Denver and First Day Hike

Colorado is an active and outdoor oriented city.  There are hundreds of miles of bike trails within the Denver city limits and infinitely more trails, routes and hikes outside of the city.  Below are pictures of a bike trail that is built along a river basin in the heart of downtown Denver.

From our house it is easy to jump on the bike trail and bike across the entire city in 30 minutes.  There are no stop signs or stop lights which makes it easy to get into a quick rhythm.  

While Jen is at work I usually bike across town to an incredible REI that was converted from an old brick manufacturing plant.  In the center of the REI is a huge climbing pinnacle.  

Jen made her first attempt at rock climbing despite her fear of heights and she did really well.  She made it to the top!

Me Below

This same day on the way back to our house from REI we ran in to a farmer's market at Cherry Creek Mall.

We bought some locally baked bread.

And for lunch Jen had fresh ceviche and I had a pulled pork sandwich that used buttermilk biscuits for the bread and had all kinds of delicious fixings like onion fries and home made cole slaw.  At $8.50 it was a luxury for sure.  

This is a 360 degree view from a bridge in downtown Denver.  On the far left you can see a small brick building, that is REI.  Just below the bridge is the Platte River.  REI took a section of the river and created man made rapids so you can test kayaks or other water equipment.  

The Day Hike:

This past Sunday we made our way outside of the city and went in search of a good hike.  Jen, Audrey, Jessie and I (Jessie and Audrey are optometry students working at Hellerstein and Brenner's with Jen) drove 60 miles South West to a small town called Idaho Springs.  It was an old mining town that now boasted tourist attractions like river rafting and camping.  We had planned out a 10 mile hike to the Chicago Lakes:

Chicago Lakes Trail to Idaho Springs Reservoir, Hiking, Idaho Springs, CO

The initial views were beautiful and all four of us were excited to be outside of the city and in the middle of vast wilderness.

  

A few miles in we hit the Idaho Springs Reservoir

We ate lunch at the Chicago Lakes.  Elevation 11,500 feet.  From where we were we could see Mt. Evans peak which is well over 14,000 feet.  Everyone we have met in Colorado keeps referring to "a 14.  You have to do a 14.  We are going to hike a 14er this weekend etc."  Basically there are numerous peaks over 14,000 feet in the area and a lot of people make it a goal to climb one.  Before we leave, Jen and I have to do a 14 I guess.

Every night of the week I can play pickup soccer at a nearby park.  It is incredible how much the locals of Denver are committed to spending time outside, doing exercise.  It is a great environment if you like getting off the couch and out of the house.

Cheesman Park Memorial Pavillion

Our first real weekend in Denver was great.  We explored the city, went on a long hike and saw some of the surrounding wilderness.  It is our goal to do something new and worthwhile every weekend.  Next weekend we are headed up to Audrey's Aunt's Cabin to do some fishing and cush camping.  The following weekend Jen and I will scope out some 2 day backpacking trips.

In the meantime I have been participating in studies at Denver University for a little pocket money.  One was a psychology study and I'm going to another today that involves listening to music for an hour or so.  More to come.  

  

Eastbound and Up

So we had finished the ride!  And of course, the chaos was not over.  We spent the night of June 9th in LA at Chez Shapiro.  Jen had to be at Hellerstein and Brenner's private optometry practice in Denver by Wednesday the 13th.  We got in the car on the 10th  and started driving.  First stop, Jens' parents house in Jackson.   

 
                             
We made it to Jackson from LA in about 6 hours.  We spent the night packing the car while Zoe was jumping in our suitcases and rolling in our folded laundry.  Jim made us dinner and we went to bed exhausted.
It was pretty easy to get up at a relaxed 5:30 am after waking up consistently at 4:30 am for the previous week.  Our goal was to make it to Salt Lake City, Utah by nightfall.  We took the 88 to the 80 East and drove for a full 10 hours.  The scenery was unremarkable, I guess we took the non-scenic route.

                       

 

                       

 

 Salt Lake City is a strange place.  The whole city is on a big slope and it was designed as a nearly perfect grid.  Apparently this makes it very easy to find where you want to go you just have to decipher coordinates like East 2700 and W 1300 and boom, you are there.  They also have interesting alcohol restrictions and a pervasive anti-gay sentiment in Salt Lake City.  Two unfortunate qualities.
Two friends of Jen put us up, Jeremiah and Annie Ray.  I didn't get pictures of them (they are in the background) but did manage to get a pic or their dog Hank.

