Kara, our generous host, drove us to town early and we got on the road. Three century-plus days of biking laid ahead of us until Flagstaff AZ where we will get a luxurious 3 day “vacation from the bicycles”. Yes we can!
We were both feeling refreshed from the Durango rest-spa day and we had a tailwind! A TAILWIND! What’s that?!? Crazy. We cruised up and over some significant hills out of Durango feeling like super heroes.
We passed Mesa Verde and we were slightly disappointed that our route didn’t take us up that summit…who are we? Climbing machines!
The terrain around Ute Mountain on the reservation reminded me of roadrunner cartoons.

 

Jacob pointed out different rock formations (geological engineering nerd-speak) and said “See, that boulder is gonna fall”. I said “I bet it falls on Wiley Coyote!”…chuckle.
We hit 4 corners, took pictures (my butt covered 4 states, it was awesome), ate fry bread, drank soda, and headed into AZ.

From the very start of our journey, Jacob has been telling people he is “from Flagstaff”. While it’s confusing since he was born in Arlington and lived there til he was 18, he definitely found “home” and maybe “grew up” (has he grown up yet? …debatable) in AZ. As Kyle would say, “I appreciate that”.
Jacob made it home.
Around 7:30 we hadn’t found the campsite Jacob had mapped out. Uh oh. We stopped at the Red Mesa trading post and asked around. “No campsites anywhere” was the response from motorists. I suggested we ask the convenience store manager if we could set up a tent out back. Jacob sent me inside to do the asking and said “Use your cuteness”. Well, I guess I was cute enough because they let us pitch the tent under the trees out back. Not a bad set up.
We ran into the guy who sold us the fry bread at 4 corners and talked with him for a bit before eating (I made Frito pie from convenience store supplies…culinary genius!) and hitting the sack. 106 miles today. Felt grrrreat!

Rest day in gorgeous Durango, CO.
Kara had an appointment in town at 11 so Jacob and I hitched a ride with her. We started the day with a hot springs soak at an aroma therapeutic spa. $10 for an hour of bliss. I hung out in and around the hot tub relaxing and stretching while Jacob chose to spend most of the time in the dry sauna. He meet Rhonda in the sauna. Rhonda soaks almost daily and is a self-proclaimed “pusher”. On her way out, I hear “hey, I think I have a stash with me” and she comes back with a baggie for Jacob of something to”ease his pains”. “Contact me before you head out and I can make it happen”, she says.

We parted ways after the soak. I headed to the local coffee shop and Jacob to Ska Brewery. We both spent the afternoon drinking….me coffee and Jacob beer.
He was feeling pretty loose and happy when Kara picked us up a few hours later. My favorite quote from the ride up the mountain was from Jacob: “You know, I think they just need to clone an army of Robins!”…for the purpose of what, I’m not exactly sure, but thanks man!
Kara cooked a perfect chicken and veggie curry dinner. We ate and I went to sleep super early, so comfy and relaxed from an awesome rest day.
Kyle says “I appreciate that” in the same way my granddad would say “Diiiig it!” (like he understand and knows what’s up). Kyle and Kara, I dig you guys and I appreciate your hospitality and warmth. Many, many thanks!

“It’s all downhill to Durango!”

At least that’s what Jacob kept saying on day 30 as we rolled into Pagosa Springs wet, frozen and exhausted.
Day 31 we woke up a little foggy-eyed after all the beer/celebrating conquering the rockies the night before. We had to wait for the First Inn’s continental breakfast to be served a few (15) minutes late. It consisted of cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins… not my idea of “breakfast of champions” but delicious…and we just have to roll downhill today anyway, right?
Right… the day started off with a 5 mile climb out of Pagosa Springs. “I don’t remember this hill” Jacob said. “But technically we’re still in P Springs so it doesn’t really count”. Okaaay…but tell that to our legs too, will ya?
The morning was cool with a little rain. We hit our first “res”, Indian reservation, and saw Chimney Rock.

