Good morning, this is Racer 4, Steve Gleasner calling in from Steamboat. Got in late last night after a run from South of Rawlins, about 20 miles. Camped out of town then made the run into Steamboat. I’m out the KOA doing laundry as a public service to the rest of the world. It has been a while. Lost track. I feel like I’m at a confessional. “How long has it been since you did your laundry, my son?” Well anyway, I’m going to be here for a little while. I’ve got to go to bike shop, get some groceries, get my laundry dry then hit the road again, then On The Road Again. There it is. Racer 4, Steve Gleasner, signing out, good day.
(recorder time: 2008-07-01 09:56:07 EST)
Morning its Alan calling in from Skyline Lodge in Platoro. Just had breakfast here after another chilly night out in the hills. I think we were up above 10,000 feet again at Stunner campground. They really looked out after us here. They’ve got a score sheet of who is coming through when. We are still third but Ardie is getting further away and Matt’s history. Anyway we got over the hill yesterday without being struck by lightening. It didn’t really rain on us too much either. Apparently, it really rained on this side so it was a good job we weren’t over here. We were going slow for a reason. We are off to Horca today for a second breakfast or early lunch. We will try to get some miles in between breakfast and lunch today. Then up over Brazos Ridge and we’ll see how far we can get. We need to get some kit dried out before we camp again. It looks awfully wet now. We’ll probably lay it out in the sun in Horca. See if we get some offers for our stuff. Maybe give up, drive down to Mexico. No, we are nearly there now. New Mexico later this morning. Talk to you later. Bye.
(recorder time: 2008-07-01 08:59:04 EST)
Hi this is Felix Wong calling at 10:09 at Monday, June 30th from Salida, CO. I’m actually staying in a hotel tonight unlike last night when I camped at a campground near the beautiful Dillon Lake, I just jumped in the shower with all of my clothes on trying to get them clean and I guess I’ll sleeping in the nude tonight. Today was a good day unlike yesterday where it seemed like I was going up hill for most of the 107 miles I rode. Today seemed to be mostly downhill. There were just two major climbs both were beautiful climbs. One was Boreas pass and the other was up the watershed divide. Both were beautiful climbs. Boreas Pass was very gradual with great scenery, great views and even though it topped off at 11,500 feet it was a very pleasant climb. The last climb was much steeper but had great views of the 14ers. At least when coming down to the Salida. In between seemed to be mostly downhill. My progress was only impeded by an extremely fierce headwind in the afternoon. But otherwise it was great day. I think other than the two passes, the highlight of today was passing by South Park. Previously, I thought South Park was a fictional town in CO so I was very happy to see it is a real region. One of my favorite tv shows is South Park. In fact, I resolved that after this race is over and I am back home in CO, I would do a South Park marathon. By which I don’t mean running 26.2 miles but instead I will be laying on my couch with my feet propped up on a some pillows and watching this seasons episodes and maybe last seasons also. Right now that is sounding really good to me. I’ll talk to you later.
(recorder time: 2008-06-30 23:11:54 EST)
Hey this is Ardie Olson. I'm calling from the payphone here in Abiquiu at the Hotel. It is Monday, June 30th, 5:50 p.m. Everything is going pretty good. I think Mother Nature is winning most of this race. Yesterday, after my call in when I was in Platoro it started hailing, marble size hail, but luckily I was inside. It hailed enough to cover the ground, it looked white like snow, then it rained for 30 minutes. The road out of Platoro was a little muddy. Once I got into New Mexico, the roads were mess. The mud was like glue. It stuck to my tires. So I had to push 3-4 miles until I finally got to the ridge line that I was trying to get to and it was 10 o'clock so I camped out. Then got up this morning and things were a little bit better. At least I could ride. Did have a little bit of snow that I had to push through, not very much, where it covered the road in a few places. Other than that the day was going pretty good. Now coming into El Rito, I was trying to out run a thunderstorm before I got into mud again. So I beat that and got to the hard road and got to the store. The storm caught me on the way to Abiquiu. Now I'm at the hotel. I guess I'll get something to eat here. If it lets up or doesn't come all the way through Abiquiu here and mess up the roads, I'll head out again and I'll try to put a few more miles in today before calling it quits. Everything is going ok. Its a tough race. That is for sure. Again, this is Ardie Olson, bye.
Hi, Matthew Lee calling here from Grants, NM. Its 10 after 5, I think its Monday. I just pulled into town. I’m at the Grocery store resupplying. I forget what an interesting town Grants is. True Americana. Welding shops on every corner. Fireworks stands. Dilapidated buildings. Pretty depressed. But for some reason, I like it. Anyway, I had some really tough head winds coming into town. There are monsoonal type storms working their way north daily now, and they are causing trouble. I’m working through those. I was hoping to be in Pie Town tonight but that is still 70 miles away so I’ll probably be sleeping on the Pie Town road. Alright, Hope everyone else is doing well. Cheers.
(recorder time: 2008-06-30 18:17:45 EST)
As you know, Andy had to pull out due to illness in Big Fork. So imagine my delight to see that he is back on the trail this morning in Rawlins. Looks like he might be riding with Stephen Gleasner. I immediately e-mailed Kevin and Joe to see if they knew if he was back. Well, we don't have anything definite but his blue spot dot is on track.
