Matt and Hannah already had a BBQ planned for America Eve (July 3rd), so Matt and I did a quick, early bike tour to check out New Belgium and O'Dells breweries before the party. I didn't have time to sample as much as I might have liked, but it's at least worth writing about my impressions from New Belgium.
First of all, both New Belgium and O'Dells are huge, and both were busy even before noon on July 3rd. Fort Collins clearly takes its beer culture seriously. New Belgium has a room for a strange game that involves rolling roundish stones (bolls) down a long court that is depressed into the ground with sides that curve up, in a mix of curling and shuffleboard. When I was there, it was overrun with children chasing the stones around. From the few stone-child collisions I witnessed, the bolls must be much lighter than they look.
Skip the next two paragraphs if you don't care about beer.
I've tried most of New Belgium's stuff before, including my favorite sour, La Folie. The 2016 La Folie is great as always, maybe a little more tart than last year, and I don't think that's a bad thing since I could still happily finish a large glass (slowly, of course). I'm not as familiar with sours and I won't get into a thorough beer review here, but I can definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a quality sour that's still very pleasant to someone like me that hasn't spent time training themselves to like sours. I was most impressed, though, by the Whiskey Fat Back, aged as implied in whiskey barrels. I think of New Belgium as a producer of lighter, summertime, drinkable beers that I'd look for in 12-packs to supply a party with reasonable beer at reasonable cost. The Whiskey Fat Back, though, was something else entirely. It poured amber, but tasted darker. Very woody, with strong notes of vanilla and caramel, and noticeable but not overpowering boozy flavor. Basically, a craft beer that seems meant to compete in a whole other market -- something that I'd be willing to share and savor a bottle of, even let it age, rather than something to buy in bulk for a party that wasn't meant to revolve around beer. Unfortunately and despite my insistence, there aren't any plans to bottle Whiskey Fat Back.
O'Dell is great for IPAs, and I can definitely recognize and acknowledge that, but IPAs aren't usually my jam. I know, it's blasphemy to say that in the northwest, but it's true; so many IPAs are nothing but hop-bombs that, I imagine, were created so that beer connoisseurs could feel superior whenever a normie calls them too bitter. Anyway, the atmosphere at O'Dell was great and they had something like 40 taps available, but I went for the first stout I could find on a casual inspection. It was enjoyable, but most beer is, and I got the sense that it was there just to round out their offerings. I can say that they had a great food cart, though, selling some interesting sandwiches. We had to return to the BBQ before really getting into their beer.
Continue reading here if you skipped the preceding two paragraphs.
I met a bunch of real physics students at the BBQ, all pursuing PhDs and generally planning to stay in academia as long as possible. Turns out there isn't much call for subatomic particle physicists in industry, though I imagine the few opportunities that do exist are insanely cool. We failed to light some wet charcoal and then took over someone else's grill. I ate too much, as intended, and fell asleep on the grass. Later, I woke up, went inside, and fell asleep again. I woke up at 10 PM, moved slightly, and went to sleep a third time. Turns out I'm not very aware of when my body does and does not need sleep.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Priorities - Day 39: Walden, CO to Fort Collins, CO
I woke up early in Walden and realized that I had just camped illegally on the courthouse lawn. I arrived late and left early, so either no one saw me or no one cared. I packed up and went to the actual free camping spot to see if anyone I knew was there - apparently, the women hadn't made it that far, even though the visitors' center in Riverside said they had passed through. I imagine they ended up in a campground along the way.
