I thought I would do a report on my summer bike ride. Originally, I had planned on riding the first 50 mile leg of the trip for the Finish Well ride. This is a fund-raising project for a senior citizens home for abandoned & at risk seniors in Guerrero Mexico that my friend Alisa was undertaking this summer, riding her bike from Oklahoma to Alberta.

Links:

Finish Well Ride

Finish Well Facebook Page 

She had arranged for a sag (supply and gear) car to follow her for the whole ride to Canada. The sag car carried all the camping gear, bike repair stuff, snacks, water, etc.; so we did not have to carry it on our bikes. Generally the sag car would drive ahead & meet us every 10 to 15 miles so we could restock our water bottles and get a snack.

The ride started on July 20 in Oklahoma City with the first day destination being Alisa's hometown of Crescent Oklahoma. So, how did I end up riding all the way to the Utah/Wyoming state line instead of Crescent Oklahoma 50 miles away??? Believe it or not, my first experience with plantar fasciitis! On June 29, I woke up hobbling around with arch/heel pain on the underside of my foot. The pain dissipated quickly & I was able to run that day. For the next few mornings, I experienced the same issue culminating but was able to run as planned. On July 3, I ran a 10 mile run with the OKC running club & was hurting at the end of the run. I finally came to my senses realizing that it was the dreaded PF & decided to take a break from running to let it heal up. So, on July 4, I started riding my bike so I'd be ready for the ride on July 20. My fitness level was such that I was able to ramp up the miles rapidly with two 100+ mile weeks in a row including a hilly 50 mile ride (the Norman Conquest). During my ride on July 18, I started thinking about riding more of the fund-raising ride with Alisa. That is reflected in my Facebook post that day, July Facebook post link I talked with Athena about it & got the OK from her. On the first day of the ride asked Alisa if she wanted another rider thru Kansas & Colorado. The answer was affirmative & the beginning of my summer cycling adventure began.

Day 1: Oklahoma City to Crescent Oklahoma

Hot, hot, hot!!! Since we started at noon in Oklahoma we knew it would be a hot ride. We started with 15 riders of all ages. The young kids stopped at the end of the parking lot, a few more stopped at a local park, and 7 of us went all the way to Crescent. I'll be linking to the Facebook posts from the ride a lot since the descriptions & pics tell a more complete story. Alisa's description of that first day on her Facebook post, “Day one finished!!!! 53 miles in 106 degree weather... Off to a great start! Thanks for all who took their time to come out and be part of. Couldn't do it with out you!”

Day 2-4: Crescent Oklahoma to Wichita Kansas

I had other obligations so was not able to ride this portion of the trip. I joined them in Wichita on Sunday evening.

Day 5: Wichita to near Radium Kansas

Long (109 miles) and hot ride with the wind mostly at our backs through the Kansas prairie. We left at dawn on what we knew would be a long day. Nice & cool in the morning but by noon it was another scorcher.

Day 6: Radium to Plainville Kansas

Another early start to beat some of the heat, by afternoon another very hot day, completed 89 miles total.

Alisa's blog for the first 6 days. She's a much better writer than me.

The First Six Days

Day 7: Plainville to Levant Kansas

Longest mileage day on the schedule. Another early dawn start with a light tailwind for the first half. By noon we had a hot quartering headwind for the second half. 111 miles total.

Day 8: Levant to St Francis Kansas

A nice day so we padded on some extra miles (62 miles total) and stowed our bikes in an airplane hangar at the St Francis airport & rode in the Sag car back to Goodland where we had a place to stay. James & Kelly were supposed to head back to Oklahoma today, but will stay on with the ride until Ft Morgan Colorado.

Alisa's blog. Alisa's Blog Post from Goodland Kansas

Day 9: St Francis to Wray Colorado via Haigler Nebraska

A three state day! Kansas, Nebraska, & Colorado! 42 miles total. One of our favorite places to stop especially early in the morning was the local coop in small towns along the route. Good coffee, clean restrooms, & local information. In Haigler Nebraska, we stopped at the coop for a bathroom break. I was waiting out front when the 25 year old manager came out to say hello since I was wearing my OSU cycling jersey. She was a recent graduate of OSU. Alisa & I posed for pictures with her in front of her OSU regalia in her office (picture on Alisa's phone & not posted/shared yet).

We had planned on going further than Wray but knew lodging/camping choices were slim for quite aways past there. As we were going through Wray there was a town festival going on. When we smelled the local coffee/bakery/pastry shop, the smell enticed us to stop. With all the activity in town we were quizzing folks in the coffee shop as to our camping options further down the road. All hotels in Wray were booked for the festival & the only camping there was in a city park where a car show was going on. While standing in front of the coffee shop trying to decide our next option, a local lady was asking Alisa about our bike trip. Alisa gave her the gist of what we were doing... and then the lady told us we could camp in her yard on the edge of town (& use her bathroom/shower, too!!!). We took her up on her kind offer, cut our ride short, pitched our tents, took showers, & enjoyed the town festival that evening while Alisa & Cynthia took the Sag car back to Goodland where Alisa was speaking at a church fundraiser. Alisa & Cynthia rejoined us the next morning.

Day 10: Wray to Fort Morgan Colorado

A nice 88 mile ride today. Two of our riders had to return to Oklahoma & their real jobs when we arrived in Fort Morgan. We had planned on camping but ended up staying at a hotel.

