Blue Skies

Still behind

Don’t be too confused by the blog - I’m a few days behind in my posting still. I have stubs and partially written blurbs for each of the days since the last post, but they’re not up yet obviously.

I take privacy issues seriously, and sometimes I find it desireable to ensure that I have permission to mention certain things before posting them. Also, SAG driving has left me with less time than before. No worries though, it’ll all be up there soon enough.

Day 30: Fort Morgan to Wray

On Tuesday I rode as assistant SAG with Betsy. I was initially supposed to be dropped with some water jugs along the route, but there was no real shade at my stopping area (no trees in general, really), so Betsy ended up staying with the van. I got left in the sun on the side of the road for about 30 minutes when she had to go out with the van, but for the rest we got to sit in the shade generated by the van. Shortly before the sweep team got to us we got a call for helping with a flat, since a new tube and tire was needed. As we were about to leave, our last cyclist to come by needed some help with replacing a tire, so we did that first. After dealing with that call, we hovered (not literally) near the route waiting for any other calls.

Continue reading Day 30: Fort Morgan to Wray…

Day 29: Denver to Fort Morgan

The first monday after Denver I got to try my hand at acting like a full SAG driver. Cory was off for the day, so I got to drive the potty-wagon, a 12 passenger van pulling a small trailer with a portolet (portable toilet). The SAGs got a bit of a late start, however, since they had their scheduled oil change that morning. Volunteers came to pick up the vans, had the oil change done, and brought them back when they were done. I had two people check to ensure that the potty got reattached properly to the van, and off I went.

Continue reading Day 29: Denver to Fort Morgan…

Day 28: Celebration Service at Denver

The celebration service was in the morning again, at another high school a few blocks away from the one where we were staying. The cyclists biked there in groups again, just like at Boise, but the directions were even easier this time, so no maps were required. I got a ride in to the service in a Mustang, so that was kind of fun.

The service was held in the football field, utilizing the spectator stands for pews. The celebration service matched the reception we got the day before, with a lot of things done in grand style. They had a podium with a praise and worship band for the service, which happened to include a number of brass instruments too.
Continue reading Day 28: Celebration Service at Denver…

Day 27: Snow Mountain Ranch to Denver

So I’m a little behind in my writing, but I fully intend to have an entry for each of the recent days, since there’s been a lot of stuff going on.

Saturday morning we had breakfast in a semi-open shelter at the camp where we had held our group meeting the previous night. Its always great when this happens since it means that there are picnic tables available, a treat  for those who didn’t bring a camp chair along.

After helping fill water jugs for one of the SAG wagons, I headed out with Betsy who dropped me about halfway up the major climb for the day, the last pass that had to be crossed for the tour. The pass was over 11,000 feet, but fortunately the grade was relatively easy compared to some previous climbs.

Continue reading Day 27: Snow Mountain Ranch to Denver…

Day 26: Kremling to Snow Mountain Ranch

This was a nice short day for the cyclists, a welcome break after some long hard days. The route was mostly uphill, but not at a terrible grade, and the distance was much shorter than the previous days. The days route is memorable for the absolutely gorgeous canyon that the road wound up. Tall sides of broken rock, the morning light casting a golden glow on the canyon walls. Just amazing.
Continue reading Day 26: Kremling to Snow Mountain Ranch…

Day 25: Craig to Kremling

The camping at Craig was somewhat funny. They didn’t want us camping on the sports field (every school has different preferences for where they want us) which left the grassy area around the school. The catch was that most of this grassy area was a bit on a slope which always makes for fun sleeping. Despite the slippery sleeping bag, I managed to avoid waking curled up at the bottom of my tent, a fate that some others didn’t escape. People on tour can take such things in good humor, however. One commented that before the climb of the day he had already climbed a few hundred feet overnight.

Continue reading Day 25: Craig to Kremling…

Day 24: Dinosaur to Craig

Today promised to be another long day for the cyclists, a good distance with some large rolling hills thrown in for good measure. Although not always completely accurate, the daily weather report is becoming more and more important as wind direction seems to be playing a larger role now that we’re into some longer distances.

We had about ten minutes of scattered showers as the last tents were being packed up, but I don’t think anyone who had left already got rained on.

The view was a bit different today, full of grass covered hills, and nice views into the distance. Sage bush was also easily found, of course. I wonder when we’ll stop seeing that plant. Today I rode with Marvin in the gear truck again, although I fear I was rather poor company as I couldn’t keep my eyes open for much of the ride. In general, I find riding in the cab of trucks to be enjoyable, I’ve got a few good memories of going places with my dad in trucks although I’m not sure which particular events all the memories are from.

Continue reading Day 24: Dinosaur to Craig…

Day 23: Duchesne to Dinosaur, Colorado

Welcome to Colorado, and the little town of Dinosaur. It’s situated just outside of Dinosaur National Park, or something like that, and the dino theme has taken over the area. The town itself is pretty small, with not many large houses or stores. Half the streets are named after dinosaurs, which we decided must make the life of first graders quite difficult.

“Now class, write down the name of the street you live on.”

“Teacher, how do you spell  Brachtosaurus Bypass?”

Continue reading Day 23: Duchesne to Dinosaur, Colorado…

Day 22 : Jordanelle / Salt Lake City to Duchesne

Today was a bit of an unknown for the cyclists since no elevation graph was available for the day. All they knew was that it was a decent distance (about 150 km if I recall correctly) and that a pass was involved. A pass means climbing to some degree. Estimates after the ride put the climb at approximately 4000 feet, at quite a steep grade. I didn’t actually get to see it, since my ride took me on a different route.

As I mentioned, our campsites were about a kilometer away from the gear truck, but volunteers from the state park kindly shuttled all our tent gear back to the truck. Even more nicely, they gave me a ride, saving my knees quite some exertion.
Continue reading Day 22 : Jordanelle / Salt Lake City to Duchesne…