6/30/2022 0 Comments Fast moving ColoradoThe day of my gravel road crash, I spent a lot of time on the phone with various friends and family trying to decide my next move and route west. After much mental anguish and deliberation, I came to the conclusion that I will pack up my bike and drive to Denver, Colorado, where my aunt and uncle live. This was not an easy decision to make, but it was the necessary one. 95-115F temps in Nebraska. Soaring temperatures in the west – the state of Colorado was telling people not even to go outside to mow their lawns. Residual wildfire smoke from Arizona. That’s definitely too hot for me to safely bike. I made a second decision to make the decision on the rest of my trip west when I was in Denver. People who bike around the world skip whole countries out of safety, and others who have attempted a similar route to mine have been stopped before due to high heat / wildfires. Kayla so kindly drove me to the Lincoln Airport, where I picked up a rental car. The stars aligned with pride month and the rental agency gave me a sweet Subaru Outback. I wasn’t worried about the price of the rental, because it was equivalent to the amount of money I would have spent on camping/motel/food/etc in 2 weeks biking across Nebraska – instead spending it in two days. 2 cups of coffee and 7 ½ hours later, driving across the whole state of Nebraska and half of Colorado, I was in Denver. It was an easy drive; I like driving and vibing to music. Absolutely screamed along to every one of Xana’s songs on her new album “Tantrums.” Very therapeutic. I didn’t admit it to myself when I was driving, but I subconsciously made my decision on the rest of my ride to Oregon. And even now, typing this in Wisconsin, it hurts to say: I stopped my ride. At this time, I’m not riding to Oregon. It’s too hot out west. Biking 1700 miles alone takes a mental toll. I’m lonely. I’m ready to go home. I am at ease with my decision since it is more from extraneous forces rather than my legs giving out. The friends and family I break the news to are relieved and supportive of my decision. My aunt and uncle are elated that I’m spending a week with them in Denver. While in Denver, we get ice cream, go hiking, take a visit to urgent care, go hiking again, visit urgent care once again, walk around the Denver Zoo, and root for the Avs in the Stanley Cup final vs Tampa Bay. It turns out that the badbraska (thanks, Bronte for coining that term and now I’m stealing it) dirt has extra special bacteria and my road rash required three (3) types of antibiotics because it wasn’t healing. To conclude my week in Denver, I buy an Amtrak train ticket to Chicago to get back to the Midwest. My Mom would drive to a connecting train station just south of the Illinois/Wisconsin border to pick me up. On paper, my ride on the California Zephyr going east was 19 hours. The train was 3 hours late arriving in Denver, and 2.5 hours late arriving in Chicago – resulting in Eryn booking it through the Chicago Union Station to get a ticket for the Metra and narrowly missing the train to my pick-up location. As my journey across the United States comes to an end, I want to say thank you for everyone who has followed along, given me words of encouragement, and helped me while on the road. I couldn’t have done it without you. Don’t worry – I’m not finished posting about my trip yet. There’ll be gear reviews, best state parks list, and ranking of states, to name a few 😊
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Author: Eryn corinthCyclist. Feminist. Outdoor enthusiast. Tree hugger. Archives
October 2022
CategoriesAll College Colorado Gear Goals Illinois Iowa Kentucky Missouri Motivation Nebraska Ore To Shore Pandemic Rides TransAmerica Ride UP Cycle Virginia |