Trees; don't take them for granted. They provide fresh air to breath, shelter from the wind and shade from the sun:
Leaving the desert
Moving into Colorado, the main landscape feature were elegant stands of mature aspen trees. Whereas in other states the lower slopes are covered in fur trees, here the white barked, deciduous aspen dominate. I startled a flock of vultures feeding on a cow carcus by the road, can you spot them in the trees?
Many cyclists express surprise that I'm doing the Great Divide Trail as my first tour. I usually shrug this off and say I'm just taking it all in my stride. However, some sections are really pretty tough! I had to push my bike for a mile in the blazing midday sun as the path was too steep and rocky to ride. The expression on my face was not staged, I was really hurting!
First wild camp in Colorado, not a bad view! As I've mentioned before, I'm trying to bring my daily mileage below 60 miles, just to keep my health and fitness in check. The only downside is that, not going to bed completely shattered, I rarely sleep right through the night. After taking a little breather in Steamboat Springs I may do some long days to exhaust myself again! Genuinely, a long hard day in the saddle is a motivating, if stern, test of my strength and endurance.
I have been surprised on tour by how little spare time I have. Between the cycling, tent pitching, cooking, cleaning etc etc there is relatively little time for much else than a little reading. Alongside this blog I write in my personal journal daily which also takes time, thanks to big sister Bec for giving me this map bound book to write in. (little sister Liz gave me a water filter, thanks for saving me from illness/death!)
Moving into Colorado, the main landscape feature were elegant stands of mature aspen trees. Whereas in other states the lower slopes are covered in fur trees, here the white barked, deciduous aspen dominate. I startled a flock of vultures feeding on a cow carcus by the road, can you spot them in the trees?
Many cyclists express surprise that I'm doing the Great Divide Trail as my first tour. I usually shrug this off and say I'm just taking it all in my stride. However, some sections are really pretty tough! I had to push my bike for a mile in the blazing midday sun as the path was too steep and rocky to ride. The expression on my face was not staged, I was really hurting!
First wild camp in Colorado, not a bad view! As I've mentioned before, I'm trying to bring my daily mileage below 60 miles, just to keep my health and fitness in check. The only downside is that, not going to bed completely shattered, I rarely sleep right through the night. After taking a little breather in Steamboat Springs I may do some long days to exhaust myself again! Genuinely, a long hard day in the saddle is a motivating, if stern, test of my strength and endurance.
I have been surprised on tour by how little spare time I have. Between the cycling, tent pitching, cooking, cleaning etc etc there is relatively little time for much else than a little reading. Alongside this blog I write in my personal journal daily which also takes time, thanks to big sister Bec for giving me this map bound book to write in. (little sister Liz gave me a water filter, thanks for saving me from illness/death!)
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