The morning was easy - downhill 9 miles on nicely graded roads (albeit with some fresh cow crap, ostensibly from the herd I ran out of my camp after waking up). I passed through the hamlet of Sargents, unfortunately the café was closed so I couldn’t get a 2nd breakfast, but I did get an unsecured WiFi signal so I checked emails. No phone service, though, this AT&T prepaid card is only useful in the larger towns and cities.
I camped at Upper Dome Lake instead of the recommended day’s end on the other side of Cochetopa Pass, due to the pile of nice firewood in the campsite, the proximity of a concrete craphouse, tired legs, and a pump for water. Oh yeah and the nice lake where I took a bath in my birthday suit.
While setting up my tent another GDR rider came by – Bobby Dery from Grand Junction, Colorado. He’s an emergency room physician and was out for a six day ride, traveling ultra light without panniers or a trailer. He had 4 packs:
1/ Camelback with 100oz. bladder + gear
2/ Bike frame pack with a Platypus 100oz. bladder + gear
3/ Under-the-handlebar bag with tent, sleeping pad and ground cloth
4/ Rear-facing seat bag with sleeping bag, clothing and a very small alcohol stove
Nice full-suspension 29er bike, too. All-in-all his gear + packs weighed only 13lbs/8kgs! I don’t even want to think about what I’m carrying in my trailer…
After all the gear and life and travel talk, I made another big ass fire, we watched the lightening of far-off storms, enjoyed the night sky, then bedded down.
