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josh on the road tracking progress |
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Z-Gatts' Cross-Country Cycling Odyssey June 14, 2003, Josh Gatts by his own power and wit began to cross the continent upon which many of us dwell. He finished his trip at the Great Plains on July 13th. This page served as the up-to-date supplement to his own travel site at http://www.orangegorilla.net/bike_tour.html. As Josh emailed progress reports along his trek, we tracked his route on shamelessly stolen maps, compliments of Rand McNally. back to orangegorilla (Josh's site with photos from the trip and other groovy details such as a packing list) back to the ladytrap (Simon's main site)
phase four: COLORADO
JULY 13th: Greetings, friends and relations. Wednesday, I rode east from Pueblo, out of the eastern foothills of the Rockies and into the Great Plains. Pushing through a persistent headwind, across a flat landscape of green grasses and yellow flowers, I concluded that I did not want to continue my journey. My thoughts had begun to turn unpleasant, and I wasn't able to recover the rhythm and sense of excitement that I'd felt for the first weeks of the trip. I've already traveled through the most beautiful and challenging part of the country, and I came to the conclusion that the rest of my tour was going to end up being a grind. This change of heart actually began a couple of days before I got into Pueblo, but I had decided to push on to see if I would feel better. Of course, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't continue to the east coast, but I didn't want to be miserable for another month. At any rate, in my 4 weeks of riding, I saw some spectacular sights, met some interesting folks, got a feel for how people live outside of California, and even learned a little bit about myself. I'm not turned off to bike touring by any means. Even as I rode back toward Colorado Springs, I was formulating plans for next summer's ride down the Pacific Coast. (I'm trying to recruit people to join me, in case anyone's interested.) I've refined my minimalist camping technique so that I'm able to get a good night's sleep now. Next trip, which will have to be purely camping since I'll be a poor student, I just need to find a way to get reasonably clean without a shower. I'm flying to Pittsburgh on Tuesday to spend a couple of weeks with my mom and stepdad. Hopefully I can find a bike there and do a bit of riding in the Pennsylvania countryside. I'll be working on my website, posting pictures and my closing thoughts. I'll send out an e-mail to this list when it's ready for prime time. Thanks to everyone for reading my ramblings over these past few weeks. I really appreciate everyone's support and encouragement. --Josh
JULY 7th: "Heya, folks! Sorry it's been so long since I've been able to send out an update. My route across Utah was very sparsely populated, and I've had trouble getting to a computer in Colorado as well, particularly because of the long 4th of July weekend. Anyway, here I am, and thanks to my ma and Simon for sending out the updates on my progress. "My
God, Utah was spectacular! If you haven't been there, go! There are miles and
miles red rock and slickrock canyons with huge, otherworldly formations looming
overhead. I rode through several national parks and monuments: Bryce Canyon,
Escalante - Grand Staircase, and Cedar Breaks. The cliff faces, especially in
the eastern part of the state, almost look like they've been painted by some
abstract artist who has only two colors in his palette: medium red and dark
red. There are some petroglyphs as well, which are pretty neat, although it
took me a lot of squinting and head tilting to see the critters depicted by the
ancient native people. "The riding in Utah was pretty tough. It was extremely hot, and when I wasn't climbing the steep grades up the mountains, I was fighting gusty headwinds. When the headwinds petered off, I would be surrounded by a cloud of flying insects interested in salt and blood. Absolutely worth it, though, for the scenery. "Now, Colorado is pretty as well. I am in Pueblo at the moment, on the eastern fringe of the Rockies. The climbs in the Rockies were much easier than those in Utah, though traffic was heavy at times with 4th of July revelers towing watercraft and trailers. I crossed the Continental Divide yesterday. The Rockies consist of dark cliffs covered with aspen, cedar, and pine, surrounding valleys of wildflowers and grass. Most of the flat land is used for grazing cattle and horses. "I've been riding straight for 10 days now, so I'm going to take a rest day to check out Pueblo and let my sore bits recover. Riding into Pueblo felt entering a huge metropolis: with a population of over 100,000, it's the largest city I've been in since California. It was about 105 degrees and, uh, raining, today. The thundershower only lasted for 30 minutes or so, but it was pretty intense. I was compelled once to ditch my bike and run for cover when lightning struck nearby. "It'll probably take me less than 2 days to get to Kansas from Pueblo. It looks like a pretty flat ride for the next, oh, 1000 miles or so... "Here's some statistics: I've ridden about 1650 miles, longest day was 125 miles (Hanksville to Blanding, UT), max speed 50.5 mph (descending Monarch Pass, Colorado). My food consumption is approximately 5000 Calories per day, and I'm still losing a bit of weight. "I'm paying by the minute here at Kinko's, so I'd better get going. Take care, y'all!" --Josh JULY 4th: PAM: "Josh phoned from Montrose, Colorado. Is considering a side trip north to Denver and Boulder. Stay tuned to tour update for the latest in breaking news."
Proposed route in red Progress tracked in green
Cities along Colorado stretch:
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Pueblo, CO City Hall
Montrose, CO
