[ Saturday, July 05, 2003 ]
Day 122 to Day 132
Leadville, CO. Sitting in a café, feeling vaguely irritated by the 4th of July. Trying to figure out why. I've got no particular grudge against the 4th of July. I'm not anti-American. I'm not patriotic, either.
Maybe I'm just irritated by seeing the holiday hijacked by all the disgusting and silly "United We Stand" bullshit, and the somewhat more understandable, yet equally pathetic "Support Our Troops" bullshit. The groupthink ideology that whatever it is that "our troops" are doing around the world - no matter how illegal, immoral, or shortsighted - we must support them . . . my country right or wrong . . . Fuck that. It's idiotic and irresponsible.
Anyone who really cares about the troops is demanding that they be brought home now. We can't support "our troops" in waging an immoral and illegal war (and now occupation) of a sovereign state blah blah blah. Bring the troops home - they aren't fighting for my freedom, anyway, they're killing and being killed for the interests of the wealthy and a few corporations.
So the 4th of July. Freedom, great. Liberty, great. Imperialist war, fuck it.
Which reminds me,
"All these people talk about is freedom, but whenever they see somebody being free, it sure pisses 'em off." - from Easy Rider
Oh well, that's enough of it. Back to the travelogue. Riding my bike. I love mountain biking. I've been on a ride nearly every day since I got here (Colorado). Could ride a different trail every day for another 10 years and still not have done them all. The quality and extent of the riding is amazing.
Boulder, CO. Camped around Nederland for 2 days, and rode at Walker Ranch. Internet café in town (Prufrock's- free wireless DSL, thanks), Tibet Kitchen, and hanging out on the Hill.
Leadville, CO. Elevation 10,152 ft. Drive up, up, up, damn, how high can this place be, to visit hometown boy Jeff and his wife Sally, avid bikers and all-around lovers of the outdoors.
Jeff, his brother Chris, and their friend Seth take me on a (for me - the altitude-impaired) lung-busting ride to over 11,000 ft before we scream down some fine bomb-ass singletrack high above town.
The next day Jeff and Sally and I ride another fun singletrack loop around Turquoise Lake (photos above), and I depart Leadville (for now) to meet long lost friend and fellow SF ex-pat Molly down the mountain at Edwards.
We take Molly's van on a two day roadtrip north. I feel a little lost and weird having temporarily abandoned the Bad F*cker Mobile, the official Homeland Drifter support vehicle, for a Westphalia. But it's nice to see how the other half live - with built-in propane stoves, refrigerators, and running water. Damn, Girl, you got 10 ft. ceilings! Still, I like the Vanagon better.
Rancho (Vanessa) del Rio, CO. So Molly, Molly's Westy, and I go up to Rancho del Rio to camp and investigate kayaking classes for her. This is a funky weird little "town" of perhaps 30 people on the Colorado River. We pull in at dusk. Everyone in the hippie-land-that-time-forgot is either drunk or stoned. There must be some kind of free beer exchange ritual or something - everyone we meet here either offers us a beer or asks for one of ours. Camping is 2 bucks. It's on the river. Burlington Northern trains go by all night . This is soothing and reminds me of my childhood.Note: Everyone in Colorado drives a Subaru Outback or a Forester with a couple of bikes on a roof rack. It's true. I saw it.
Radium, CO. Anyway, the next day molly and Molly's Westy - Almashark - and I go up to Radium, in search of the Radium Hot Springs. After a nice hike we find 5 raft people standing in an ankle-deep puddle of tepid water right next to the Colorado. This is the sorriest "hot spring" we've ever seen. Nice hike, though, even though the investigation demanded a 5.7 scramble up and down the mini-gorge to the river.
Flat Tops Wilderness, White River National Forest, CO. We camp up near the wilderness. It's Colorado, it's beautiful. Deep Creek - this place's version of the grand canyon. Tecate and mac-n-cheese, wilderness at 2 miles up in the sky. Life is fucking grand.
The Colorado Trail. It's all about the bike now. I leave Molly and Molly's Westy and camp the next few days on the Colorado Trail around Kenosha Pass, and then near Bailey. I ride 20 miles of the trail one day.
Another shorter ride, and then I head back to Leadville and Jeff and I do another section of the trail on the approach to Mt. Elbert (highest point in the state - 14k+ ft.) Rocky fuckin' mountain high. It's great up here. Jeff is patient as I dismount and desperately gasp for air every couple of hundred yards.
At least when I get back to CA sea level riding everyone will be eating my dust on the climbs for a change. Hear that, JP? Better get a lighter bike.
Soundtrack: The Cure, The Head on the Door
Reading List: Mountain Biking Colorado's Western Slope, by Phillip Benningfield
Website: www.suicidegirls.com [7/5/2003]
PAY ATTENTION BLACK ROCK CITY
