Day 72: Hartsel to Canon City, CO; "Found Money" Coffee Time; Continental Crossing Complete!

September 11, 2015

Notes:

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2.) Climbing Today: 1,995 ft -- Total So Far; 171,475 ft

3.) Average Speed While Biking Today: 11.8 mph

4.) Mechanical Issues Today: none

5.) Miles Remaining to Canon City: 0!!!

6.) Miles Traveled to Date on This Half of the Journey: 1,997 (my original estimate was 2,000 – not bad!)

7.) Money Found Today: 0

8.) Total Money Found: $1.10 (Did I find enough to buy a cup of coffee?)

9.) Current BAR (Bicycle Altitude Record): 11,539 Feet, Hoosier Pass

The alarm was set for 5:00 am as I felt like I could afford to sleep late today, but I awoke at 4:15 to the serenade of coyote music and finally climbed out of bed at 4:30. I’m really going to miss the coyote music when I get home; there’s something quite peaceful in the mournful chorus of the coyotes. I had the entire guest lodge to myself, so I brewed some coffee and had my breakfast consisting of a small can of tuna and a bagel with jam. I was out the door and rolling before 6:00 am. As had been the case for the last couple of weeks, my fingertips quickly got chilled in the mid-30’s morning temperature. Eventually the coming dawn illuminated the eastern sky.

I Was Already 5 Miles Out When The Eastern Sky First Became Aglow In The Pre-Dawn Light

I was 12 miles down the road before the sun announced the day. Clouds seemed to be hanging rather low this morning.

The Clouds Were Hanging Low That Morning

I was now traveling in the Pike National Forest.

I Was Now Traveling Through The Pike National Forest, Named After Zebulon Montgomery Pike (as in Pike's Peak)

Ever investigate the source of the names of the national forests? It can be interesting. Pike National Forest was, of course, named for Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who also has Pike’s Peak named after him. Checking out the names of other national forests can be an interesting thing to do.

This sign in the forest was well-intentioned, but it only served to remind me of the 17 days I spent traveling through the smoke and forest fire areas of Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

This Sign Rekindled Bad Memories Of My Travels Through The Fire-and-Smoke Ravaged Regions of Oregon, Idaho, and Montana

Wow; for 50% of this half of my adventure I had to deal with the smoke. I was still quite grateful to be breathing clean air, and I’ll never, ever, take it for granted again.

The overcast clouds were dripping bits of water mist on me. Not enough to make me put on my rain gear, but enough to keep it chilly. Sometimes this sort of weather makes for interesting photos, and I was hoping to catch a sun ray breaking through the clouds. This view caught my attention, but it’s not what I had in mind;

The Overcast Sky May Yet Provide Some Interesting "Sunray" Photographic Opportunities

This view was almost what I wanted, but not quite;

This Is Almost What I Was Looking For, But It's Not Quite There Yet

Finally, this is what I was waiting for;

There It Is! Legend Says The Sunbeam Marks The Location Of Buried Treasure

I’m not a great photographer, just an amateur who likes to dabble in it. Photographers have a saying for how to capture a great photo; “Be there and F8.” F8 refers to an aperture setting that gets the best performance from many lenses; if you don’t know the optimum setting for a particular lens, it’s likely that F8 is close. But it’s the first part of that saying that’s crucial; “Be there.” You have to be present when something worthy of a great photo happens. So you have to be there at sunrise or sunset, or when the clouds open up to let a sun ray through. “F8 and be there,” is one of the reasons I roll out early in the mornings on tour.

Guffy apparently wants to be known as a bike-friendly place.

Interesting Signage Approaching The Guffy Turnoff

I had never seen an official highway sign quite like that. It doesn’t really say anything helpful, but rather seems like an advertisement for cyclists to attract them to Guffy. Maybe the town put it up themselves, I don’t think it’s an official highway sign despite its appearance. I do know of other cyclists who stayed in Guffy and described it fondly.

I was very surprised to see other touring cyclists this late in the season.

Dean & Eileen Started In Vermont And Were Westbound On The Transam On A Very Unique Cycle

Dean and Eileen started in Vermont and were now traveling the Transam route. Their rig is 1 of only 20 like it that were ever made, and they like it so much they said they wouldn’t be touring otherwise.

I was in a state of euphoria today. Not only was this the day I was to complete my “both ends to the middle” continental crossing, but I was traveling mostly downhill with a tailwind! It seemed as though the Transam Route was saying to me “well done, here’s a little parting gift for all the effort you have put in.” Canon City was my goal, and I was on Cloud 9 when I reached the city limits.

I Was Almost There; And I Was Traveling Downhill With A Tailwind!

I was surprised by how quickly I rolled up to the Parkview Inn when I entered the city. The Parkview Inn is where I stayed on the last night of the first half of this journey, so I planned on staying there this final night as well; and that way I am certain of having ridden every inch of the continental crossing. But I needed to do something with my “found money” coffee fund, so I rolled past the Parkview and ventured a couple of blocks into the downtown area in search of a coffee house. I found the perfect one.

Wow - Methinks This Is THE Perfect Coffee Shop For My "Found Money" Coffee

Wow, a coffee house that was also a bicycle shop; was I dreaming? This has to be the perfect place to utilize my “found money” for a coffee. I was blown away by the name.

A Combination Bicycle Shop And Coffee House Named "The Bean Pedaler;" Have I Died And Gone To Heaven?

The “Bean Pedaler” was the perfect name for this coffee shop, which was also known as Red Canyon Cycles. The price for a small coffee was $1.88, and I only had $1.10 of “found money.” A quick calculation on the phone app told me that I had enough for 58.5% of a small coffee, and that’s what I ordered. Brooke was appreciative of my story and agreed to give me a reduced filling of coffee for $1.10. What she didn’t anticipate was that I would give her a ziplock bag of dirty beat-up coins.

Brooke Wasn't So Sure About My Bag Of Beat-Up "Found Money," But I Had My Celebratory Coffee!

The coins had some sentimental value to me, so I kept them and paid the $1.10 using normal money. The coffee was spectacularly good! I suppose the effort I expended in collecting the coins may have added to the taste, but I do recommend that all touring cyclists stop in and sample the coffee here. It’s only a couple of blocks off the Transam Route, and it’s a bicycle coffee house for goodness sake!

I was currently in that strange state of mind one experiences when you have accomplished something monumental and the reality hasn’t yet set in. I hadn’t yet accepted that I had actually accomplished this thing that I had wanted to do for 40 years. The challenges were many and often monumental, but the memories of the hardships were rapidly fading away. That’s how it is when you accomplish something you really wanted to do; you remember all the good times and forget everything else. I know that for however long the remainder of my forever may be, I will cherish the many memories of this adventure. All of us are alive, but most of the time we simply exist. For 10 weeks in 2015 while I crossed America on bicycle, I truly lived. That will always be a part of me now, and will be a part of what defines me as a person. And that’s a good thing.

When I have had some time to let things sink in a bit, I will write some more of my thoughts in an epilogue. Until then…

Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 4,294 miles (6,911 km)

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