Gone are the high peaks of the Colorado Rocky Mountains that we have been used to. We have now entered an even more arid climate, if that is possible, and it looks like it will make for some interesting riding over the next few days as we continue towards and into Utah. The morning in Glenwood Springs was cool but not cold so we could wear our usual attire and we were excited to have all twelve who could ride (excluding the van driver) starting the day. “Three teams of four” is always one of the best phrases that can come out of Maaike’s mouth at the end of the morning circle.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 69.1 miles
Elevation: +3,031 ft. / -2,509 ft.
Points of Interest: I-70, Rifle, License Plates, Painted Mountains, Fence of Bikes, Wildfire Aftermath
Tales of the Trail
The ride today did have a nice feel to it even when looking through the planned route the night before. Yes, there were some longer stretches in there, but some downhills and plenty of stops when the going would get tougher made us feel really confident in what we were getting into. That sentiment held true in the moment too. Rolling out of Glenwood Springs was fun because we got to look over more of the stunning reddish mountains surrounding the town and spend a little while on bike trails.
Actually, there was one part of the day that made us nervous: I-70. You heard that right, we were getting on the interstate for 5 miles today because it really is the only connecting road between the two places we were trying to get between. Believe it or not, it was mostly fine. Yes, there were cars moving pretty fast, but we had a very wide shoulder and most moved to the left lane before approaching us, so it actually felt as safe or maybe even more than some of the more rural highways that we have taken in the past. This was also the sight of the first couple of license plates on the day.
We haven’t discussed much in the journals yet about Nishk’s license plate hunting mission, but considering today we have him interviewed, the timing only feels fitting to reveal. Over the Summer, Nishk has been watching out in all of the shoulders and land next to the roads for plates that have fallen off cars to add to a collection he will then display at the end of the Summer. He has found many, I don’t have an exact count to say at the moment, but today was a +6. The plates are from states we have been to and some that we haven’t too. Today, there were 4 Colorado license plates by the side of the road, 1 from Arizona, and 1 from Oregon! We have become accustomed to hearing “plate!” followed by “slowing” in the rear and get so excited to see the smile on Nishk’s face when he returns with the prize. He then always bikes along with them to the next rest stop placed near his water bottles or in a bag he carries specifically for this purpose. The roads today must have heard his calls for more treasure as they revealed all of these new license plates.
As the miles went on, we made it to the main climb which was about 13 miles and covered almost 2,000 ft of elevation gain. Although it was a slog, we all made it to the top and knew that the end was going to be almost entirely downhill. Those last 26 miles were really fun because for probably half of them we were moving over 20 mph and really never much below 15 mph. Finally, Meeker was in sight.
At our stayover in Meeker, Colorado, St. James’ Episcopal Church, we had an amazing group of hosts waiting for us with signs and directions for where to put our bikes and how to go to find the showers they had secured for us. This was amazing! Then, they even had dinner! We had a huge selection of food choices from sandwiches, to mac and cheese, to salad, to some delicious spring rolls, to fruit, to cookies, and more (huge shoutout to the snickerdoodles which I didn’t know I had been craving *Cole). As we wound down for the evening, we hung clothes on the fence, played outside, and enjoyed the sights of national pride being displayed before Independence Day tomorrow.
Cyclists’ Corner
Rider: Nishk Patel
How are you feeling today? How was today’s ride?
I am feeling absolutely fantastic! Today's ride was great! It went by really quick, probably because the times between the rest stops were kind of short. We just had a 20 mile stretch, and then a 13, and then a 9, and then a 26. And that last 26 was pretty downhill. So, it felt like a very short day. It felt great! I found 6 license plates today, which is my current record for number of license plates in one day. 2 of those are from states we either haven't been to yet, or I haven't found yet, so that's pretty cool. Yeah, overall great day. And I’m excited for tomorrow's 110-mile day on the 4th of July.
Is there anything that you, personally, think, or hope, you will gain from the ride?
