Hey - we made it across the Rockies (Yee-hah!!!!!!) and are now in Boulder, Colorado staying with Dan and Stef - friends from Kabul days who I (Marty) studied Dari with. Is so nice to be with friends and in a home with a bed! Has been a great last week - with bicycle problems including 1 puncture, 2 new tires, and one new seat post needed - all on Marty's bike! All could have been so much worse but luckily they all happend in reach of people or towns where we could get spare parts or improvise solutions til the next town. Our route has taken us from Grand Junction (just across the border from Utah) to Montrose, on to Cimmaron for a night, then Gunnison and over the Marshall Pass (about 10,300ft - the highest of 3 major passes we climbed) which marks the continental divide - rivers to the east flow to the Atlantic (or Gulf of Mexico) and rivers to the West flow to the Pacific. We stayed at the beautiful O'Haver Lake that night and on to Fairplay for a night (over the Trout Creek Pass) then to Boulder yesterday (the last 30 miles or so on the Park and Ride bus so we didn't need to stay on the really busy road feeding into Denver). We continue to meet lots and lots of very kind and warm people from all across the States - all enjoying their spectatular country. Colorado is surely stunning and really an outdoor person's paradise. There are tonnes of jeeps and every second vehicle has some kind of recreational equipment (bikes, kayaks) attached.
We have been well looked after by many kind people including Jessie and Blake who welcomed us to stay over in their home in Grand Junction - after inviting us to join them for a BBQ and a fundraising film re Mountain Bike Trails - and made a mean espresso for us before we headed off that day, Jack, Larry and Dick - retired men from the south - who helped me put my seat back together, the good people at Tune Up Bike Shop in Gunnison, Ed and Tracey who picked me up/dropped me off hitch-hiking back/forth to/from Gunnison for spare parts, and Ed and Bonny - a lovely retired couple from Pueblo, Colorado, who gave us Cantaloupe, Oranges and Apples as we camped by the lake.
Having bicyles seems to open up all kinds of opportunities to talk to people as they want to know what we are doing & where we are coming from/going to. We are loving hearing other peoples stories and vacation adventures too. There are a lot of motorcylists (many on very nice machines - Harley Davidsons often) who we often joke with about trading means of transport! Next time we come here I think we'll do it that way!!
Hope to post a few pics again in the next few days. We are happy to have a few days rest now (so are our butts!) and will be putting together a route plan for our onward journey - there are lots of corn & wheatfields coming our way!!!
Look forward to hearing from you too.
Love
Marty & Nicole
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It sounds like you guys are having a blast. I would love to hear some of the interesting stories that you have heard from others.
ReplyDeleteMarty, it sounds like you have given your bike a bit of thrashing with all those new tires!! I am so glad to hear that people have been so kind and friendly. Generally, people in the South are like that!!
Keep sharing and posting pictures,
Hannah Venable