Got some catching up to do. Hopefully it's not too scattered to follow. Just landed at the Massadona Tavern and am drinking a Coors, their best offering, while awaiting a Massadona Burger.
For day 18, I mentioned GG's in Hadley, where I had coffee, a sandwich, and ice cream, and charged my iTouch. I made it to mp107 by 1730, 63 miles including about 40 in Jose's pickup. Took a nap on the outskirts of town, then went back in for some dinner. I found the Hiway Bar, ordered a PBR (Pabst) and the fish and chips. Bad choice. The guys down the bar had steak, which looked much better. I switched to bottled Blue Moon and pumped some money into the jukebox; the crispy fish and soggy fries hit my stomach hard, and I had to shit several times.. I wanted to find a place to celebrate my best friend's birthday in Farm Town, a virtual world in Facebook, but Hiway didn't have wifi, and the pizza joint, which did, closed at 8. So I missed out.
There's mostly a good shoulder on highway 40 starting in Steamboat Springs. I made it to milepost 73 by 1725 the next day, making 34 miles for day 19. The town of Craig was closed when I passed through.
Nice things about riding at night: lots of falling stars, some with lingering afterburn tails. Cool weather. Generally no wind, a very good thing considering it's mostly been a headwind.
Bad things: headlights in my eyes. All the small and medium-sized towns shut down.
Health update: left hand seems better. Right doesn't seem worse. Cracks in heels seem to have healed, but a new, painful, crack has appeared in the middle of my right foot. Some back muscles are sore after some steep uphill climbs. Wearing socks and gloves since about Fairplay has probably helped the heel cracks, and most definitely helped the sunburn. Preventing further buttcrack rash by cleaning it with one of my cloth wipes whenever it feels damp or itchy.
Ideas: make trailer taller, and fully enclosable, to use as toilet. Recommend to REI to stock Palacios brand chorizo in their food dept; it's an almost perfect food, like a Slim Jim but without chemical preservatives (just pork, garlic, red peppers, and salt).
Made 42 miles to mp 31 to finish day 20. Didn't think I'd even make my base goal of 30, as one long hill took me hours to climb, but it was relatively smooth sailing after that. Should make it to Dinosaur for breakfast or lunch, and be in Utah tomorrow afternoon.
last updated 2009-08-20 22:50:42. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com