Video montage from the first 10 days. https://www.facebook.com/OKCtoAlberta/videos/1797079540332579/?hc_ref=ARSV5Adx6mrmA3TCAs5keaB0MN4qLoZZk97ZMZufVNIYRrPNtNdtOZiQ8AhYJ39KBWQ

Day 11: Fort Morgan to Greeley Colorado

Google maps bike route took us a little off-course today trying to put us on sand roads. Those don't work well with skinny rode bike tires. We found a back road that took us most of the way to Greeley without being on either the access road to the interstate highway or on busy US34. So our planned 55 mile ride became a 60 mile ride.

While on the ride today I was discussing with Alisa the logistics of the ride from Colorado to Wyoming since a new Sag vehicle was taking over at the halfway point of the ride in Wyoming. I found out that our current Sag car was returning to Oklahoma on August 11 (the day I was flying from OKC to Seattle for youngest grandson's 16^th birthday on August 18). With this information I was able to reschedule my flight of OKC/Seattle to a Denver/Seattle on August 12. I could continue on the ride until we reached the Utah/Wyoming stateline, then my bike & I could ride to Denver in the Sag car where I'd catch my plane to Seattle & my bike would continue on back to Oklahoma.

Day 12-14: 3 days off in Denver

This was originally to be 2 rest days but it turned into 3 as we were ahead of schedule by a day and were awaiting the arrival of a new sag driver flying in on Wednesday along with Alisa having a speaking engagement on Wednesday evening. Three rest days were great for recuperating after the long rides in the prairies & for getting a full rest before entering the climbs in the Rockies.

Alisa'a Blog "Days off in Denver"

Day 15: Greeley to Ansel Watrous CG

The first half of the ride today was mostly on bike trails from Greeley to & thru Fort Collins before starting the climb up into the foothills. The climb on the second half wasn't too bad, just a steady but not steep climb. Greeley elevation was ~4800 feet, Fort Collins at ~5000 feet, & the campground was almost 6000 feet. Total miles for the day, 58 miles.

Day 16: Ansel Watrous CG to Aspen CG (near Gould Colorado)

Tough climb today to the top of Cameron Pass 10,276 feet with a nice downhill to finish the day. Total of 53 miles today.

Day 17: Aspen CG to Walden Colorado

Short ride of 23 miles today to rest up for the ride up to the continental divide at Rabbit Ears Pass. We stayed at a motel in Walden the Moose Capitol of Colorado. Didn't see any moose though.

Alisa's Facebook live video from downtown Walden

Day 18: Walden to Steamboat Springs Colorado

Another tough day of climbing with an exhilarating but frightening descent at the end. A long steady grind up to the continental divide at Rabbit Ears pass. The downhill into Steamboat was crazy fast with speeds occasionally above 40mph.

Alisa's blog pretty much says it all. https://1sojourneronearth.com/2017/08/06/watershed-moments/

Day 19: Steamboat Springs to Juniper Hot Springs CG near Lay Colorado.

A 68 mile ride to a campground that was not on any of our maps. The ranger station in Steamboat told us about this primitive campground with a pool fed by a hot spring. It has been a camping site for the Ute tribe for hundreds of years and had a brief history as a medicinal site for the mineral and warm springs. By the time we arrived it was almost dark. We set up camp quickly and the girls went for a soak. It was pretty chilly out so I deferred. I think I made the right choice because when they got out they were chilled for quite awhile even sitting around the campfire.

Day 20 Lay to Dinosaur Colorado

Another tough 63 mile hilly ride into a pretty stiff wind.

Day 21 Dinosaur Colorado to Red Leaf CG Utah

70 miles was our plan for the day, but this may have been the toughest day of the trip so far. Flat tires (bike & car), storms, big climb out of the Great Basin & just being tired forced us to stop at a campground in Ashley National Forest at mile 53, well short of our goal at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

Facebook live at the start of the ride

Day 22: Red Leaf CG to Manila Utah thru Flaming Gorge NRA

A beautiful 44 mile ride today, great scenery even on some serious climbs, & once again an exhilarating down hill at the end.

Day 23: Manila Utah to Wyoming state line

Made it to Wyoming. This was as far as I could go. I really wanted to continue on but was unable to juggle my summer schedule any more. Thankful to have gotten to ride along with them this far.

Grand total of 1,045 miles on the bicycle for my part of the ride. 

I hope Alisa & Cynthia have a great ride to Canada.

Paul

More links if you wish to follow the ride all the way to Canada.

Finish Well Facebook page

Finish Well main website

Thanks for the great report and pictures.  Well done (both the incredible ride and the report)!    I followed along during the trip, but having it all here in one place is better.   Loved reading this.

Great report.  Looks like an amazing trip.

Very fantastic, Paul.

Not many people are stu, . . . I mean, can turn a one-day, 50-mile ride into a three-week, 1,000-miler on a whim without any accommodations reserved along the way let alone do it with someone who's goin' on for another thousand or more.

ps- knowin' the conversations that otherwise wouldn't happen is what makes it hard to part with some of those old event T's too.

Paul, fantastic report and fantastic ride.

Paul - what're your longest rides before this?  Are you gettin' ready to do something even more daunting?  How's  the swimmin' going?

Great read.  What an amazingly cool adventure!! . . . my butt is sore(er) just thinkin' about it. 

A wonderful journey. Thank you for sharing it in your own words and pictures.