Day 108

Miles 41.69 Total for trip 4204.72
Avg spd 6.74
Max spd 31.08
Climb 1691
Alt chng ++1167
I got out of Ashton at around 10.30 and figured I would have an easy day today since I would be riding on a path for around 30 miles today. I got to the Warm River and there was a neat place in the river were the fish were protected and you could feed them. There were some real big trout, but I could not get any good pictures of them. I went through the Warm River Campground and thought it would be a nice spot to come back to.

The trail I took from the Warm River was an old railroad line. The first 6 miles of the trail was great. It was a hard dirt trail that ran along the Warm River. After around 6 miles the trail turned into a sandy soft lava that was tough to ride, and the cows in the area thought they owned the trail. I had to get my whistle out to get them to clear enough space for me to ride through.



This is a old tunnel on the rail trail. It was closed, but there was a nice trail around the tunnel.

I camped at the Big Springs Campground. It was located at the start of a big spring that starts at the bottom of a large mountain. The water is crystal clear and stays at 52 degrees throughout the year. I did some hiking around the spring and checked out a cabin in the area. I had my usual for dinner and went to bed around 10.30 pm.

Day 107

Miles 47.28 Total for trip 4163.03
Avg spd 9.60
Max spd 27.64
Climb 1609
Alt chng --957
I got out of Flagg Ranch to a really nice day. I again was not sure how far I would be going today. I went on the John D Rockefeller JR. Memorial Parkway today. It was a nice dirt road that had 8 campgrounds along the way. I stopped at the 8th campground, which was tho only one with an empty spot. I ate a little snack, and took a small hike along a nice creek. There were some nice photo opportunities today, unfortunately I missed some, because my camera battery went dead after the Grassy Lake Reservoir.

I don't know if the last 4 days have softened me up or the final 20 miles of dirt road were exceptionally rough. I blame it on the road. The road was washboard and had gravel with no nice spot on the road so I could not escape the washboard. by the time the road changed to pavement my body was sore so I decided to go the extra 6 miles into Ashton so I could get a cheap room or find an RV Park to get a nice rest and get my camera charged. Ashton seems like a nice town. It must get a lot of snow since some of the dirt roads say, "No motorized vehicles other then snowmobiles." I had a good mushroom burger for dinner, watched a little TV, and got to bed around 11 pm.

Day 106

Miles 15 Total for trip 4115.75
Avg spd 10.58
Max spd 31.82
Climb 493
Alt Chng ++121 Today I was not sure how far I was going. My so-called schedule has me in Flagg Ranch on August 2nd. Flagg Ranch is only around 15 miles from Colter Bay. I decided to play it by ear today. I went around 8 miles and hit some road construction. I was keeping up with the cars, but when I got to the flagger I was told I would have to ride in the pace truck. It was not big deal, I was talking with the flagger for around 30 mins, and the pace truck pulled up. I took off my trailer and loaded everything into the truck. I road in the truck for around 1 1/2 miles, suddenly he pulled over, and my ride was over. I thought it was strange considering I was still in the middle of the construction, but what do I know. I road for around 3 miles or so, up ahead I saw another flagger. I pulled up to him and he said I would have to wait for the pace truck. I told him I just got out of a pace truck. A different pace truck pulled up, and I loaded my gear into it and road another mile in the pace truck. I finally made it out of the construction, and to my left was Flagg Ranch, which seemed like a good place to stop for the day. It kinda seemed like a day off. I made my dinner with the last of the home grown onions, garlic, jalapenos, and tomatoes. It was great. I took a little hike, did some reading, and went to bed.

Day 105

Miles 43 Total for trip 4100.75
Avg spd 11.01
Max spd 28.64
Climb 1222
Alt chng ++639 The parents and I after a good meal on the morning of their departure.

Today all day I will be riding along the Teton Mountains and Jackson Lake. I got out of Jackson and got onto a nice paved bike path along Hwy 390. I went by Teton Village today and saw 5 gliders coming from the top of one of the peaks. It was a great ride today until I got to Moose-Wilson Rd, where my chain broke and I could not get it fixed. I had a new chain, but was to busy eating and playing cards for the last 2 nights to put it on. I got a ride for a couple miles to Moose where I had planned on meeting my parents for a great lunch. I put on the new chain and had some great fish for lunch. We met at Jenny Lake after lunch to possibly take a boat across the lake to see a nice waterfall, but there was so many people we decided against that. We were going to camp at Colter Bay Village for the night.

