Mary Metcalf-Collier

Hey its Mary Collier. Its about 8 in the morning, July 4th. I'm in Sargents, CO. I made it last night about 9:30. Last couple days have been pretty awesome. Two nights ago, I stayed in a children's playhouse in Harstel, CO. Pulling Boreas Pass to get to Harstel actually was not that bad. Got in pretty early to Harstel. I was sleep deprived enough and homesick enough that I decided to stay in Hartsel after not covering too many miles, but I’m happy to live with that decision. I woke up early in the morning from Harstel and headed out towards Salida. Made it to Salida yesterday. Had my bike worked on at Absolute. Changed out my tires. Really just did a look over, my bike is actually looking pretty good. Everything is going well. It was late in the day when I came into Salida, but I decided to go ahead, up over Marshall Pass in get into Sargents. I got here at about 9:30 last night. It was raining a little bit, dark and cold. They were out of cabins so they hooked me up in a Tee Pee last night with a campfire looking propane heater in the middle of it. Pretty rad. I never slept in a Tee Pee before so it was pretty cool. The last couple of days have been pretty cool. Coming into Salida. I met up with a good friend, Canon. He rode up Marshall Pass to greet me and rode down with me...having worried that I had been homesick and lonely. It was really good to hear from, see him and have someone to ride with and chat with. When I got to Salida, my twin sister, Julie and her kids were there and greeted me. Made me feel like a Rock Star. Pretty good. That gave me a lot of energy to best up and over Marshall Pass to get here to Sargents. Had a good nights sleep last night and I'm headed out on the road to get to Del Norte tonight. Have a Happy 4th of July. Bye, Bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-04 09:20:45 EST)

Hey Everyone, its Mary. I’m calling in from Silverthorne, CO. Today, was an absolutely wonderful day. It was good day. I felt great today, physically and mentally, everything. The whole game just kind of came together today. It was good. I ran into Dave Nice out on the trail. The route goes pretty close to his parent’s property where he is working right now and it sounds like he is recovering. It was really good seeing him. He cheered me on for a couple of miles. We some good conversation. Dropped down to the CO River which was absolutely beautiful. Made it feel like I was in the southwest. Which was great, because that means I am in the south so I’m getting closer to Mexico. I really feel like I am going to pull this off now. Things are going great. I got in early tonight so I’m going to take off early in the morning. Have a good night. (recorder time: 2008-07-01 23:01:14 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)

Hey its Mary Collier. I'm Rawlins, WY. Crazy day. Excellant Day. Today, Yesterday and the Day Before. Haven't really been in touch to much but covering some ground. I stayed in a Hostel right before Union Pass. They call it Aspen Meadows Bike Hostel or something like that. Super awesome time. Great day, that day I also remembered that I am racing so I'm trying to cover some ground and cruisin' along. Yesterday was also great. Anyhow, I'm in kinda in a hurry. Just loaded up on a bunch groceries herein in Rawlins. Stocked up my bike and get out of town. So tomorrow I will be able to make it Steamboat. Have it a good night. (recorder time: 2008-06-28 20:42:52 EST)

Mary called Brendan yesterday June 26th. He was happy to report good news: "She put in a 100+ mile day today, and was planning to staying at a campground in Boulder. She was a little bummed to see GDR racers today, but it actually helped her get in gear & remember that she's racing- so she put the hammer down a bit & she said "it felt good to go fast for a change." She said the legs are feeling better & thinks she can "race" again. She got her shock seals in Pinedale & should be performing the operation tonight. She spent the previous night at the Trail Angels' house before Union Pass with some GDMBR tourists & said they all had a good time. Later, she called from Boulder with bad phone reception- after several tries I understood that she couldn't call in to the line but that she wished she could- apparently she has some good stories to tell. She sounds a lot better than she did at Flagg Ranch. She was feelin' the hurt that day & bummed that Mike had dropped out. She was hoping to catch him & ride with him."

Hey its Mary Collier. Its day 13, June 24th. Today was a sad day in WY. My riding buddy, Mike Dion, had to drop today. I think all things considered he had a day yesterday with very little food and a whole lot of stress. So I think that was a kind of breaking point for him. So I will be sad to say goodbye to Mike. Wish him luck in all his future adventures. I’m sure he has some fun stuff coming up. But for myself, I made it 80 miles today to Flagg Ranch. Seems like I have yet to have a day go as expected. 80 miles wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to get in more mileage than that. My legs are doing OK. I started out at a descent time. Got about 10 miles down the road before a seal tore in my rear shock. I tried to just re-inflate it, didn’t work. So I started heading back to a bike shop that was there when I started today then realized that they wouldn’t be opened for few hours. So I opened up my shock and shoved a sock in it which gave me a virtual hard tail for the day. Which wouldn’t be bad because I know there are people out there doing this on a hard tail. BUT It was the longest section of the washboard rail bed that I’ve ever ridden. It made for fun morning. Not that bad though. Just getting tied up with time taking care of it. Beyond that the rail bed was fairly uneventful. It was beautiful but somewhat monotonous. Until I got to the tunnel, which was actually not as bad as expected. Hiked around that. I’m getting better at carrying my bike on my back. Beyond that was the snowy pass coming in Flagg Ranch. It wasn’t too bad. I had my share of walking in snow and ending up on puddles. Props to the guys that came before me. Because I saw in lots of dry areas I was riding through I was riding through and over ridges that they carved in the mud. Props to them for carving the way for us all. Here I am in Flagg Ranch. Just had some dinner, I’m going to crash out. Hopefully tomorrow I can get down the road further. Have a good night.

Hey its Mary Collier. I’m calling in from the Sawtel Resort. Its Monday, June 23 about 10 o’clock. I loaded up on a nice big pasta dinner here. Got a campsite until I realized how buggy it was then the nice guy here upgraded to a motel room for free which was pretty sweet. Beautiful day. Oh my gosh. Sentinel Valley was absolutely gorgeous. Took a few photos. Had a tail wind most of the day. It was great. I only covered 85 miles but considering I woke up not knowing if I was going to ride at all I’m happy with that. Great day overall. I’ll call back in tomorrow. Bye. (recorder time: 2008-06-23 22:53:44 EST.)

Good morning from Lima, MT. Its Monday, June 23rd. This is Mary Collier. I had a great nights sleep last night here in a cabin. Saw Chris Plesko off. He is hitting the road today. I am headed back out on the trail. I got here last night and was a little bit worried about my legs. They were pretty swollen after riding 75 miles. I was wondering if I hit the road prematurely from Dillon to here. But this morning I'm feeling like knots (?) . I’m feeling like things are going well. Back on the upswing and I'm going to try to cover some miles today. Thank you for everyone for all of your support and pushing me through this and tons and tons of advice from everyone on how to get over my leg issue. I think we are on the upswing, we are on the recovery. Have a great day and you'll probably hear from me tonight. (recorder time: 2008-06-23 11:11:46 EST.)

Woo Hoo, Hey everyone its Mary Collier. I am in Lima, MT. Its Sunday, June 22nd abtou 3:30. I have hit the road again and I'm back at. Have a good one.

(You should listen this message too on www.mtbcast.com - she has a great Woo Hooo!)

(recorder time: 2008-06-22 16:34:07 EST)

There were two messages from Mary. I think she was having a little payphone problems. Both seem to cut off early so I think she had to be brief. This is GOOD NEWS.

The first message was:

Hey its Mary Collier and I'm calling in.....

(recorder time: 2008-06-22 07:27:44 EST.)

The second message was:

Hey its Mary Collier and I'm back on the road. Bye.

(recorder time: 2008-06-22 07:28:25 EST. )