June 8, Day 33, Waldon, Colorado-50 miles

Sometimes one just walks into the wrong establishment. I did just that yesterday evening when I rode a mile down to the tiny town of Riverside and entered a bar called the Mangy Moose. My famous Spidey senses started tingling the second I walked through the front door. The bar was packed and everybody had a cigarette going, a cheap beer in their hand and looks on their faces that can only be derived from a lifetime of miss spent opportunities and questionable decision making. I walked over to the only open seat at the bar and sat, realizing that nearly everybody in the place was looking at me, and they were not looks of love.

After the bartender walked past me numerous times without even looking at me I figured that my presence here, for whatever reason, was not going over well with the regulars. Four particularly edgy looking looking blokes, sleeved out and leathered up were giving me some serious hard looks. I was just about to get up and leave when a rough neck looking person, whom I believed may have been female, walked up to my right and asked me if I was a cop. She said people around here don't trust cops and If I am a cop, this is the not the best place to be. I told her I was actually a bicycle rider passing through town, just looking for some food and maybe a beer. I pointed to my bike out front and asked her how everyone here feels about bikes that you pedal. She(I think) either didn't get my humor or didn't appreciate it and after a moment of reflection, I decided this was the wrong bar to be in. I gave the tough boys a smile and walked, half backwards out of the bar. Silver and I walked 50 yards down the road and into the only other bar in the area called the Bear Trap. Better clientele, non smoking and nice monitors to watch hockey. I ate a plate of pasta and downed two large Shock tops while relating my experience next door to the waitress. She told me everyone in that place has been in prison or will be at some point.

I rose bright and early to get going today, just like the last few days. The weather is a big motivator here for travel purposes and I knew that major and severe thunderstorms were slated to arrive in the early afternoon and carried the possibility of tornadoes. I was moving by 7:20 AM and decided not to mess around for the first three or four hours. I only had 50 miles to ride today but most of them were uphill. I rode hard and had the wind at my back so I made great progress. I also entered the state of Colorado.

I encountered a couple on loaded bikes coming the opposite direction and we met at a turnout. Kevin and Susan, two young adults from Kentucky were doing the majority of the TransAm route from Kentucky to Oregon. They related that they had camped out in Waldon the previous night at the city park, but they didn't realize that Saturday night was outdoor movie night and the while town came out to the park to watch the movie, "Frozen" on a huge outdoor screen. The noise kept them wide awake so they found a heated public bathroom at the edge of the park, went inside, put up their tent, locked the door and slept in the bathroom all night. Yuck.

Kevin and Susan, Potty campers

As I got within about 10 miles of Waldon, the air became very cold and I changed back into my cold weather gear. Low hanging ominous looking clouds began developing and the winds picked up significantly.  I could see some scary looking cloud formations over the area near Waldon and I wondered if I was going to ride right into them. I pulled the ponies out of the barn and turned it up a couple of notches in an effort to beat the storm clouds into Waldon. I rolled into Main Street just minutes before the rain and lightning started. By then I was sitting comfortably at the River Rock Cafe sipping hot coffee and warming up.

News reports were coming in at the restaurant that tornadoes had touched down in the towns of Aurora and Fairplay Colorado. It looked like most of Colorado was dealing with severe weather.

Colorado Rockies near Waldon

The town of Waldon is situated in an area of Colorado called North Park. At 8,200 feet in elevation, it is surrounded on all sides by high peak mountains and sits just outside the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge and the Routte National Forest. Waldon calls itself the top Moose watching area in Colorado, but upon further investigation by yours truly, it is actually the Arapaho Refuge where most sightings occur. This area of Colorado is a popular rafting, fishing, camping, hiking and snowmobiling location. Today however,its just pouring rain.

Today also happens to be last day of the third 10 day riding section. The totals for the last ten riding days are as follows:

Mileage- 605 miles                        trip total- 1780 miles

Elevation gain- 27,373 feet            trip total- 80,040 feet

Calories burned- 45,706                trip total- 132,754 calories

Thus far there have been 30 days of riding and three days of rest for a total of 33 days.