It ended up raining for the most of the second half of the day, but it was still a great ride with

some awesome scenery. Tonight was my night to cook. I fried up some onions, spam, garlic, corn, and fresh tomatoes. Mixed it with wheat pasta, it was great. I think SPAM might become a staple at the Suhr house.

Day 104

Miles 77.5 Total for trip 4057.75
Avg spd 12.02
Max spd 31.82
Climb 2029
Alt chng --869
I left the tent trailer at around 8.30 thinking I had eaten too good for a couple days. I stopped and got a pop to try and calm my stomach for the 78 mile ride today. It seemed to work and felt good after a little diet coke. This area of Wyoming is just a little different from the first 4 days of riding. The first 4 days were sagebrush, cows, and sagebrush. This area is right near the Teton Mountains, and big rivers that are popular rafting destinations.

Today the first 30 miles was a slow climb, but without all my gear I was able to keep up a good average. It was downhill for the next 30 miles in a nice canyon, which followed the Hoback River. This area of WY is busy. Yellowstone Park has had the most visitors ever this year, and it is flowing over into surrounding areas. I was glad there was a good shoulder on the HWY today, because of all the traffic. I got into Jackson today after 78 miles, I was tired, but would have been much more tired had I carried all my gear. I had a great meal waiting for me at camp. Home grown green beans, potatoes, and ham. It is going to take a few days to get back to toughing it after my parents go back to Boise.

Made it to Idaho

I am in Ashton ID. I pulled in yesterday and the temp was a nice 66 degrees. I tried to upload my pictures today, but the WiFi I am using will not upload any so I will try to get them caught up when I get to Montana.

Hope everyone is having a great summer.

Days 102 &103

I am currently enjoying a couple of days off. I have stocked up on energy via some great home cooking.

I am changing my route for the next couple days. I will be traveling Hwy 191 to Jackson WY, then up the Jackson Spur to get back to my route.

Happy riding.

Day 101

Miles 48 Total for trip 3980.25 It looks like someone took a wrong turn in the photo above.

This morning I said my goodbyes to Aaron and Mike, and left Little Sandy Creek around 8 am. I was going to try and make it to Pindale by 3 pm. today looked like it would be a fairly easy 50 miles. Not a lot to see on the ride today, plenty of sagebrush and cows. I met up with Hugo, he was going to try and catch up to Aaron and Mike today so he was looking at going 95 miles. I made it to Boulder WY around 12 pm and was going to use the pay phone and take a long break, but there was not pay phone so I decided just to push on to Pinedale. I ended up making it to Pindale before 2 pm. It seems to be a busy little city. There is some building going on and a lot of tourists hanging out in the city. Tomorrow I am looking forward to meeting up with my parents and taking the day off.

Day 100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miles 47 Total for trip 3932.25 I planned on taking an easy day today so I got out of camp around 10.30. I knew there would be a little climb to start the day and decided I would do quite a bit of walking today. I went through Atlantic City WY. The city has been through a few boom and bust cycles, now it is a tourist spot. It has a nice B&B and a couple bars in town. It was a long climb out of Atlantic City to the Carissa Gold Mine(pictured above). The mine is no longer operational, but when gold hit $850 an ounce there were some that wanted to re-open it. Wyoming decided to restore the buildings and have it open for tours. There was a bus full of people touring it as I went by.

I was really looking forward to a rest area that was about 24 miles into my day today. My master plan was to sit at a picnic table for a few hours and relax. I got to the rest area and there was a bunch of construction going on and the picnic tables were blocked of. I checked my map out to see what the next possible camping area was and it was the Little Sandy Creek about 22 miles away. I had a few hours of light left so I thought I would be able to make it. It was a tough 22 miles, rolling hills and not the best road. I pulled near the Little Sandy Creek area and saw a couple bikers. They were riding South. I camped out with them and swapped stories about each other's trip. They started in Helena MT, which sounds like a great city to spend an extra day. We talked for a while, I made it up passed 11.00 for the first time in a long time.