I asked Jacob if “that thing” was man-made (since it liked like right angles, and what do I know?) and he proceeded to tell me all about the volcanic science behind the formations. Don’t ask me to repeat it.
In the reservation we climbed another significant incline for about 45 minutes. I said “all downhill to Durango, huh?”, to which Jacob replied, with ultimate sarcasm, “this IS downhill, I don’t know whatchutalkinbout”.
We then arrived to the part of the day themed “you’re hot and you’re cold” (Katy Perry great rpm song!). Rain jacket on, rain jacket off…gloves on, gloves off… couldn’t quite figure it out. All I knew was that it was much more comfortable than the brutal cold and wet of the past two days.
It was 11a our time which meant 1p Redskins game time! We made it close to a convenience store and ran into an east bound british cyclist, Thomas. He was on a 90 day visa on his way from San Fran to Boston. He’s not sure he will make it the whole way in time, but he will try. We gave him some tips (we are the more veteran riders now since we are over halfway…weird!) and headed to the store to take a break. I checked the score and the skins were already down 17-0. Boo. Bad mood instantly.
We did finally find the downhill Jacob had promised. It was lovely. I texted our Durango host (my client/friend’s sister Kara) to see when and where we should meet her. We decided to get lunch together at Zia Taquerita, a yummy organic chipotle-like restaurant. I got a wahoo salad for uva. Kara and her fiancé Kyle were very welcoming. Their wedding was just a week away (can you believe they agreed to host us during this crazy time??) so we chatted about that and got to know each other. They are an uber chill, zen yogi couple and both work as therapists to at-risk kids and families.
Kara drove us to the grocery store to pick up food for dinner. Since Jacob had been bragging to me about his culinary skills, I nominated him (without consulting with him beforehand) to cook dinner for everyone. Not sure he appreciated that… but I did chip in as sous chef.
After getting supplies we drove up to “the Collinsberry birdsnest”, k&k’s bungalow on the mountainside, about 25 mins outside the city. Collinsberry has a kale garden, a hammock town, and they are constructing a sauna. So perfect.
Kara and I talked about our travel experiences. I told her about Egypt/Turkey and she told me about the many weeks she and Kyle spent in India as well as her kayaking bachelorette party to the channel islands. That’s my kind of party!
After taking “rain showers”…awesome shower head..Jacob cooked a delicious dinner of stuffed manicotti and we drank Ska beer. We watched a netflix dvd, The Road, and went to bed. Rest day tomorrow!

“I thought the Rockies would be a little rockier than this!”

We woke up at 5:30 in Alamosa and immediately checked the weather. Scattered thunderstorms all day. Scary! Today is the day we met Wolf Creek Pass. 10,000ft elevation. Scary again!
Jacob changed two flat tires before we even started riding. Apparently CO has a lot of glass on roads. He also attempted to buy a coke from the soda machine and instead got sierra mist…there’s no caffeine in  that! Uh oh. Not a great start.
We rode up the foothills for a few hours. So far the weather was cool and cloudy but pretty dry. We actually had a tailwind in the morning too. It made a huge difference.
We hadn’t seen any cool church signs in a while, but today there was a doozy: “Hang out with Jesus, he hung out for you!”
We passed a mailbox for the Montoya residence. “You killed my father, prepare to die!”
At about 2p we made it to the base of the mountain. Sign said “Wolf Creek summit 12 miles”. Yes we can!
This climb was amazing. It was long and some sections were 8% grade but there were no switchbacks or coal trucks like VA/KY mountains. The views were breathtaking and I felt strong.
We saw some crazy mountain climbing prairie dogs and marmots, aspen trees and columbine plants.

