Today we had some different adventures happening along with a good portion of the day being spent to rest our bodies up (as it should be). I’ll take you through the couple of groups who were out there in the world and share some of their stories.
One of the top priorities for any rest day that is in a large enough town is finding the nearest laundromat and getting caught up on cleaning clothes. Aadit, Ehsan, and Cole went out with clothes of their own and clothes from the team to get the chore of the day done. Believe it or not, they found one of the cleanest and newest laundromats we have ever seen and had quite an enjoyable time hanging out. Cole stayed behind a while to apply waterproofing to a couple of jackets that had been working a little less reliably. All in all, this was a positive way to spend a morning.
Let’s carry on with Aadit now. His story continued with the addition of Vedang who, after yesterday’s crash, was looking for a new wheel. As it turned out, the damage to the bike was not fully able to be repaired and a whole new wheel was in order. They started at the local Sunlight Ski and Bike Shop which was right next to the church we were staying at. There, the team was able to find parts and wash up bikes throughout the day after we had spent all of this time in some dusty areas while riding the last few days. For Aadit and Vedang though, this would not be the homerun just yet. Instead, the mechanic at Sunlight said they should go check out another shop nearby and see whether they had a wheel that matched the specifications of Vedang’s bike in stock. A little ways South, in Carbondale, Colorado, they found Aloha Mountain Cyclery. Aloha was able to not only find the wheel that Vedang needed, but offer it to him free of charge! This really was amazing because if not for here, we weren’t sure exactly what was going to need to happen to get Vedang back out on the road. Thank you to the kindness of people in this country!
In the afternoon, Max, Vedang, Nishk, and Ehsan went to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. They went on rides, traveled up the mountain, visited a massive cave, and were beaming about their day when they finally returned to the team. All that we saw on the outside was all that you will see here: fun pictures! We’re going to have to ask them more about their adventures as a team over the next couple of days.
That was the high flying rest day activity, literally. On the other side of town, Sam was taking a very different approach to enjoying Glenwood Springs. He decided to spend most of the day at Iron Mountain Hot Springs. This is one of the largest hot springs in the United States and it just so happened to be in our rest day town and about 1.5 miles from the stayover. Sam said he had a really great time and definitely looked more relaxed after his time in the hot pools overlooking the Colorado River.
The rest of the team, Maaike, Tada, Lauren, Ren, Parker, and Anthony spent their days enjoying what the town had to offer. Between shops, eats, and enjoying the surrounding natural scenery, they had a potentially less eventful, but also very enjoyable rest day. Oh, and Lauren got new bike shoes! (Hers were starting to really fall apart.)
We are all ready to get back to riding come morning!
Cyclists’ Corner
Rider: Tada Wagner
How are you feeling today? How was yesterday’s ride?
I'm feeling pretty good today. Yesterday's ride was very, very fun. I had lots of fun. The climb up to Independence Pass was.. probably my favorite climb of the trip. Great sights, it was challenging. I wanted to challenge myself, so paced ahead with the group, which was fun. Had an incident, but that's okay. Yeah, it was very cool. It's also really cool yesterday, not exactly cool, but when Ved crashed, everyone just on the team just like really locked in and got it done. Like, we made sure he was okay. Everyone just really locked in and made sure he was safe, which was really nice to see. Really showed how strong routine we are enjoying that.
Is there anything that you, personally, think, or hope, you will gain from the ride?
Personal life improvements, just like holding a better routine and structure in my life, just like more empathy and willingness to understand people in different perspectives, which I think I've been doing a good job of.
How have you surprised yourself since New York City?
I’ve definitely gotten a lot faster than I thought I was capable of, cycling wise, like, especially with that climb. I realized that I'm a much stronger rider than I initially thought, and I've definitely improved since starting a ride, which kind of surprised me.
Where is your hometown? If there was food from there you could have with you at every town during the ride, what would it be?
My hometown is Evanston, Illinois. Literally anything my mom cooks, bro. I can't eat this pasta and lentils anymore. Anything my mom cooked, like some homemade meal that my family made.
How is the ride progressing for you?
Really good. It definitely sucked when I was driving on the East Coast, because I didn't have a proper bike to climb. So, having a bike that I can actually climb steep like inclines has been really, really nice. So, the trip, I feel like after the Midwest and the East Coast has really improved, so I've been a lot happier.
What do you think your role for the team has become (regardless of what it started as or what chore you do)?
I'm definitely still the obviously the van packer, but I think im definitely a middle ground for a lot of people. People come to me for, like, a third opinion, or just a middle ground to vent to, but also hear feedback from. So, I feel like it's kind of my role.
What has your favorite snack in the van been so far?
Bro, lowkey, those chewy granola bars. I could eat like hundreds of those. I love those. The fruit smiles not so much, but the granola bars are my favorite