I crossed over the Pony Express Trail, but did not travel on it.

Day 99

Miles 68.6 Total for trip 3885.25 Talk about an oasis. 70 miles of nothing but sagebrush. I climb over the last hill for the day and see this great river on the other side.

I would like to thank the great state of Wyoming for marking the roads that I needed to turn on for the last couple days. Without my odometer I would have been doing some guessing, but every road was marked.

Today was the long day. From A&M to my next stop was 68 miles with possibly no water until my destination. Last night the coyotes were howling(it sounded like a huge pack). I think I set up camp in their watering hole, my mistake. This morning I wished I had a fishing pole, the fish were jumping big time. I lucked out on the weather today it was overcast just about all day and I even got about a 30 minute rain shower. The area I was riding today was all sagebrush, no trees could be seen for the whole 68 miles. My water was doing ok, but I was not drinking as much as normal because of the lack of water. There was a Diagnus Well on my map at mile 57, but it is not always running. I stopped and walked the 1/4 mile to the well to check it out. Sure enough there was water running from the spicket, so I filled up on water there. I told myself if it was running I would camp there for the night, but it was not a good area to camp so I pushed on to Sweetwater River. I am glad I did, Sweetwater turned out to be a great spot to camp.

Day 98

Miles 56 Total for trip 3816.65 I stopped at a little gazebo on the way out of town to read a newspaper and eat breakfast. While I was there a family that was just visiting relatives in Boise stopped by and ate breakfast. they were on their way back home to Nebraska. Later in the day I passed by a biker and he started his trip in Boise, and went through Riggins and is now on his way to the coast. It is amazing how many people I have passed that just came from Boise.

As I was leaving Rawlins I saw a restaurant called China House. I wondered if that was the Chinese place Dan said he had the worst Chinese food ever? The restaurant claimed to have the best food in town. I am not sure who to believe. I got about 15 miles out of town and turned onto Mineral X Rd. I would call it the loneliest paved road in America. I was on it for 26 miles and only 3 cars passed me. I turned off the loneliest paved road in America towards my destination for the night, A&M Reservoir. There were many Pronghorns(see photo) along the route today. They were fast so this was the best picture I could get. I got to A&M around 6 pm and had a relaxing dinner and filtered enough water for the long haul tomorrow.

Day 97

Miles 25 Total for trip 3760.65

I woke up knowing I only had 25 miles to get to Rawlins WY so I was going to take it easy today. It was all pavement to Rawlins so it was one of my easiest days for a while. I met up with a couple riders going South. They had stayed in Rawlins for 2 days. They said that there was a third in their bike group, but the other had a bad fall and had to be taken to the hospital in Helena MT and could not go on. I road around Rawlins for quite a few miles today. It seems like an old quit town with not much going on, but there are many new hotels and the KOA camp ended up being quite full for a Sunday. It sounds like it is a stop along the way to and way back from Yellowstone.

Day 96

Miles 68.6 Total for trip 3735.65 The top photo is called Aspen Alley, there is a nice campsite after the trees, but it was too early in the day to stop so I kept on going.

I got out of camp today with around 3 liters of water thinking it would be plenty since I was going to be along a river for around 20 miles to start the day. I was along some great river scenery and saw a mansion in the middle of nowhere(see photo). Unfortunately all the river access was heavily fenced so I decided once I got to Hwy 710 into Wyoming I could find some water to access, the 710 did not have any, hopefully the 70 would have a creek running along side it. There was not any water the first 10 miles into WY, which were all up. I was trying to go lite on the water just in case I could not find any for awhile. I had my last drink around the top of the long hill. I was hoping the work center would have some. I got to the work center road and turned to find a great little creek. I took around a 30 minute break and filtered enough water to fill all of my water bottles and bags. My next turn was Aspen Alley, it was a great ride for the next 15 or so miles. The last 8 miles to camp was tough. Rolling hills that went up and down around 300 ft. I got to my designated campsite to find it was too marshy so I had to keep riding until I found a suitable spot along the side of the road.