I think, especially because we were talking about it today, a newfound appreciation for biking. I've always enjoyed it, but never in kind of the sport aspect of it. It's just like a mode of transportation when I was younger. Anthony slipped up today and was like, “oh, so you're going to join on the WNRs?” (For context, WNR stands for Wednesday Night Ride which is a notoriously fast group ride back in Champaign that some of the Illini Cycling riders go on.) And then he was like, “oh, wait, you're gonna be in Chicago. you can't even.” But, you know, I think I've really enjoyed biking. I think another thing I said today was, the feeling of the chain grinding away while you're pedaling is kind of addicting. When I'm not riding, I want to feel that push, push, push against the pedal. Hopefully I will continue biking after the trip. I know I came into the trip thinking I might not. I'm halfway through the trip and I'm thinking, I very much will. Hopefully that doesn't change in the second half.
How have you surprised yourself since New York City?
I think I've surprised myself in how little I actually need to keep myself going. I don't need a lot of rest time. I've realized that it's not physical rest, but also mental rest time that is important. Going to sleep is kind of just when my brain shuts off, everything resets, I wake up, and I'm good again. Especially when I'm like “oh, I'm really tired of biking,” or “I'm really tired of this constant cycle” the morning sucks, but it's a very significant reset. It feels a lot of times that the things from the day previous don't even blend into the next day, so I don't need a lot of that. I don't need a lot of that wind down time or rest time. I can kind of just go from being super energized to then just shutting my brain off, shutting my body off, and waking back up the next day. I realized that my sleep is my mental and physical rest, and I spend the rest of the day doing things pretty consistently and constantly.
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?
I'm from Monroe Township, New Jersey.
My mom literally texted me this question! She was like, “what do you want me to send you?” I didn't respond to her yet, but I was thinking about saying masala banana chips. They're like, if you've ever tried them, it's plantain chips, sliced plantain chips that are fried and then covered with masala flavoring. They are really good! They're addicting. I could just eat a whole bag at a time!
How is the ride progressing for you?
It's progressing in an enjoyable way. Up until now, until Colorado, it was very much flat states. It felt like the exciting parts were the stayovers and not as much of the ride itself. Now it feels like the exciting part is kind of everything. The stayovers are still fine. You get to do some cool things like tomorrow's 4th of July. Gonna probably get to see fireworks, maybe go to Dinosaur National Park. It's also the ride into those places where, today, we biked past the forest fire from last summer, and you could see all these dead trees and the line at which it stopped. We also climbed up some mountains the past few days: Independence Pass, Loveland Pass. Seeing the world from 14, or I guess 13,000 feet up, is super cool and super interesting to see!
What do you think your role for the team has become (regardless of what it started as or what chore you do)?
I think that because breakfast chore is very limited and I only have to do breakfast chores for that hour and fifteen minutes from wake up to when we pack the van, I think I've gotten a lot of time in the evenings to help do general stuff. Someone, I forget who it was recently, just said, “you just do a little bit of everything.” I'll do laundry, I'll take everyone's laundry some days, or I'll do a Walmart run when necessary, or random things here and there to help ease other people's chores or just general needs of the team.
Wait, I want to add one to that. That's what we were talking about the other day. Would you agree with the characterization of “glue guy?”
Glue guy. Yeah, I like that. I like that. That's a good one. I like a glue guy. Yeah.
What has your favorite snack in the van been so far?
So many… I can slam so many of those Great Value, probably not as many as Max, but I can slam a ton of those Great Value chewy granola bars. The Mott’s fruit snacks are great. The Great Value ones get stuck in your teeth a little. The stroopwafels! We had a few from around Champaign, or maybe around that time, and then we got some more in the mail from Maaike’s mom last week. Those are also fantastic! They're like sugar. They're also not the common everyday snack, so they're kind of a switch up. Those are all great! We haven't had Rice Krispies in a minute too. Those are also classics.