Day 39

Good night's rest and was a bit lazy getting up. The mosquitoes were on the prowl again so I loaded up as quickly as I could and headed off. A few miles down the road I stopped to have a shave and no sooner had the operation began that Gypsum County Sheriff, Tad Deken, pulled up to see if things were OK.


He advised that because the Glenwood Canyon was blocked in places, that I might have trouble getting to where I wanted to go ... might have to make a big detour.


The bike trail alongside the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon is truly magnificent ... and very popular with day trippers. The man made structures like the I70 flyovers blend in very well with nature's architecture.


Met Mike and Diana on the trail. They were going to hike up through higher parts of the canyon. Nice chatting to them.


Not often I get the chance to have my photo taken in such magnificent scenery ... it's breathtakingly beautiful.


Now for the fun part ... a few miles further down the track at a rest station the path is closed. The river has caused major structural damage, so what do I do now? For me the solution is to get up onto the big wide, clean, hard shoulder of the I70 and go 'full blast' to a point beyond the blockage and get back onto the cycle path. Hmmm! Not so simple. Within 5 minutes I'm overtaken by a road safety van who prefers to escort me the extra mile down to the next point where I may continue. It appears I was spotted on the CCTV ... I'm being watched! Glenwood Springs is another lovely town ... famous for it's hot springs ... might go for a dip later. Getting very warm. Intended going into the hot springs and pool area but there is no safe place to leave the bicycle. Anyway they were gonna charge 20 bucks! The Scotsman in me thought long and hard and declined the offer!


Popped into a McD in Newcastle. See how the terrain is changing? Nearly out of the Rockies and into the barren stretches of Utah. It's nice and cool now ... have still to do a couple of hours in the saddle and then I'll call it quits. Just thinking to myself that nothing special has happened in the last few days. Out in the mid-west an old guy on a bike is a bit of a novelty but here in fitness conscious Colorado, everyone cycles ... I'm no big deal! I stop for a slug of water ... and a white van pulls up behind me ... two fit looking guys step out and approach me. I recognise one of them ... it's Eric, the rock climbing chiropractor! ... who was hijacked by Larry, the State Trooper, to give me a lift up through Clear Canyon. Remember? Wow! That was way back on Day 36 (I think?) What's he doing here? Well, Eric and his pal were just returning from a day's climbing up in the nearby hills and just happened to be on this part of the road at this time .... Eric spotted me .... and we just can't get over the coincidence. This is a big country ... what's the chances of that happening? I managed to get my photo after all!


Pushing on beyond the town of Rifle ... and it's looking difficult to find a good spot for the night. Ah! I see a Baptist Church on the frontage road ... yep! this will do fine. Short grass at the side of the car park. 54 miles clocked ... that'll have to do. Goodnight. (Notice the price of fuel out here is petrol 3.75 diesel 4.05 dollars/US gallon)

Location:Glenwood Springs