I have to quickly mention what happened just before we got to Jeremiah and Annie's house.  So, we made great time to Salt Lake arriving a full hour before we expected.  It was hectic, it was rush hour and we wanted to bring a bottle of wine to our hosts as a "thanks" for taking care of us.  While we were getting gas we spotted the sign for a Whole Foods through a space between two buildings.  We got in the car and drove around a tall business complex in the direction of the Whole Foods.  Seeing the sign for the parking lot up ahead on our right we signaled to turn in.  There was almost no visibility at the entrance to the parking lot.  With cars furiously riding our bumper, two tourists blocking their rush hour rush, we hastily pulled into the lot with a loud CRUNCH, SNAP, TUMBLE, silence.  Shit.

There was a low clearance bar, completely without purpose I might add, at the entrance to the parking lot and our nice road bikes that had taken such great care of us on our 545 mile ride took the brunt of the blow.  So much for making great time.  We pulled into the lot, a bystander came over and handed us one of the snapped off bicycle seats with the seat post, still attached, split cleanly in half.  We got out to assess the damage.

All in all it wasn't as bad as we first thought.  Handle bars check, Thule Box Check, Bike mounts 1 broken, bicycle seats 1 snapped, and the rack was pulled off the car but undamaged.  Luckily Jeremiah was AT Whole Foods and came rushing out to help.  We put our bikes in his car, drove to the nearest REI (at the cross of 3100 and 1500 or something like that) and purchased a new bike mount for $140.  The best part of the whole story, in my opinion, is that at Whole Foods, or any other grocery store in Salt Lake, they do not sell wine or any alcoholic beverage of any kind.  Thanks.

Jeremiah and Annie treated us to a delicious dinner and we went to bed.  The next day we made an uneventful 8 hour drive to Denver.

Arrival

We pulled into the Extended Stay in Aurora, just South East of Denver.  The place was nasty.  There was no one at the front desk when we arrived and the office was dusty and full of dead bugs.  An older homeless looking man with a protruding, exposed pot belly was holding a bundle of laundry, waiting for service, just like me.

We finally saw the room.  Depressing.  There were people smoking outside everywhere, whole families poured out of one room suites and hung out in the parking lot as if they'd lived there for years.  Suspect individuals sat in cars and apparently one of them made some comments towards Jen while I was at the office canceling any obligation we had to stay there.

Jen called a friend and at the last minute we were given the basement apartment of an older couple, Jackie and Randy Rein.  Our connection to the Rein's is pretty distant.  Jen's friend from childhood, Hildy, is married to the Rein's son Josh.  Hildy and Josh have a baby (pic below).  The Rein's were kind and hospitable.  They made us dinner, offered to do our laundry and asked around for places for us to stay.  While Jen made it on time to her first day of rotations I started making calls for a place to live.  60 calls later, nothing.

Jen had some very helpful patients and co-workers however.  One woman offered for us to borrow her car (not sure how that would help our housing situation but thoughtful nonetheless) and another gave Jen an IPhone 4 which I promptly sold on Amazon.  Finally Jen's co-worker was able to recommend a basement apartment in her brother's house in a very popular and well-located part of Denver known as Cherry Creek.  It was too expensive but we took it and now, that is where we are.

                              

         Picture of our apartment

                              

 
 There are bike paths all over Denver

                              

 
        Bike path below city streets

                              

 

Jen has been working and I have been hanging out, writing this and other things and exploring Denver.

San Francisco to Los Angeles on bikes.

Family and friends,

Thank you for helping us raise the money to go on AIDS/Lifecycle 11, it was a great experience.  Our team raised just over $32,000 for AIDS prevention and community education.

Day 1

We woke up on the morning of June 3rd in John's apartment just above the Castro and drove to the Cow Palace arriving at about 5:15 am.  We said goodbye to John and Roxy and rolled our two big suitcases to the "L" Budget truck that would be carrying our gear for the duration of the trip.  Inside we huddled by garbage cans, discarding power bar wrappers and gogurt pouches, trying to eat enough food to power us through the first 15 mile stretch of the ride.  

2,500 people barely filled the floor level of the Cow Palace.  We did some group stretching that looked like a weird spandex rave and listened to stories of people who'd lost their loved ones to AIDS.  Jen and I sat up in the stands, held hands with strangers and felt really lucky to be a part of something so important.

