Shannon was unable to go as she does not have enough time off work to go on three long trips each year. We are planning to come to Utah every fall and visit Gma as long as she will let us. Shannon also has another trip planned in the summer with Amber, who is turning 30 this year and wants to celebrate with a road trip. That left me looking for a companion for the trip. Dina stepped up as she has never been out west with the exception of a couple of flights out to California. None of those included mountain biking. She has been riding enough this year that she is ready for some real mountains and is now willing to work for some rewarding trails and views. She also wanted to help me split costs since I was going to have to rent a car for the trip and still have had no help from my new team sponsors. We decided to go out over a week early to make it a real vacation for us both and to help me adjust to the elevation before the race. Dina was excited to see all the sights between Tennessee and Utah, as well as have me as an adventure guide. The car rental turned into a van rental so we could haul our bikes inside, keeping them clean and making it possible to stop for a spontaneous adventure and not have to worry about leaving our bikes out in plain sight. It was actually the first time I have rented a vehicle of any kind.
I had mixed feelings right before the trip. Part of me did not want to go as I felt like I am not ready. That feeling of unpreparedness that had gone away with a solid winter of training is now back after my sub-par performances and lack of consistent training. Work has been rough lately. I'm the easiest one to dump things on because I am not a permanent employee at any clinic I work at. It has taken me away from the bike and frustrated me for multiple reasons. With that being said, I was also ready for a break from work. I needed to get away.
I got a little more than I wished for when I notified work that I would not be in town for what would effectively be almost three full weeks. Our plan was to return in the middle of the week, then we would leave again for Indiana on Friday as the first round of the DINO Series was a Saturday race in Winona Lake, IN. I wanted to let my company know before they made out the May schedule so they could plan accordingly. I was trying to be helpful. The response I got was, "We don't need you anyway. We will not need you anymore at least through July and possibly further." Great. This is not the first time one of my trips was met with such a reaction. That's why I work PRN, so I can make my schedule around my races. I don't think they were even going to tell me if I hadn't brought it up. I have been working two to four days a week at the same clinic for a year and a half and I'm cut off just like that. Part of me thinks this was a scare tactic to get me not to go on this trip, but it isn't going to work. I have let this company ruin several years of my racing career, only to have them continue to take instead of give a little when I need something. I said last year when I bought my Epic I was going "all in." While I haven't been able to follow that as much as I would like to due to life's curve balls and a few boomerangs I have thrown at myself, I stand by my commitment now. It appears as if this trip will cost me my job, but so be it.
The same day I got the news I would be cut from my current job I got another job offer. Our friend and former coworker, Pat, informed me of a PRN opening at her home health company in Clarksville. I have never been interested in home health. I like high-level patients that are wanting to get back to an active life or sports. Home health tends to be very low-level patients where just getting them up to walk can be a major ordeal, not to mention you go into some nasty houses and unsafe neighborhoods. It's not really my cup of tea, but I am ready for a change so I followed up on the opening and actually had an interview the day before we left for Utah. It went well and they sent me home with the longest application I have ever seen. It made me laugh when I read one 27-page section that claimed it was shortened as part of the Paperwork Reduction Act. I would hate to see how long it was before that act. I was literally filling it out until the moment we left and Shannon had to fax it in for me after we were on the road.
It was a hectic departure day. I ended up having to catch a ride with my Mom to the Nashville Airport to pick up our rental van. She had to work early in the morning doing a cookie dough delivery, so I ended up working with her and then she dropped me off at the airport on the way home. At least I made a little extra money before we left! We were also trying to plant the garden. I wanted to get all of our plants in the ground before I left so Shannon wouldn't have to do so much by herself. It has been raining a lot lately so we are a few weeks behind as the dirt has been too wet to work. We planted in the dark until 9 pm the last night, only stopping because a storm moved in and dumped more rain on us. I got probably 70% of the plants in the ground and Shannon had to do the rest. Dina came over early and helped us get bell peppers planted, then we got showers, ate, finished my application and then hit the road at around 10 for an all-night drive west.