A truck passed us and gave us a “nice honk” and some cheers.
My chain decided to fall off on a steep part of the climb and I fell into the road. Jacob ran behind me to stop traffic and I got up unharmed. “If it happens again, I’ll take the time to fix it”, Jacob said.
We went thru a short tunnel (a little nerve wracking) and an avalanche snowbridge.
About two miles from the top we saw two dudes (Wes and Tommy) riding mountain bikes in the opposite direction coming down the mountain. They stopped us and we chatted. They were in the nice honking truck from before and wanted to hear all about our tour. They are planning a bike trip from San Diego to Brazil and Ecuador. Wow. Jacob told them to bring Playboys to bribe federalis. “Good tip, man.”
We were close to the summit and, as if on cue, it started to rain. Here we go. We said goodbye to the dudes and got back to work.”Let’s hit it”.
We made it to the summit and hung out for a few minutes under a small overhang shelter, waiting for the storm to go away. It didn’t, so we pressed on. The descent was very steep. The road was wet and my miniature hands had great difficulty breaking. I felt out of control. The road has “runaway truck ramps”. I needed a runaway bike ramp.
With about four miles left to go down, Jacob stops at a scenic overlook. I could not stop behind him. I’m not good at stopping when ice skating either…I do it by spinning around in 360s or running into things. I decided to use the “spinning method” this time so when we got to the overlook, when it flattened out a bit, I did a few circles to get the speed under control before I could completely stop. I was a little panicked but it worked. “Gaaaah, do I need new brakes, Jacob?!?” He said “No, but I do! My rear brake is gone!”

We took some pictures at the overlook, saw some chipmunks, and and got rolling again. We were both cold and a little shaky but at least there wasn’t a strong wind. That saved us. I figured out that I needed to switch my hand position on the handlebars in order to get maximum leverage for braking. Thank goodness it worked. Yay for physics.
At the bottom of the mountain, with about 11 miles to town, my rear tire popped, Jacob stopped abruptly in front of me and (while I was looking at my wheel) I ran right into him at a good clip and fell. Serious ouch.
After a tube change we rolled down hill to Pagosa Springs and we checked in to the First Inn. We celebrated our Wolf Creek conquest with a six pack of Mexican Logger Ska beer (Jacob’s absolute favorite microbrewery) in the room and dinner/pie at Kip’s Restaurant and Cantina. Cool spot with live music. Jacob was so excited to find Ska beer. Let’s hope he can movetomorrow. What an awesome day. Take that, Rockies!

“The sea (sky) was angry that day, my friends. Like an old man sending back soup at a deli.”
-Costanza (Robin)
We woke up nice and early to a rainy Walsenburg, CO. We watched the news while eating breakfast. The big national news is torrential downpours and flooding in Colorado. Even though the worst flooding areas were well north of our path, I still got super nervous. The forecast called for more rain throughout the day.
The tubes Jacob had worked on the previous night had stayed inflated overnight…good sign. However, 2 miles in to our morning ride he gets a flat. It turned out to be a new puncture from a piece of glass. This is much better than if it was due to a patch not holding. Jacob nearly “loses it” but manages to pull himself together and we get back on the road.
We hit a massive headwind and start climbing up the foothills for about 22 miles. We see a sign “La Veta summit 8 miles”. The serious rockies climbing started at that sign. We enjoyed an awesome steady climb fighting the wind. I told Jacob “Great climb, man!”
At the summit it was 45°, brrrr, and rain began to just dump down on us. Then it turned to hail and freezing rain. We found that if we stopped pedaling (descending this mountain, mind you) our bikes would actually stop due to the massive headwind. No joke. There are very few times in my life where I’ve been as cold as I was on this descent. My bones hurt and we both were shaking. The worst part was not knowing when the next opportunity for shelter would come. We didn’t say a word to each other because there was nothing to do or say. It would be worse if we stopped. Our destination of Alamosa was at least 35 miles from the summit. That could be 3 or 4 hours.
We rode in this misery for about one hour when a kind soul in a truck stopped and offered is a ride. When he stopped ahead of us I sped ahead of Jacob and said “Yesss! Thank you thank you!”
Micky works at a Ford dealership and was on his way to trade vehicles…so we got a ride in a brand new 2013 F150. Micky blasted the heat for us but Jacob and I both still had problems getting warm. We told Micky how grateful we were (and continue to be) for the generosity of strangers. He is originally from Serbia, is a computer security guy by trade, and has lived throughout Europe (Switzerland was his favorite) and recently moved close to Denver.
He drove us about 25 miles into town and dropped us off in Alamosa at the Grizzly Inn at 1:50. After we waited at the front desk for a while (at least the lobby was warm), the strange-ish manager showed up and told us “we won’t have rooms ready until later”. “How much later?” we inquired, still shivering and soaked. “2p”. Ummm, I think we can wait 10 minutes… Jacob went next door and checked with the twice-as-expensive Best Western while I hung out in the lobby of the Grizzly Inn. He calls me with the too-expensive rate quote and said, in a crazy high pitched squeaky semi-paniced and fet up Jacob-voice, “So I say let’s do the Teddy Bear (he meant grizzly inn and I thought this was hilarious) and I see KFC!!!”. He came back with warm food and we ate in the lobby. The same strange-ish manager lady came back and asked “what can I do for you?” (like she didn’t recognize us from 8 minutes ago). She said “Oh you are gonna WAIT?” Jacob said “We have no where else to go!”.
She proceeded to check us in to our miraculously then-ready room. It was only after hot showers did either of us feel normal again.
Later on we walked towards Walmart to get new tubes and stumbled upon Kristy’s Sports Store which was similar to REI and had bike supplies. We purchased new tubes (woohoo!) and cold/wet weather gear since the forecast still called for cold and rain. After a six year drought, this was the rainiest week in CO history. Perfect timing.