Andy, if that is you, be sure to call in and keep us posted. I'll add to your blog entries. Happy trails.
Sherry O.
Hi this is Alan Goldsmith. Its 20 past 1 on Monday and we are in Del Norte. We just had a big feed at the Organic Peddler. Stop there. Its just on the way out of town. Its a different world. Very good. I think we just spent 50 bucks each, on breakfast, lunch, sandwiches to go, plus some trail food. I don't think they could quite believe it. Anyway, it was a long morning, 63 miles before breakfast, but no miles between breakfast and lunch. You win some and loose some. We were on Cochetopa Pass last night, up at 10,000 feet. Beautiful campground but unfortunately it rained. Bit nippy this morning. Good to have a downhill to start with for once. Now, we've got a big uphill. Indiana Pass. Which I guess it is the highest pass of the trip. It looks like there is a big old storm brewing as is usual in the afternoon. I guess we’ll have the obligatory headwind as well. I think we are looking to make it up to the cabins that way on Ellwood on the top of Indiana. Who knows what might happen. Looks like there might be a bit of sitting around waiting for it to stop lighting on us. Ok, bye.
(recorder time: 2008-06-30 14:22:28 EST)
Hello this is Dominik Scherer here. Its Monday, 30th of June, its quarter past 1. We are here in Del Norte. We are just about heading out to Indiana Pass. See how far we get. Maybe we will sleep up there in hut or we can make if over to Stoner and down to Platoro. We'll see how it goes. So far it is pretty good. Very, very good food here in Del Norte. Organic Peddler cafe restaurant something. Very, good, very good food. My belly is full. I'm not going to make it up Indiana Pass, I think. All you people out there be good. This one goes to the family.
Rest of Message in German
(recorder time: 2008-06-30 14:17:03 EST)
Hi this is Adrian Stingaciu calling in from Sargents, CO on Monday, June 30th at 12:36 p.m. Yesterday, I has a phenomenal day. My best day ever. Started out near (not sure exactly). Woke up next to the bike path there in about 39 degree Fahrenheit. Rode through the morning through a couple of towns there. Climbed up to Boreas Pass with a guy I met on the road, Todd. We descended down to Como together and got something to eat there. After that I pushed on. Got caught in a very superb thunderstorm with lots of hail. As I was riding through the thunderstorm, I noticed something hanging off my hat. I thought my hat was falling apart cause everything has been falling apart at the seams, my shorts, my gloves and I thought my hat was falling apart too. As I looked cross-eyed, I noticed that there was a dragonfly hanging off my hat bill trying to get out of the rain. Really special day. Moments like that I am reminded that all life is just as important as my own. All life is precious. All life is sacred. I was able to get out of the storm when I jumped over a fence and went into private property and went into a barn. The dragonfly dried off its wings. I dried off my jacket. An hour later I was back on the road. Went to Salida. I descended into Salida at night just in time to order some spaghetti with marina before the kitchen closed. Unfortunately, they made it with cheese and I refused to eat it. Even I have principles. I ended up just getting 3 loaves of bread from Safeway. Ate a loaf and half last night for dinner and another loaf and half this morning for breakfast. Push on now, looks like thunderstorms are building up again, but I don’t think they’ll get me today. Good luck to everybody else. Lots of love and hugs for everyone back home.
(recorder time: 2008-06-30 13:38:34 EST)
Hey its Mary Collier. Its Monday, June 30th. Its about 8:30 in the morning. I'm still in town. I got here at about 1 am after pulling that pass last night. The pass actually wasn't terrible. My mental game was just absolutely horrible yesterday. The last few days have been great. I had a 110, 120, then 140 mile day trying to get caught up on some ground. However, that 140 put me into camp real late the night before last. About 25 miles down the road from Rawlins. Part of that was just trying to get ahead a little for yesterday, knowing I had this pass coming into Steamboat with all this snow on it. Knowing about that Pass caused a bit of stress. Yesterday, I almost quit. Yesterday, I made it to the CO border and then turned around backwards on the route a mile and went to a campground to call home to tell Brendan I was quiting. My mental game was just so messed up yesterday. It was rough, stress was building. Fortunately, he is always wonderful. He talked me through it and told me to push over that Pass. Get to Steamboat and see how I feel. Now I feel like a million bucks. Just getting to Steamboat. Being to bed, taking a shower. I was just so disguishing. I hadn't have a shower in four days. I know that to the guys that doesn't sound like much. But it was rough, it was a rough day, but I pushed through it. I'm still in the game.. As you can see from my mileage the last two days, my body is still in the game. My legs are back. Actually I feel pretty darn strong. So this morning I'm going to get some bike work. I've got few minor maintenance things I need to take care with my bike. Take some time to load up on some food, recover just little bit and call it a short day. Thanks everyone for listening and for caring and helping me push through all of this. I'm in CO, Steamboat. Its frickin' amazing.
(recorder time: 2008-06-30 09:57:07 EST)