I spoke with a father-son westbound pair from the Netherlands, and waved at a large group of cyclists packing their things into a support van. They weren't as interested in taking with me. At first, I assumed their aloofness was a superiority thing, since they could afford thousands of dollars for their trip while I schlepped all my own stuff, but later I realized that in their place, I would probably be worried that self-supported folks would look down on the those with a support vehicle. I also realized that they might be kind of right, which is unfair of me. I think that the value of my trip comes largely from escaping rigid schedules, exploring my own limits and abilities by setting my own goals and pushing myself to meet them, and proving that a bike is actually useful for transportation instead of just a toy, all of which I don't think I would get from a supported tour. With support, the schedule is set for you, the goals are chosen for accessibility, I would rely on herd instinct rather than personal initiative, and the bike would feel redundant when a van is right there anyway. For me, it'd feel like paying some actors to help me pretend to adventure. But is there anything wrong with that, if you're honest about it? Again, I don't think it's fair of me to look down on their trip -- they don't have to have the same goals as I do, they could have health or other issues complicating things, and really, anything that gets people on a bike should be encouraged. Plus, who am I to judge a supported ride when the majority of my "adventuring" comes from video games?
Anyway, with these thoughts in mind, I left early and headed off route -- this time, intentionally. The official Trans-Am trail stays west of the Rockies for a while and explores some nice views and ski towns, but I chose to duck into Colorado proper to visit a friend, try the beer, and experience places like Boulder, which I hear are amazing. I picked up a map from State Park State Forest visitor's center and headed west on Highway 14, which involved a 2,000-ft climb to break 10,000 ft before dropping about 5,000 ft again into Fort Collins.
I had to keep reminding myself to breathe harder than I felt like I should, but the climb wasn't too terrible. The descent was absolutely beautiful, but I felt robbed -- I had a headwind the entire day, so all that altitude didn't translate to an easy day of watching the sights zip by like I expected. I spent almost no time coasting. Even in a tight tuck, the wind brought me to what felt like a crawl if I didn't keep pedaling as hard as I could. I did still manage to make it ~100 miles into to Fort Collins while it was still daylight, where I stayed with Matt Hogan, who is another UCSC physics grad; his wife Hannah; and their two small but aggressive dogs. I was still very happy for the place to stay even if the dogs weren't.
The river canyon along highway 14 is very steep and very difficult to photograph without proper lenses, much less an old cell phone. Here are some attempts, first a couple pictures from the climb, then a very fuzzy dog, then the descent:
I spoke with a father-son westbound pair from the Netherlands, and waved at a large group of cyclists packing their things into a support van. They weren't as interested in taking with me. At first, I assumed their aloofness was a superiority thing, since they could afford thousands of dollars for their trip while I schlepped all my own stuff, but later I realized that in their place, I would probably be worried that self-supported folks would look down on the those with a support vehicle. I also realized that they might be kind of right, which is unfair of me. I think that the value of my trip comes largely from escaping rigid schedules, exploring my own limits and abilities by setting my own goals and pushing myself to meet them, and proving that a bike is actually useful for transportation instead of just a toy, all of which I don't think I would get from a supported tour. With support, the schedule is set for you, the goals are chosen for accessibility, I would rely on herd instinct rather than personal initiative, and the bike would feel redundant when a van is right there anyway. For me, it'd feel like paying some actors to help me pretend to adventure. But is there anything wrong with that, if you're honest about it? Again, I don't think it's fair of me to look down on their trip -- they don't have to have the same goals as I do, they could have health or other issues complicating things, and really, anything that gets people on a bike should be encouraged. Plus, who am I to judge a supported ride when the majority of my "adventuring" comes from video games?
Anyway, with these thoughts in mind, I left early and headed off route -- this time, intentionally. The official Trans-Am trail stays west of the Rockies for a while and explores some nice views and ski towns, but I chose to duck into Colorado proper to visit a friend, try the beer, and experience places like Boulder, which I hear are amazing. I picked up a map from State Park State Forest visitor's center and headed west on Highway 14, which involved a 2,000-ft climb to break 10,000 ft before dropping about 5,000 ft again into Fort Collins.
I had to keep reminding myself to breathe harder than I felt like I should, but the climb wasn't too terrible. The descent was absolutely beautiful, but I felt robbed -- I had a headwind the entire day, so all that altitude didn't translate to an easy day of watching the sights zip by like I expected. I spent almost no time coasting. Even in a tight tuck, the wind brought me to what felt like a crawl if I didn't keep pedaling as hard as I could. I did still manage to make it ~100 miles into to Fort Collins while it was still daylight, where I stayed with Matt Hogan, who is another UCSC physics grad; his wife Hannah; and their two small but aggressive dogs. I was still very happy for the place to stay even if the dogs weren't.