We did laundry at the motel and Jacob snuggled with his fresh-from-the-dryer warm clothes. We ate pizza at the local pizza shop with Adam’s College kids. It’s the college from Revenge of the Nerds!
We went to sleep dreaming about freezing rain, cold mountains and numb extremities… a big test was still ahead of us on day 30.

We woke up to a cloudy morning in Boone. Today we are going off the bike 76 trail to head south towards Durango CO and then Flagstaff AZ. I was nervous because those ACA maps were so good to us. They showed each town’s amenities and how far to the next convenience store, etc, as well as an elevation map. Now we will rely on gmaps. Mistake.
The “road” we took from Boone to Walsenburg was dirt and gravel. Granted, it was mostly flat and smoother than the gravel road we took the day I fell…but it was still challenging to keep balanced. The road took us though Red Top Ranch, a gorgeous 90,000 acre working ranch. We had to ride over a bunch of giant cattle grates almost big enough for me to fall into.

After 10 miles on this road, I start getting more comfortable and able to take in and admire the gorgeous scenery. I started to have fun again… Jacob whistled at some horses and they came right over to the fence for a photo op.

We were slightly worried when we passed cattle (no fence) and a giant bull went from laying down to kneeling and almost got all the way up…looking right at us. Avoid eye contact…does that work with bulls like humans? He let us roll on by.
A man in a truck stopped us and told us “You woulda been better off taking the highway! 30 more miles on dirt ahead. There’s one ranch house between here and the main road but that’s it. And it gets real slimy!”. Great.
Shortly after this encounter, Jacob starts getting flat tires. Like, a, lot of them. He took off the tires (and I pumped them up) 12 times. Needless to say, we ran out of tubes so he was doing “patch jobs” that were not holding. Glueless patches are useless. They suck!
We weren’t getting anywhere so I started biking ahead to see if I could find tubes or patches or something. Jacob started walking. My only plan at this point was to make it to Walsenburg (25 miles), check into a motel, drop off my heavy gear, find tubes (if possible), bike back to Jacob and hope he could make it.
Thank goodness Jacob  found a ride.
I rode about 7 miles and I hear “Heeeey what’s a pretty little thing like you riding all by herself in the rain?” Did I mention it was raining? Jacob was yelling at me from the front seat of Kenn(withtwoNs)’s truck. I scream “Yeeeaaaaay!” Kenn works at red top and have us a ride into town. After loading my bike, I hopped into the back seat and noticed a hand gun two inches from my left knee and a rifle behind the driver’s seat.
Kenn was so nice. He drove us to a tire store (to get some kind of better patches) and then a motel. We also found the “Walsenburg Walmart” which was a garage filled with junk. Lots of marijuana flags everywhere and crap piled up on top of other crap. However, the dude working knew exactly where to find bike tube patch kits. Hopefully they will get us to the next “real” Walmart or bike shop where they sell Jacob’s particular tubes.
We picked up Carl’s Jr for dinner. Jacob has been looking forward to the point when Hardees would switch to Carl’s Jr “cuz that means we’re out west”.
Jacob meticulously worked on patching his tubes while I showered and watched the news about Syria, etc. Wow there’s a scary “real world” out there. We are in a biking bubble most days.
Pleeeeease, patches HOLD!