Day 95

Miles 40.4 Total for trip 3667.05 (My odometer has bit the dust, until I can fix it or get a new one the miles are just an estimate off of my map)


I found the road out of Steamboat Springs, yes it was the road that was right across from Ace. It was a nice paved road for around 20 miles. I almost continued on the paved Hwy 129, but decided the dirt road that I had planed would have better scenery and less traffic. I did decide to take a paved alternate so I stayed on 62 and continued to the great city of Columbine. It was more of a row of cabins then a city. It seemed like a great getaway. It was only a short 6 miles to Steamboat Lake State Park and just a mile from some great dirt roads to see nice scenery. I ended the day early at the top of a good climb. There was a nice camp spot with some shade. I decided it would be nice to start tomorrow with a nice downhill.

Day 94

Miles 51.86 Total for trip 3626.65
Avg spd 11.18
Max spd 29.08
Climb 1614
Alt chng --1293
I had extra miles to go today, but I did all the hard riding yesterday so it should be a nice ride into Steamboat Springs. I was about 1/2 mile out of camp when I heard some loud splashing in the creek next to were I was riding. I stopped an saw a moose staring at me. I grabbed my camera and got some pictures before he could run away. He got out of the creek and ran a couple hundred feet down the road.

Today I road by the Stagecoach Reservoir, which is relatively new in reservoir years. It was started in 1983. There are a lot of nice houses around it. I got to ride a nice trail about 1/4 of the way around the reservoir, the trail ended up going right over the dam. It was a great ride today. I was riding by the Yampa River for most of the day. It is a nice little river that goes through Steamboat Springs and a lot of people ride tubes and rafts down it.

The above photo is me on the Stagecoach Dam.

I found a bike shop and picked up a bunch of spokes, co2, and a chain whip so I could replace all the bent spokes. I found I needed a larger wrench so I found an Ace Hardware on the edge of town. I worked on replacing the bent spokes for about 2 hours and put my bike back together so I could get out of town. Little did I know I was so fart out of town that the road I needed to turn on was right across from Ace. I got on the 40 and road for around 3 miles and saw the 42, which I should not have seen if I went the right way. My map showed the 42 would allow me to turn onto a road to get to the 44. I road on the 42 around 2 miles and the only roads I saw were private gated roads so I gave up and went back into town. It was 7.30 so I decided I had better stay at the overpriced RV park for the night. It was a good thing because the next day there was not a place to camp for around 25 miles, it was all private land.

Day 93

Miles 31.10 Total for trip 3574.79
Avg spd 5.50
Max spd36.74
Climb 4198
Alt chng++1282

After a good nights sleep I decided to go with my original planned route, which would take me near the Colorado River and have a lot of climbing for the day. I am glad it was Wednesday because the rafting traffic was bad. If it was the weekend it would have been terrible. I made it up the first climb with no troubles, it was the descent that I had some trouble with. I was shifting down, I was going to stop and take some pictures, when my chain went off track and got stuck in a bad way on my rear wheel. It turns out that 3 spokes were broke, many were bent, and my derailer will not go into granny gear any more.(I did get some good pictures) I worked on it for 1 1/2 hours or so to get it good enough to get to Steamboat Springs. The rear wheel was real wobbly, but it seemed ok to ride under 20 mph or so. I didn't have to worry about going too fast today since the majority of the day was going to be uphill. I was around 8 miles before my planned campsite, but I was tired and I found a nice hunter's campsite so I decided to stop for the day.

Day 92

Miles 41.61
Total for trip 3543.69
Avg spd 12.29
Max spd 36.74
Climb 1054
Alt chng --961
I left Frisco this morning with an option of staying on paved Hwy 9 the whole way to Kremmling or get on dirt road 132 after about 10 miles. I decided to stick with the pavement today.

My phone has been lost. I thought I left it in the motel, but they said it was not there. The only other time I could have lost it was when I took my jacket out of my camera bag to take a picture of Dillon Reservoir. All I know is it is lost for good. I am glad it was just the cheap Nokia I got a few weeks ago. It was a pretty easy day today. I stopped at the Green Mountain Reservoir and took a break, other then that it was a straight ride into Kremmling. I found an RV park at a good price and stayed there for the night to debate on taking another easy route to Steamboat Springs or go with my planned route.

