoming, ready to give up....32 ounces of pepsi later I was flying and climbing like a madman... Didn't stop until the top of the mountain where I bivied amonst the trees...

Back streets of Salida CO... One of the many places I want to go back to..

My sweet wife Mary-Anne... Sometime before I left... Without her help and love I wouldn't have done the race... She held down the fort when I was gone... I softened her up a bit before I left with a new/old Schwinn cruiser... Suprise !

Fleecer ridge downhill.... This was one of the few gnarly parts of my ride... Steeper then it looks..

Somewheres in Montana... There was a lot of this... Valley riding throught the ranches and sage... High peaks on all sides..

Cool retro snow cat... Lima Montana

More sage, more mountains, more dirt roads...

Spent some time in Pinedale WY... Interesting place...

A shot of my trusty steed with minimal gear and lots of miles... Only one flat tire... Just lubed my chain a bunch...

Ran into these guys somewhere outside of Pinedale... They were heading north on the route and had started sometime around the end of April... We exchanged photo op's and talked about the route in either direction... They had me smiling as I rode away, kept thinking " Hanz and Franz "....


A few days into the start of Montana....

More Montana, lush and thick with grizzly.... Only saw one but was scared of many more .....
O.K. for now....
Rick