After the speeches it was a madhouse to get to our bikes.  A police escort took us the first 6 miles out of San Francisco and lead us to Highway 1. The atmosphere was really friendly and as the day wore on the fog burned off and a truly perfect California day provided beautiful views of the coast.  

We took Skyline to the 92, went over a mountain and dropped into Half Moon Bay and from there it was the 1 all the way to Santa Cruz.  

Stopping at rest stop 2 we saw a group of 4 Dolly Partons, with huge balloon breasts and blond wigs.   Every day of the ride this group did something different and it was awesome. 

We continued down the 1 stopping to refuel at rest stops and take pictures at Pigeon Point Lighthouse. 

Approaching the Santa Cruz city limits a woman with a huge printed picture of her deceased brother thanked us for being a part of the ride.  All along the way people would be waiting for us with pictures or names of loved ones’ who they’d lost to AIDS and this made the experience truly rewarding. 

We pulled into camp across the street from Costco.  Every night we would be doing the same routine:  parking our bikes, getting our gear, heading to site “L72” to set up our tent, showering, eating and passing out.  There was usually just enough time to do all of this and go to sleep so we could wake up at 4:30am and do it all over again.       

Day 2

Our tent was wet from dew when we woke up on Monday the 4^th.  We got dressed, packed our stuff, applied the necessary creams and sunblock, and went to eat breakfast.  The sky was dark to the East but fairly clear to the Southwest, the direction we were riding.  At breakfast we overheard someone say, “It’s supposed to rain here today, but not where we are going in Salinas for lunch.”  This would later prove to be false information.

Stopping at the Ugly Mug in Soquel for free, yes free, coffee we listened to a DJ curbside, talked to some fellow riders and eventually got back on our bikes.  The time we spent here would turn out to be costly. 

Entering farmland South of Santa Cruz County, it began to sprinkle.  No big deal.  Then the wind picked up.  Again a minor annoyance.  By the time we stopped at Jen’s old work The Kayak Connection at Moss Landing to rest and take a pee we were soaked.  Jen talked with her old boss, I used the bathroom and then, after about 20 minutes (another timely mistake) we got back on our bikes into headwinds and freezing rain.  The weather had caught up with us.  Jen got on her bike and her rear tire was flat.  We changed it but the replacement went flat almost immediately.  With no more tubes we flagged down a rider from the tail end of the group.  He gave us a new tube and a CO2 cartridge for quick inflation.  Finally we were back on the road.

We rode on to rest stop 2 and it was at this point that I wanted to give up.  Jen was strangely warm but I was freezing and shivering somewhat uncontrollably.  Jen was ready to go so we went.  We rode through some of the most miserable conditions.  Mud shot up into my glasses from whoever was riding in front of me and made it hard to see.  Big rigs and cars zoomed past blowing us nearly off the shoulder.  I was wearing a base layer under a garbage bag under a jersey under another garbage bag.  I looked awesome but I was still freezing.  Jen and I were stuck in a pack for a while but finally decided to pick up the pace and pushed our already tired legs into motion.  As we picked up speed we passed riders and I started to feel warmer and more determined.  When we arrived at lunch it looked like the aftermath of a natural disaster.  Riders were squashed under tents, trees and eaves of buildings trying desperately to stay warm.  One group was already waiting in line for buses to take them to camp.  I said to Jen “Let’s make it a quick lunch and get back on our bikes so we can stay warm,” Jen agreed.  When we pulled in to bike parking they told us, “the course is closed, park your bikes and a bus will pick you up.”  Shit.     

Cafeteria Refuge

We waited for an hour in the rain, not moving, getting cold, making friends with whoever we were mashed up against.  They finally let us use the cafeteria of a nearby community college and, not surprisingly considering the crowd we were with (mostly gay men) there was a mylar blanket fashion show.  A bus finally picked us up at about 3pm but one of our team members had to wait from 1pm until 7pm to be picked up.  It was a tough day.

Day 3

Day 3 was one of my favorites.  We kept hearing rumors about a steep hill dubbed "quadbuster" which turned out to be not a big deal.

