60 miles (97 km) – Total so far: 2,344 miles (3,772 km)


Everything came up Milhouse this morning. Just next to the bakery a bike shop laid dormant presumably waiting for a bevy of bike mechanics to come in and serve all the needs of a very picky TransAmerican cyclist. This turned out to be exactly the case as a lingering breakfast transformed into a gearhead extravaganza. I was able to get a critical replacement bolt and nut for Persephone’s hindquarters. The mechanic, Bergin, was a wizard. His fellow mechanic Robbie joined in the fun and they tuned and tweaked my machine back into a state of perfection.



Finally getting around to the key activity of the day, bicycling across America, we rolled out of Frisco to enjoy another 10 miles of twisty-turnsy, upsy-downsy bike paths. They were so fun that even after they ended, Chuck and I worked hard to make our own bike paths through various subdivisions along Colorado highway 9. We achieved moderate success.

Paul and Terry spotted us about halfway through our explorations and not five minutes later, my successful pathfinding morphed into a rocky, gravelly, single track mountain bike ride. I handled the situation appropriately: baseless confidence and bluster. By the time the Brits saw through my bravado they were at my mercy and had no choice but to carry on. Fortunately, the views are astounding, so my “shortcut” advice was soon forgiven.


The rest of the ride to our campsite had a lot of variability. Traffic ranged from gentle to rough throughout the day. Sometimes we had headwinds, but largely it was a downhill tailwind kind of a ride. The mountain views were amazing most of the time. Chuck mentioned that as the scenery went from Colorado’s 14k ft peaks to the more open lower peaks and valleys further North, the beauty changed from Epic to Grand. I couldn’t agree more. The day stared Epic and ended Grand.

The real treat for the day is the campsite where I’m sitting right now. We entered the Hot Sulpher Springs State Wildlife Area and set up camp just above to the Colorado river. We’re far enough down the valley that we can’t hear the cars over the rushing river. There will be absolutely no lights out tonight that we can see from our camp area. We finished early. A perfect spot.

So very nice to see your photos, and enjoy your enthusiasm. I’ve crossed this out try many times in a vehicle and can’t imagine doing it on a bike, but for all it hazards, I am with you as any companion would be wishing you on.