Dorothy: [has just arrived in Oz, looking around and awed at the beauty and splendor] Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.
Dorothy: [after a pause] We must be over the rainbow!
[a bubble appears in the sky and gets closer and closer. It finally lands, then turns into Glinda the Good Witch wearing a spectacular white dress and crown, holding a wand]
Dorothy: [to Toto] Now I… I know we’re not in Kansas! –The Wizard of Oz
We had the option of two routes. One route had quite a bit of technical difficulty such as rocky climbs and descents and the other was fewer miles and not as technical. I took the easier route as my technical skills are quite lacking.
The day started off easy enough and I was moving right along. There were so many photo opportunities that I stopped often for photos. Then we came to a fork in the road and took the left option. The road got very muddy, quite steep and slow to navigate. After riding / walking for a spell, I came upon a covey of riders contemplating the direction. Seems that the right fork was the correct way to go.
I backtracked but the right option was also steep and muddy. I walked quite a bit and it is also elk bow season, so we had quite a few hunters zooming past us, some with an elk in the truck bed. The climbing was quite hard and at one point it looked like a big storm might be in the offing. I lucked out cool clouds but no rain. I was thinking that this being the easier route was a cruel joke.
After about 30 miles, the dirt road changed to pavement and I was in for a miles long descent with speeds over 35 mph. I was about 25 miles from Steamboat and missed the lunch turnoff. While the first half was mostly climbing, the last part was descending. I made good time and somehow passed the other riders who must have stopped along the way.
I was first into camp but that didn’t mean anything since many took different routes. Tuesday is a rest day but I plan to visit the Moots factory where my bike was born. Most of us also took our bikes to Orange Peel Bicycles for tune-ups, repairs and spare parts.
We will say good-bye to too riders with us from the start, Brad from Edmonton and Ray from Australia. I had good rides and conversations with both. They will be missed but in our hearts as we peddle towards the border. Both Ray and Brad would have liked to proceed but had family commitments.
Thanks for reading
Tailwinds
Chuck Hardesty – riding for The Backstoppers.org
chuckhardesty 
In the “it’s a small world” category, Brad and I grew up in neighboring communities on the northern outskirts of Edmonton, and we went to the same high school. That said, Brad is three years younger than me, but he knew my younger brother in high school. In any case, we know a bunch of people in common.
Looks like the bikes are getting stressed too, since you all took your bikes to the bike spa (Orange Peel Bicycles)!!
Thanks for the blog.
Ken C.
Ha – that is a funny story. We miss Brad and I think he was going to Palm Springs for a few days before going home. Orange Peel turned away some local walk in business for the day and I think did an overall great job. David from Steamboat has been the man to arrange and set up many things. Very mch fun riding with him as he has a lot of great ideas and thoughts on ways to improve such as cycling,camping etc.