It was a long night rolling across Kentucky and Missouri in the rain. We made it to the middle of Nebraska by sunrise. Our rental was a 2017 Dodge Caravan. I really liked it. It was very smooth and easy to drive. I have always been a minivan hater, but this thing changed my outlook. Every feature was well thought out. The entire cockpit was adjustable and even the cupholders seemed to be in just the right spot and would fit any size cup or bottle. The best part though was the stow-and-go seats. Behind the two captain's chairs up front is a second row of captain's chairs, followed by a bench in the back. The middle and back rows both fold down into the floor in a matter of seconds. One person can literally fold down all seats in less than one minute. You basically just pull a lever on the captain's chairs and they fold themselves up. You better watch your fingers because they flip up in a hurry when you pull that lever! The rear bench seat was quite easy as well with clear instructions on the back of the seat. When the seats are upright, their storage areas can be used for storing other gear you have. It really is a great design. We had our seats stowed away so we could put our bikes in the back. We brought two 29" mountain bikes and one road bike. The mountain bikes were attached to a 2x4 with fork mounts on it, while the road bike was on a trunk rack that we hooked into the floor between the two mountain bikes. Three bikes, all of our clothes, a big cooler and our camping gear fit perfectly in the van. It was a bit of a puzzle fitting everything in the first time, but nowhere near as difficult as our normal pack jobs for a weekend trip in one of our cars. Then the icing on the cake was the 28 mpg we got on the trip. Hard to beat that in a fully-loaded van!
Buffalo Bill Cody's Trading Post in Nebraska
Of course I had to go see the buffalo statue
The guy in the middle had a rough day
We stopped at a random exit in western Nebraska for a driver change and saw prairie dogs scampering away in every direction.
There were probably 40 or 50 of them popping in and out of the ground.
One looked a little weird so I zoomed up and it was a rabbit.
There was one problem with the van though. I rented it through Priceline, a third party service. I had been looking at rentals for a while and the prices were reasonable, then all of a sudden they doubled. It was still over a month before our pick-up date when I reserved my van so I'm not sure why the price changed so much. It went completely out of our price range. Only Priceline offered me a rate close to what I originally saw. When I arrived at the Budget counter to pick up the van, I learned that Priceline doesn't include the convenience charges that come at pick-up. I ended paying almost $400 more to actually get out of the lot with the van. It was ridiculous the things they charged for. It still came out quite a bit cheaper than if I had gone straight through Budget, but I was a little upset that Priceline didn't tell me that I would be paying more fees. The van ended up being so high that we had used 90% of our budget for the trip before we even left.
Our first stopping point was my favorite place to ride and camp, Curt Gowdy State Park. I had to introduce Dina to this wonderful place. The forecast for the week was for a blast of winter weather so we actually delayed our trip by one day in hopes of missing the eight inches of snow they forecasted for Wednesday and an overnight low of 26, which would be a bit rough in a tent. It was cool when we arrived Thursday afternoon, but there was no snow. Some of the campsites that did not require reservations last year now do. We drove to the visitor's center to get internet and try to make a reservation, which was a waste of time because you have to reserve 24 hours in advance of your stay. While we were surfing the internet, I saw on the park's Facebook page that they indeed had snow on Wednesday. They had a picture of the reservoir and there was snow all around it. We made a good decision not to come on Wednesday! We didn't get the campsite we wanted, but there were plenty of others open and we ended up staying at the same spot Shannon and I camped last year, on top of the hill overlooking the Granite Reservoir. It has a nice view, but on a windy day this site offers little protection for your tent
Our campsite
Our view of the reservoir
We got in a nice ride before dark, playing on the Stone Temple Circuit, which is the best single loop in the park. We were treated to some awesome reflections in Crow Creek as we ended the loop. We then climbed Granite Ridge and took in a great sunset on the way back to the campsite. It looked like the sky was on fire behind the neighborhood that backs up to the park.
Dina on the first climb of Stone Temple Circuit
The mandatory photo of Granite Reservoir from Stone Temple Circuit
It was a chilly first night with the temp dropping to 36 degrees. That 0-degree sleeping bag finally got used for what it was designed for. Dina bought one just before we left, so we stayed fairly warm all night and comfy on our Klymit mats. I found that the mat wanted to slide out from under me, so I stuffed it, and the Klymit pillow, into my sleeping bag. If you have a mummy bag, it fits perfectly. That keeps things in place no matter how much you roll around during the night.
Day two was warm and sunny again. I collected firewood early in the morning. There was plenty to be found near the Granite Ridge trail where the park has been clearing some of the undergrowth and smaller trees. We just had to pack the wood down the hillside and load it into the van. After we got the wood back to the campsite, we headed off for a ride. The goal today was to explore the west side of the park, the Stone Temple side, and find the cave behind Hidden Falls that everyone has been telling me about since Shannon and I left here last September.