After riding up quadbuster with ease I was so revved because of the disappointment of the previous day that I kept going at a quick pace and finished the 67 mile day in a little over 4 hours.  Brian, one of my teammates rode with me while Jen rode with Elizabeth.  This day took us from King City to Paso Robles and after quadbuster I flew through open space on a smoothly paved road bordered by huge oak trees.  I rode at about 25mph on a nice long 4 mile descent.  Brian and I made quick work of rest stops, eating, stretching and drinking water all at the same time.

We eventually hit the 101 and stopped in Bradley (pop. 93) to buy some hamburgers that were made by local schoolchildren as part of a fundraiser.  The picture below is us leaving Bradley.

  
Brian and I arrived so early in Paso that we got (again free) massages, coffee, had our bikes fixed and set up camp.  That night the whole team went out for beers.

Day 4

One of our longest days, Day 4 took us 97 miles from Paso Robles to Santa Maria and to the halfway point.

Jen Climbing

Part of our team Halfway to LA!
From the left: Cassie Wright, Me, Elizabeth Schilling, Jen, Brian Walton

We faced a climb known as "The Twins" which proved to be more strenuous than quadbuster.  On the long descent we stopped at the Halfway to LA lookout to take a picture.  We had to wait for 45 minutes to hold the sign! 

This day took us through Morro Bay, Baywood-Los Osos, Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande and Nipomo.  We tried to stay together as a team but it proved difficult given the number of riders on the road and the different riding speeds that we were all capable of.  We got into camp at around 5, a full 10 hours of riding.  

Day 5

Red Dress day.  This was probably my favorite day of all.  I got to wear one of Jen's dresses.  In her words "you got more compliments in that dress than I ever have."     

  

Our faces make it seem like this is a really normal picture...

Ho, fo sho

Me with our two beloved roadies, Tom (left) and Cody (right)

 (Forget the name of the woman on the left) Tom, Jen and Cody

 Brian, Elizabeth and Steve

This guy (above) had two dudes following him around in a Jeep for the whole trip.  They were his personal roadies.  At lunch I overheard on of them ask "How is your headdress?" with great concern.  They also carted his little dog around.  This guy must of been some kind of celebrity.  

Anonymous fake butt

McCallister, Jen and Aaron

Aaron and McCallister were on the "princess" tour.  They never camped with us, but chose instead to sleep in hotels with running water and beds.  Foolish.

This day was a short 67 mile ride from Santa Maria to Lompoc and although there was some steep climbing early on, overall we cruised.  It was funny to see the faces of the people in Santa Maria as we road our bikes on main streets at 7 am in drag.  The school children looked especially confused.  What better way to raise awareness!  People were asking us constantly what we were doing.  

Day 6

Lompoc to Ventura.  83.3 Miles.  This was another beautiful California day on the coast.  We road past some famous surf spots and it was hard for me to keep my eyes on the road.  

Brian, Me, Cassie

Me in the front, Rincon in the back

101 South

One of the highlights of this day included a stop called "Paradise Pit."  A local AIDS foundation in Santa Barbara hosted a stop with free ice cream, fruit salad, pastries, and massages.  It was truly awesome.

After the paradise pit we continued down the coast.  I was having pain in my achilles and Brian was having knee trouble.  We were riding together and Jen and Elizabeth were about 30 minutes behind us. When we got to a rest stop a physical therapist brutally worked out some knots and tendons for us.  Later, when we arrived at camp the PT showed us how to roll out muscles with a foam roller.  It was extremely painful and people were laughing at me while I writhed under the pressure of the roller.  Here is Brian's face as he's getting rolled out, explains a lot.

The day ended with an awesome comedy show.  We were almost there.

Day 7

Ventura to LA.  60 Miles.  Although it was a relatively short day, the buzz about "the caboose" close on our tail kept us a little stressed.  The course closed early this day (3pm, all other days it closed at 7pm).  We rode through hectic Malibu single file, with traffic to our left and random car doors opening to our right.  We kept getting booted out of rest stops and by the time we hit lunch we were about 15 minutes ahead of the caboose and being swept.  We ate lunch and took some team photos.

Who is that sexy rider?

A mere 15 miles from the end we got back on our bikes and headed out.

When we arrived there were crowds of people cheering us in.  We got in 30 minutes before the course was closed and we rode in as a complete team.  Friends and family were there to greet us, we were done.  Gramps picked us up and took us home for a real, delicious meal.  The ride was over.    

                                      

We made it!

Me, Gramps, Jen

The best welcome home gift ever.

Next stop Denver...