Dirt - Day 49: Palmer Lake, CO to Boone, CO

The climbing yesterday paid off today. I left at dawn to avoid being discovered and took the recently-renovated Santa Fe trail, all dirt and gravel, from Palmer Lake all the way to Colorado Springs via a path that led directly through a military base. The path was clearly not designed for a rigid bike, much less a loaded one, but the technical challenge brought enough mental engagement that the extra physical exertion wasn't really a problem.

From the military base through Colorado Springs proper I passed some of the most fit people I have ever seen. Given that Colorado Springs is "Olympic City", it's quite likely that some of these were Olympians in training. I should clarify that they were mostly running, not biking, so passing them isn't much of an accomplishment.

South of Colorado Springs, Google refused to identify any bike-safe routes. A bit of poking around online indicated that I should ride the "old highway", which has historically gone quite well for me every time an option with that name was available. Manually dropping a pin on the old highway convinced Google to give me a route through less-traveled farm roads. Eventually, I found that Google refused to suggest a route because the one I insisted on was mostly dirt, much of it somewhat loose and difficult to ride with slick tires. I had been dealing with dirt all day at this point, though, so a little more wasn't a huge deal. The worst part, honestly, was bouncing across rough gravel on my already-sore ass.

After a seemingly endless farm road, I ended up in Pueblo, CO, and stopped at the Riverside Bar & Grill. While there, I told my story to a local cop, who told me about his life in the military and his decision to leave the service in order to actually help people as a cop. The whole interaction gave me a lot more faith in the idea that, yes, most cops really do want to help people, even if many are in it for the badge, gun, and sense of superiority. That said, I do still believe that it's the responsibility of every police officer and police department to call out the bad apples rather than just avoiding confrontation. Perhaps he would do that if pressed, I don't know. It just seems lately that "a few bad apples" are generally allowed to remain and spoil the bunch, often through a collective effort from police departments, police unions, DA prosecutors, and politicians afraid to put themselves opposite the police.

Once the weather cooled off, I started on the remaining 20 miles to Boone, CO, which was back on the official Trans-America route. On my way out, a helpful gas station clerk gave me a bunch of Powerade and expired candy that he was going to throw out, including a whole carton of "nutty buddies" that provided something like 400 calories per stick. The map promised free camping in Boone but didn't mention all the free bug bites from little black flies. Worse, the gas station attendant advised me that a local chemical plant dumped its waste in or near Boone, so I shouldn't drink the water there. I positioned my tent in a spot that felt unlikely to get watered by sprinklers and went to sleep, struggling to stay inside my sweltering bivy sack while bugs buzzed angrily around my head, trying to find a way past the netting to eat a tiny piece of my skin. Biting flies are the worst. I'm still using that skin. Can't they wait until I'm done with it?


Anyway, here are some images from today's ride. First the view from my camping spot, then from the ride. I forgot to mention a couple trail washouts in the pictures below.