Garden of the Gods

Goodbye Castle Rock

I'm heading south to find warmer and more hospitable biking roads. The sign on the picture says "castle rock" but not today!

Nightmare on day 2

Where did all this snow come from? And why did it have to come here! Currently weighing options ;)

After (day 1)

So I made it all the way to the Castle Rock outlet malls!!! Triple cross your fingers that the snow tonight is light and doesn't stick; I've got some biking to do tomorrow!

A field, from this morning

Me and Big Tex

Denver from a distance

Alia's Helmet

Prepacking

All of this stuff will get sorted out later today. It's a LOT of stuff though!

Train Delay

Taken on one of my last training days before the test trip to Durango. This train was six and a half minutes long. Nice blue skies though!

I Can Update My Location Automatically (How Cool)!

I just put a link to my Endomondo profile at the top of the page. With luck, that page will update with my most recent workout and should update in real-time! You'll be able to see exciting things about my trip - like where I am, how much water and calories I've burned, my altitude, my route, and the weather. One nice thing about this system is that it should update automatically, so if I get mauled by bears or something, everyone will know where I am! The page will look something like this (and it will display "LIVE" where I'm on the road and its updating in real-time).

Durango Waypoint Map (I Hope)!

I just put a link to this map on the top of the blog. This is the map I'm using to determine my route. I'll make an online map for myself the evening before I ride, and the next day, after I bike that route, I'll upload the markers, including where I started, stopped, ate, etc...

With any luck, I can refresh the waypoints on this map with my phone. It should update every day with my latest route! You can also view the Durango Waypoints map on a larger screen or click the link at the top of the page.

Colorado Mountains

A picture from the final week of training. The mountains are beautiful but intimidating when I think about having to bike over them! But I suppose that's part of the challenge.

Route to Durango

So this Friday, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Alia and I are setting off for Durango! The whole trip is about 405 miles and will take us through some pretty interesting places, including Castle Rock, Monument, Colorado Springs, Cañon City, Saguache, Del Norte, Pagosa Springs, and maybe even Navajo state park & NM? I decided not to do the more traditional Colorado Trail and instead stick to roads that would be more representative of the big trip this summer. Megan and I still aren't 100% sure about what gear to take, but we're getting closer and closer. We test-packed Alia's car last week, and what we had so far fit perfectly!

Costco

Cole took me to Costco today to get Cliff bars and Monster Energy somethings for Alia. That's a scary place! But it will same me some serious moneys.