Bike day 27 on September 11.
My alarm woke me up at 5:30. Jacob said “that alarm always makes me think we’re in a video game”. Apparently Jacob will wake up when his iPad stops making the “white noise”…it happens 8hrs after he sets it, so 4a this morning. When I asked “so what have you been doing for an hour and a half?” he said “just laying here! whaaat?”
As we ate breakfast, Jacob and I talked about where we were when the towers were hit. We had similar stories of getting ready for our college classes. I remember being so scared that James, my marine boyfriend at the time, would be sent to Afghanistan. And he was. One of the scariest times of my life.
It was a rainy and cool morning.
We had about 35 miles to get to the 2000 mile mark for the trip. I was a little excited, plus I had fresh legs from our rest day…so I might have “taken off” and left Jacob in the dust. I got to 2000 miles and celebrated (happy dance, self shot pictures), looked around…no sign of Jacob. Oops! I waited for a few minutes and then turned around to look for him. About 2 miles back he had a flat. Uggh. And I had “abandoned him”. Bad Robin!

I think he forgave me and we rolled on.
We went through Arlington, CO. There were probably a total of 8 buildings in the whole town but there was a sign for Arlington Cemetery haha.

We ate lunch at Sugar City Cafe. The owner had a full menu but really would only serve us the “daily specials”. I had beans and ham with cornbread (so good and warmed me up!) and Jacob had a bbq sandwich (not so good) and pumpkin pie (pretty good).
Paul and Enya, the couple we met a grew days ago) had signed the restaurant guestbook. They had eaten lunch there the day before.
After lunch we made it into high desert terrain. Jacob pointed out different cacti and other plants…juniper, sage, cholla, succulents, cottonwood trees, etc. The scenery  was so beautiful.
We set up camp at the Boone City park. I was nervous because the forecast called for rain and it had been sprinkling on us throughout the day. We bought a few snacks at the local convenience store before they closed at 5. The cashier told us that we will see snow on the summit of Wolf’s Creek. We plan to get there in a few days. Jacob does not believe her and I really hope he’s right. I’m not prepared for snow! Nice rainbow at camp.

Boring, lazy rest day in Eads, CO! Woot!
Slept in nice and late…I needed recovery after a few consecutive century days and the redskins loss.
We ate breakfast and Jacob had a few more slices of pie (cookies and cream OMG!).
Jacob did laundry and I walked to the market to restock our food bag. Jacob bought me a new-to-us gatorade flavor, cucumber-lime. Delicious.
Every establishment in town has fly swatters. Buggy Eads.
It was a hot and sunny day with cloud cover rolling in by evening. Where were those clouds yesterday when we were overheating and sprinting to get to football watching?

It’s Redskins gameday!!!!
We woke up early, hit up the Kwik Shop for breakfast and Jacob also picked up a cheap pair of sunglasses since he lost his during our “night ride” on day 24. We got going at 7a. 
We crossed into the mountain time zone about twenty miles in. Jacob did circles back and forth, exclaiming something to the effect of “I’m the lord master of time and space” (apparently a Dr Who reference) while I proceeded to ignore him completely, instead focused on more important masters, namely getting our butts to Eads, CO in time for kickoff. Must see RGIII! The NFL does not care if we are going back in time!
We battled headwinds and crosswinds all day. We entered Colorful Colorado.