Early sunshine on the reservoir
Lots of little flowers and cacti nestled in the needles
Dina on Albert's Alley
Crow Creek below Hidden Falls
We found a little snow left over from Wednesday's winter storm
We got to Hidden Falls and it was full of water. I have been here before when the waterfall was little more than a trickle, but today it was roaring with the snow melt. We had to wade through the water to reach the falls. The water was beyond cold. It was instant numbness. I could not tell if I even had feet by the time we reached a rock sticking up out of the water in front of the falls. We stood on the rock for a few minutes to get some feeling back in the legs, then I tried to get behind the falls. The pool beyond the rock was deep. I went down to my waist and still felt no bottom. I couldn't find another way in so we had to abandon our plan. Still no cave exploration for me. It just wasn't feasible to go off in water that deep when it was that cold. I will try again when the water level is lower, or at least warmer.
Hidden Falls
The falls from the rock we stood on
Looking back out the canyon
We rode up to the Skin & Bones play area for a few minutes of playing on some technical rock lines, then it was down Mo' Rocka and through Pinball over to Stone Temple Circuit for another lap in the opposite direction from yesterday. We also caught the more technical Igneoramus trail, then flowed along the Rock N' Roller and Rockin' V trails.
That rock in the center is the trail.
Skin & Bones trail
The Chameleon rock formation on Mo' Rocka
The Chameleon
Hawk sitting on top of The Chameleon
Mo' Rocka
The Chameleon from Pinball
View from an overlook near the Visitor's Center at the end of Rockin' V
Dina was done for the day, but I wanted some more miles. I went out for a fast lap on Stone Temple. I made some mistakes in the rock gardens, but I broke my PR time from last year by 1:08, which was surprising to me. I got the KOM on the final descent of the loop and in the longest rock garden section, then took another KOM on Rockin' V.
I met Dina at the Visitor's Center where we headed over to explore the Vedauwoo area which is just a few miles down the road from the park. She drove, I rode to get in even more time. Vedauwoo is inside the Medicine Bow National Forest. Vedauwoo road is a dirt road that connects Happy Jack Rd. to I-80, crossing through the majority of the Vedauwoo area. There is a campground, lots of hiking trails and a rock climbing area on the I-80 side of Vedauwoo. The dirt road was closed to vehicle traffic because they were grading the road to repair it from winter. I was able to ride through, but Dina had to drive around and meet me at the other side. I had a nice ride with the road free of vehicles. I saw one guy running with his dog, but otherwise I was all alone. The grading kept me on my toes as there were several spots where the dirt was soft and deep. I almost went over the bars at one point when I got a bit too close to the edge in the soft stuff. Dina hiked in from the other end and we met up near the rock climbing area where we watched some people climbing and hiking. It looked fun so we added it to our list of things to do before the weekend was over.
Entering Medicine Bow National Forest
On Vedauwoo Rd
Budding aspens in front of Twin Peaks
Another view of Twin Peaks
The rock climbing area
View on the I-80 end of Vedauwoo Rd
I continued riding across I-80 into more of the open desert landscape in search of the Ames Monument. This monument is just south of I-80 near Buford. It's shaped like a pyramid and honors the Ames brothers, who played a vital roll in building the Transcontinental Railroad. They donated many millions of their own dollars to help with the construction, which when you think about it was a TON of money in the middle and late 1800s. There's a lot of scandalous stories about how they inflated the costs of the railroad to gain money from tax dollars and government funding, but they definitely put a lot of their own resources into making this project happen. The pyramid was built in 1880, is 60 feet tall and honors both brothers, Oakes and Oliver. It's an odd monument out in the middle of nowhere, but I had to see it once I heard about it so what better way to find it than by bike! It was all dirt road from I-80 out to the monument. I got covered in dust from the occasional farm truck zooming by, but it was well worth the dust and the wind to see this big rock and end my day after a solid 4+ hours in the saddle. From the monument you could see some high mountains to the south in Colorado that were capped with snow.
Ames Monument in the distance
Snow-capped mountains behind
On the drive back to the campground, we stopped at Tree Rock along I-80. This tree is growing straight out of a rock in the median of I-80. The tree was there when they built the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1800s. Some old stories tell of some of the train crews watering the tree as they passed by. The railroad was eventually moved to avoid a rickety bridge, but then the transcontinental highway was built for cars in the same area. The road was built around tree rock and it still stands there today.
Tree Rock
More to come from out time at Curt Gowdy and some more exploration around Vedauwoo.
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