The river canyon along highway 14 is very steep and very difficult to photograph without proper lenses, much less an old cell phone. Here are some attempts, first a couple pictures from the climb, then a very fuzzy dog, then the descent:
Improper incentive - Day 38: Rawlins, WY to Walden, CO
Trail advice said to stay with Carim and/or Brandon in Saratoga Springs, about 40 miles from Rawlins, which would be a pretty short day. Apparently they're just the coolest people and they take anyone who shows up, even finding people with loaded bikes in town to bring back with them. I was feeling guilty about taking a rest day so soon after the Lander rest day, though, and thought it would be funny to show up where the women I met before would probably be, so I only stayed in Saratoga long enough to get some food. In retrospect, I probably should have just stayed since that kind of anxiety is exactly what I'd like to get away from in the first place.
The next place to stay would have been Riverside or Encampment, which I learned are not just one place named Riverside Encampment. That would have been a 60 mile day, which is pretty reasonable. I thought I would likely stay there due to a number of storm cells in the area, including one that dumped a bunch of marble-sized hail which stung through my rain jacket and kept ringing my bike bell for me. With no shelter around, I was just about to get off the bike and set up my tarp when it lessened. I stopped in the Riverside visitor center, looked up a radar map of storm activity, and saw that the cell covering my path out of Riverside was starting to fade and there appeared to be a brief opening to Walden, CO, CO, about 40-50 miles away for a total of 110ish miles. So, I left.
The storm cell I'd been watching continued to move away from my path, and I made it to Walden without getting a drop of rain. Riding at night through the Colorado portion was probably not the worst idea, either, as there was no shoulder to keep me out of daytime traffic. At night, traffic is sparse and well-lit, so it was easy to just get off the road whenever everything around me started to glow from someone's headlights. Walden had free camping in a park one block east of main street, but I was tired enough that I accidentally went west instead. There was another "park" there, too. I think I realized this was the wrong place once I saw that there were no tents around, but there was a cozy looking spot between some concrete barriers and a backup diesel generator where I wouldn't be seen. I assumed that there would be no power outages tonight and thus no need to start the generator, and went to sleep.
Here's a sign in Saratoga, likely addressing cycle tourists:
And here's the sign welcoming me to Colorado at something like 9 PM, which is still light at high elevation:
The next place to stay would have been Riverside or Encampment, which I learned are not just one place named Riverside Encampment. That would have been a 60 mile day, which is pretty reasonable. I thought I would likely stay there due to a number of storm cells in the area, including one that dumped a bunch of marble-sized hail which stung through my rain jacket and kept ringing my bike bell for me. With no shelter around, I was just about to get off the bike and set up my tarp when it lessened. I stopped in the Riverside visitor center, looked up a radar map of storm activity, and saw that the cell covering my path out of Riverside was starting to fade and there appeared to be a brief opening to Walden, CO, CO, about 40-50 miles away for a total of 110ish miles. So, I left.
The storm cell I'd been watching continued to move away from my path, and I made it to Walden without getting a drop of rain. Riding at night through the Colorado portion was probably not the worst idea, either, as there was no shoulder to keep me out of daytime traffic. At night, traffic is sparse and well-lit, so it was easy to just get off the road whenever everything around me started to glow from someone's headlights. Walden had free camping in a park one block east of main street, but I was tired enough that I accidentally went west instead. There was another "park" there, too. I think I realized this was the wrong place once I saw that there were no tents around, but there was a cozy looking spot between some concrete barriers and a backup diesel generator where I wouldn't be seen. I assumed that there would be no power outages tonight and thus no need to start the generator, and went to sleep.
Here's a sign in Saratoga, likely addressing cycle tourists:
And here's the sign welcoming me to Colorado at something like 9 PM, which is still light at high elevation:
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