Or maybe he shanghaied some riders in Pie Town

I just noticed Aaron posted a pile of photos but no pictures of him. I think his ratio is getting messed up. Dave and Beth can you rectify that situation when you see him next week? Or we could just start posting pictures of random bike riders we find on the web.

Like maybe this is a picture of Arron after his crash...

Missing Phone

Hey everyone,

Aaron has misplaced his phone. It may be packed away in his stuff or it may be left at the hotel in Frisco. So I would not expect Aaron to answer calls, messages or texts until he gets that sorted out.

Alternatively, he may be getting tired of me calling asking what he is getting off the dollar menu at McDonald's.

Either way he is going stealth.

Love to all...

Day 91

Miles 27.58 Total for trip 3502.08
Avg spd 9.42
Max spd 31.08
Climb 1219
Alt chng --941 The ride today was over the 2nd highest pass of the trip, called Boreas Pass. The ride up was nice it was not that steep just a long gradual pass. When I got around 2 miles outside Breckenridge it started raining fairly hard. I got to the city and tried to wait out the rain for around 30 minutes. The next leg of the trail was a nice bike path, so even so it was raining I went towards Frisco CO. The rain picked up and it started hailing real bad. It got so bad for a portion of the bike path I was riding through around 1/2 inch of hail. After getting to just outside of Frisco I found a bus stop and stopped there to wait out the rain. I decided to get a room for the night, dry out and get my laundry done.

The upper photo is the outskirts of Breckenridge CO. The city is a survivor of the gold rush and has become a tourist trap all year long.

The above house was built in 1881 for the section boss and his workers who were maintaining the Boreas Pass section of the Highline Railroad. The house was restored and was opened to the public in 1996 and can be rented from November to May.

Day 90

Miles 29.55 Total for trip 3474.50
Avg spd 6.41
Max spd 29.22
Climb 2270
Alt chng ++1230 I felt good waking up today and was looking forward to a good day. The above picture is above the historic town of Como CO. The area from Hartsel to Como looks like someone had a big idea of a lot of 5 acre plots. There are many roads that are cut into the rolling meadows along the 30 miles of Elkhorn Rd that I travelled. There are some nice homes, but many of the buyers just put a camper on the plot and many stand bare still for sale. The only price I saw was 5 acres for $9950. There was even a day use area built with picnic tables, BBQs, softball field, and a nice playground. It seems like a nice area, but I am sure it snows a lot during the winter and If my 1 1/2 days are the norm it also rains quit a bit in the area.

I went off course 1 mile to get to my campsite for the night, Selkirk Campground. It was great getting into the campground, downhill for a mile. I am not looking forward to riding out in the morning.

I am glad I got into camp early because it started raining hard about halfway through cooking dinner. I finished dinner and got into my tent to eat and read. I was in bear country and the sign said, do not eat in your tent, sleep in you cloths you cooked in, or keep dishes near your tent. I did all three, oops. It was really raining so I had an excuse. The bears did not sniff me out during the night.

Day 89

Miles 42.61 Total for trip 3444.95
Avg spd 6.38
Max spd 28.64
Climb 2917
Alt chng ++ 675
Not a whole lot for today. I had about a 6 miles climb to start the day and I think I had some bad Mcdonalds yesterday so I was dogging it all day. It was one of those days where all the uphills went straight uphill and my downhill I was supposed to have never materialized. I stopped at Hartsel CO for around an hour to wait out the wind. The wind didn't stop so I pushed on. The area I was in today was not a campers delight. No trees, just meadow grass and weeds as far as the eye could see. After getting to around 9600 ft I found a nice place to camp in some trees. I did not see a no trespassing sign anywhere so I thought I was ok. Today was a tough day. I think I will take it easy tomorrow.

Day 88

Miles 43.45 Total for trip 3402.34
Avg spd 7.11
Max spd 36.74
Climb 3389
Alt chng ++271 The above picture is of O'Haver Lake on my way down Marshall Pass. It looked like a great place to camp, but the day was young so I kept on riding.