We took a rest about 25 miles outside of Eads at a convenience store. We met Paul and Enya, a newlywed couple of west bound cyclists from Rockville MD. They told us about another cycling adventure they took in Indonesia! Wow. I asked if they felt safe there and they said “no”… attempted mugging and “flogging”. Yikes!
As we were chatting, a local gentleman came in and addressed us with “Let me ask you stupid people something!” Paul responds “Good opening!”, and the gentleman proceeds with “Isn’t it crazy to be biking in 110° weather?”…Yes…the answer is yes.
Soon after that I started getting restless and anxious to get to a TV. We hit the road and got to the econo travel lodge in plenty of time…the econo travel lodge with NO ESPN. And they told me “no bars are open on Mondays”. I was crushed. I tried a number of internet options without success and decided to gamecast the game on my phone and go to dinner with Jacob. 
Lucky us, the lodge was next door to the best (read: only) restaurant in town. Yummy pie for dessert. We both had a slice (chocolate cream and banana cream) and Jacob got a second slice to go.
After dinner and at halftime of the game I decided to go for a walk.
I met a nice man and his dog at a nearby park. He said “excuse me, is that your truck?” (pointing to a gigantic “big rig” in the parking lot)…I now apparently look like a trucker. I said “nope” and he said “Oh, cuz I was gonna be impressed!”
I walked a but further and what did I spy but Jan’s Bar with lights on. It looked scary but I decided to give it a go. Tiny, smoky, hot, but had a big TV with my Skins on and 2 old men (reminded me of Grumpy Old Men) to share the bar with. The Skins mounted a comeback and by the fourth quarter I had both grumpy old men cheering and rooting for the Skins with me “HTTR one TD at a time!”. Turned out one touchdown too few…too bad.
I walked back to the lodge a little sad but exhausted and ready for bed. When I got back Jacob said “Found the game? I thought you either found it, or you were kidnapped”. Thanks, Jacob!
We made it to another rest day.

100 miles from Alexander KS to Leoti KS. (Pronounced like ray liotta)

If there was such a day, this is the day we would run into the Wicked Witch of the West.
8 miles to a soda machine for a much needed coke for Jacob, 35 miles to a shady spot for a rest. 50 miles to a Kwik Stop convenience store break.
On day 23 Jacob was bitten by a horse fly. As he swatted it away, he lost his right ear piece for his headphones. Gone. Needle in a haystack to look for it. Today Jacob swatted at another bug and lost his left one. Gone. Bye bye music. Hello instead to (as Jacob describes them) “the voices” inside his head.
Now to quiet the voices, Jacob talks to me about the Homestead Act. We debate about whether or not either of us would have made the journey out west back in the day. Then he speaks to me as if he was writing from the west to a friend back east… “To my dearest friend Robin…life here is splendid” etc. Now I kinda wanted to silence the Jacob voice at this point.
SW Kansas… desolate, hot and windy. The winds mainly blew in a north-easterly direction. Well, isn’t that just perfect since we are going to the south west?!? It was tough to even maintain 10mph.
When big mack trucks passed us going 70mph in the opposite direction it felt like running into a hot brick wall. We literally would stop pedaling for a few seconds in order to bring all attention to controlling our steering… gotta keep going straight and not veer off the road. The truck wind could move our biking line six inches to a foot or more.
The other thing about Kansas is that the terrain generally goes uphill from east to west. It looks totally flat, and sometimes it is, but we’re “going up” most of the time. Sometimes it feels like we’re on an incline even when it’s not…or it’s just a really gradual one. We can see miles to the horizon. Sometimes we look at the horizon and think “oh, if we just make it there to the to of this crest we will get some relief and go downhill for a bit”. Nope. That “crest” is just the curvature of the earth. We just get to keep pedaling against the wind and maybe slightly up until the end of the map.
The terrain actually reminds me of the ocean. A green prairie ocean on either side (no trees) with the road a straight as an arrow endless boardwalk out to sea. Sometimes I half expect to see the tip of Christopher Columbus’s sail boat cresting the horizon.
We did find shade in Scott County (hi to my little bro Scott!) about 24 miles from our destination. We walked the bikes thorough some grass to the shade of a cute little tree.
After our rest, Jacob’s rear tire goes flat. As he’s fixing it I notice my rear tire going flat. It seems we had walked our bikes through a thorn patch! Jacob’s front tire also went flat. Yikes, that was no good. We picked about 60 thorns out of the tires.
This means we ride into the night. 7p and 24 miles still left to go. “Ain’t no thing but a chicken wing” is our saying. We flew though the last miles, used lights, watched the gorgeous sunset with windmills in the background, and made it to camp around 9:15p. This sunset ride was one of my favorite parts about the whole trip so far.
Wicked Witch, where you at?  Missed ya…or was that you with the thorns?