Day 2: Loveland, CO to Cheyenne, WY

June 7, 2021

This was a challenging day, for sure! Some route problems and unrelenting sunshine made it harder. Fortunately, the headwind out of the north I was dreading turned out to be light tailwinds, so there’s that.

Loveland has several large lakes, and my route took me past most of them – a nice quiet bicycle parkway winding through wetlands and lakes, dotted with people fishing and boating. The shot above could have been from any lake in Wisconsin – didn’t expect that in Colorado, but it was a nice way to start. Any time I stopped, however, the mosquitos attacked! Colorado has had a wet spring and the water levels are high.

Eventually, I crossed I-25 and headed up the frontage road. This would be most of the route. I had to use headphones to mask the noise of trucks on the interstate, but the road was good and traffic on the frontage was light. The road occasionally hopped from one side of I-25 to the other, but these crossings (underneath) gave me some of the only shade I was going to get around there.

I’d like to show you exciting scenery, but most of the day, all I had to look at was this:

This went on until RideWithGPS inexplicably ran me right onto a washboard gravel road. I thought this was temporary, but then my GPS told me it would be another 12 miles (I’d already managed 5 miles of speeds between 4 and 9 mph, depending on the grade.) I realized this WAS the frontage road, but in this sparsely populated area it’s just not paved.

Then I noticed a sign up on the freeway, saying bicycles had to stay as far right as possible. They allow bicycles on the freeway? Cool! I pushed my bike up the embankment and started off. Wow! The freeway was like a breath of fresh air after washboard gravel. The shoulder was wide with a nice rumble-strip between traffic and me, and all I had to worry about was the occasional piece of debris.

I crossed into Wyoming, eventually. With only a few miles to go until Cheyenne. Then my software routed me weirdly and tried to get me onto another dirt road. That was a solid NOPE! and I ended up using Google Maps to route the rest of the way. I ended up about 2 miles over my projected total, so not too bad.

My reward at the end of the day was a huge skillet of jambalaya at a Cajun-themed bar. I couldn’t finish it, but it was amazing!

Today’s most timely song was “Bliss” by Muse. The piano arpeggiation started just as I saw the city limit sign for Cheyenne, and gave me quite a lift.

Tomorrow is 66 miles due east to Kimball, NE – following I-80. Only 600 feet of elevation vs. the nearly 2000 feet today, so it should be easier.

Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 134 miles (216 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0