Thursday, June 16, 2005

Slight Change In Plans

Whew, another whirlwind week. If you would have told me a week ago as I was setting out on the San Juan Huts that I would now be in Arizona I never would have believed you, but as life so often does, Mark and I were thrown a curveball on the third leg of our trip.

The first leg from Telluride to Last Dollar Hut was a bit of a curveball. As we looked at the description it read that we would be riding 14.7 miles on gravel roads. Being that hardcore mountain biker that I am I was a little disapointed, but sucked it up and decided we should leave by noon or so, so we would get to the hut early afternoon and hang out there for a while. Well, we left about 12:15 with fully loaded B.O.B. trailers that weighed twice the amount I thought they would, and as soon as we left Telluride we started climbing, up past the Airport thats on a huge mesa and up to the top of Last Dollar Pass. That little 14.7 miles ended up taking us about 5 hours.

The views from the top were breathtaking and we got some good pictures. The next day we were treated to a nice fat descent and then another 20 miles of rolling gravel. The second hut was awesome as well, nestled in some aspen trees just off a forest access road.

We set off on the third day for 33.1 miles of up and then down, ending at the same altitude we started at. By mile 2 or 3 it started misting, mile 5 it was raining, mile 7 the snow started and by the time we had climbed up to mile 9 it was nearly a soaking wet white out. Since we were only a little over a fourth of the way through the route, still climbing, and couldn't feel many appendages, we made the call and flipped it back to the hut we had come from. Now, for any of you who have ever gotten really cold on a climb, the descent is guarenteed to be twice as bad. I know that Scott is familiar with this phenomena because we almost died on HWY 34 descending from Estes last spring. So Mark and I made it to the hut, made a fire, warmed up a little, dried out all the clothes we'd been wearing, and sat inside as it continued to rain, snow, and sleet, the rest of the day.

The next morning we left really early and headed for Telluride. We rode about 15 miles of gravel back to HWY 62, descended 10 miles to Placerville, CO. then climbed 16 long steep miles back to Telluride up HWY 145? I think. We got into town to find all the campgrounds were full, so we drove on to Durango, for a day before we decided to go spend a few days in Phoenix with my favorite Aunt Brenda, and wonderful Uncle Dave. We had a blast there, and now we're in Flagstaff to do some riding before heading on to the Grand Canyon and then Moab later tonight.

Thats my last week, if any of you actually read this far, please leave a comment at the end and you will be given a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut because I'm pretty sure this marathon update will cover all of the stars you needed for the month. I'll try to check in again soon.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

We're really doing it Harry!

Last night Mark and I took off from Greeley around 5pm, made it to the Flagship REI store in Denver and maxed out both of our credit cards (not really but close), then hopped on I-70 and crossed the Rockies to end our day at the Colorado River State Park Island Acres just outside of Grand Junction. Our first night in the tent went without a hitch and we woke up to a great view of the Colorado river and surrounding red and orange cliffs. Right now I'm sitting in the Grand Junction Public Library and Mark is outside on his phone. We're off to Telluride to hopefully get the final revisions of our huts course and try to get a mountain bike ride in before returning to the tent for night number 2. We'll try to find a computer in Telluride to let you know how Marks first off ride bike ride goes. Stay tuned.

Monday, June 06, 2005

Corey's Fro


Corey's Fro
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Mark's Hawk


Mark's Hawk
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.
Hello Everyone. I am guest writing for Corey today, and yes, that's me with the hawk. Today we are leaving for Telluride and getting this adventure off on the right foot. Yesterday I was looking at my hair, and decided... I need a Mohawk to truly be a rockstar, so master cutter Corey took the wheel and crafted the best mohawk I have ever seen. After the haircut, I considered donating the leftover hair to a cancer cause, when suddenely I had a revelation... with the help of my leftover hair, Corey would make a great Angus Young (AC/DC guitarist) look-alike. So now, Corey and I have become true rockstars, with not only the lifestyle, but the looks to accompany.
Last night, Corey and I had a little Greeley send off party at Jackson's. Scott, Kari, and Jordan joined us for some brews and long islands... only appropriate for a true rockstar send-off. Today, we are packing, making some final bike ajustments and eating Taco Johns for the 4th or 5th day in a row. We are stopping in Denver and Boulder before we head to Telluride to disembark from civilization for a month. To everyone reading, thank you... and for those about to rock... We Salute You.

Friday, June 03, 2005

MARCOR summer adventure day 1

Hey Everyone,

I'm updating from Marks house as we put the final few things together to take off on our trip. After a little packing, lunch with Lay Z and a little preening of my house, we will depart on the first leg of our journey. The trip today takes us through colorful Nebraska (home of arbor day) into beautiful eastern Colorado, and finally to the smelly little place I like to call home, Greeley, Colorado. We're hoping to get there in time to suck down a slurpee at the Rio before bed, but the way things are falling into place, it looks like that may have to wait for tomorrow.

The next few days we'll be in Greeley, hopefully getting some quality riding in during the day, and trying to to get thrown out of Roasties at night. Its been a fun few weeks here in Y-Town but it will be great to see some of the Greeley people for a few days before we hit the trails.

Latest trip update, we'll be departing Telluride on June 8th, not June 6th as originally expected. I guess there was some confusion in the reservations, but it all worked out because I got to stay an extra couple days in YKT and hang out with a few new friends.

So, in closing, to all of you in Yankton... farewell, thank you for a wonderful week home. To all of you in Greeley... beware, rockstars on the loose.

P.S. the last entry wasn't lost, there was just nothing more to say.