Today out of camp I had a 17 mile uphill that covered 2300 ft of altitude. Lucky for me my food pickup is today in Salida(the end of the downhill after the 17 mile uphill) and I only have 1 day of food left so my trailer is the lightest it has ever been. I did the best I have done on a big uphill. I would say I only walked around 1 1/2 miles of the uphill today. I passed a few ATVers and they yelled their support. I got into Salida with time to spare and hit the Post Office. I got my food packed and was happy not to have the extra weight for the trip up the hill today.

Salida didn't have any camping so I was going to get out of town a couple miles and set up camp. Boy was I wrong. There were not any good camping spots out of town. It was private property and very steep. It was probably twice as steep as the hill earlier today plus I had 25 more pounds in my trailer. I walked quit a lot out of town. I ended up going 1300ft up and 4 miles out of town before I got to San Isabel National Forest and was able to find a place to set up my tent.

Day 87

Miles 69.5 Total for trip 3358.89
Avg spd 9.37
Max spd 33.56
Climb 3055
Alt chng --774
Today was decision time. I could either have an easy day of around 25 miles or a tough day of around 70 miles. I decided since I did the pass yesterday that I would do the 70 miles since there was only 1 pass in the 70 miles. I got done with the 25 miles in good time so I stopped at Luders Creek Campground for a break. Sure enough a lot of mosquitoes. I ran out of bug repellent a few days ago and keep forgetting to get some when I get into a small town. I cut my break short and hit the road. There were a couple of nice reservoirs, Upper & Lower Dome, along the way today. Not a whole lot happening today. I met another biker going South. He was doing a lot of miles per day. He started around June 8th and was flying back on July 18th and was hoping to finish the whole ride.

I camped at Sargents and talked with another biker who is doing a route through some major parks. He is taking a couple weeks off in Michigan to get his wisdom teeth pulled and then is off to Massachusetts. He didn't bring a sleeping bag, because he was only going to be at high altitudes for a few days. The day before at the campsite it got down to 29 degrees. Lucky for him I don't think it got down below 40 the night we were there.

Day 86

Miles 40.4 Total for trip 3289.39
Avg 7.16
Max spd 30.95
Climb 2692
Alt chng ++1351
I left Del Norte knowing I was only going around 32 miles so I stopped and read the paper at a gas station. I made good time the first half of the day so I went off track to La Garita to get a bite to eat and a soda. While I was there I ran into the last(really the last) Divide Ride Racer. He was around 55-60 years old. He asked me about the Indiana Pass. I told him it was ok when it wasn't raining. He was thinking about take tomorrow off in Del Norte. I also ran into a group of 15 motorcyclists who were using the same book I am to cycle the divide. I got out of La Garita after about an hour. I had a 1500 ft climb to get to Storm King Campground, my site for the night. When I got to the campsite I rested for a few and found the mosquitoes to be very bad, and when I saw the cost of $5 for the campsite I decided to push on over the pass. It was only another 500ft to the top off the pass and after a couple miles downhill I found a nice hunter's campsite. For dinner I tried anchovies with my pasta. It will probably be the last time for that combo.

Day 85

Day off. Did laundry and watched some TV.

Skype Snapshot

I was talking to Aaron on Skype and took advantage of the opportunity to snap a picture of him. He is starting to look a bit scraggly.

Day 84

Miles 51.04 Total for trip 3249.99
Avg 7.7
Max spd 33.56
Climb 4019
Alt chng --1987 The above picture is of my gear after about 25 miles of rain and mud. I was happy I was in Colorado where the road is hard dirt/mud instead of New Mexico where it is clay and I would have had to pull over and wait it out.

I had to climb down a couple hundred feet to get the picture above, but it was worth it.

Today I was to climb to my highest peak of the trip. It is called Indiana Pass. I passed the above private lake at around 10,000 feet. It was great. There were signs saying do not get out of your vehicle, but since I was on a bike I thought it was safe to take a couple pictures.

The above picture is of Platoro. It is a nice little fishing and mountain village. There is a nice reservoir a couple miles past the city. It would be a nice place to spend a couple weeks.

I decided I needed a dry place to sleep tonight so I stayed in the local Del Norte Inn and uploaded everything. I see a day off in my future.