Well, I'm in Lincoln, NE at another public library. I brought my camera but the damned computer won't let me upload any photos, grrrr! Anyhoo, I suppose I'll just try to catch you all up at least a little bit. (Sidebar: For those who need more frequent and colorful updates, Fred has been keeping his blog more current.)

Let's backtrack a ways and talk about the Rockies, shall we? I'll tell you about Monarch Pass. My second day of riding was initially supposed to end in Gunnison, CO, which is a little more than 4o miles west of the beginning of the climb up Monarch. But thankfully, I felt good and made good time going into Gunny and was therefore able to push on to cut down the next day's mileage. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to camp until I got right up to the bottom of the pass, so I ended up riding nearly 40 miles further than I had originally planned for and 20 miles further than I wanted to. But it's okay, because the campground I eventually came to had a nice convenience store, a restaurant where I got a pretty good burger, and a tepee with a cot for me to sleep on so I didn't have to set up my tent and all my other gear. I have photos, but alas, they will have to wait.

So the next morning I was rested and ready for the slog up Monarch. This is an extremely long and difficult climb and I was expecting it to come pretty close to breaking my spirit. However, after about two miles of climbing I finally settled into a rhythm and was able to climb at quite a steady pace, which is the absolute best way to attack a tough climb of any nature. Again, pictures speak louder here, so I'll just give you the vital statistics:

10.48 miles from bottom to top
2:09:25 ride time
4.8mph average
2,677' vertical gain
4% average gradient
10% maximum grade

When I got to the summit I stopped in front of the Forest Service sign to take a photograph and I heard a voice say, "Welcome to the top." I looked behind the sign and saw another cyclist who was sitting against the sign writing up some postcards. Turns out he had ridden up from the other direction and was on a week-long ride across Colorado. We chatted a bit and I gave him some advice about stopping in Telluride and he told me what to expect on the descent. I love meeting other riders on the road.

The descent was fast and easy (no hairpins) and before I knew it I was in Salida, CO doing an interview with Jonathan Schwab of the Salida Mountain Mail. Poor guy was nursing a number of injuries from a mountain bike accident; he had his left arm held inside his t-shirt like a sling. But he was interested in my story, asked good questions, and had his photographer take some action shots of me on my way out of town. He says the article should be published shortly, and I'll post a link to it when it comes out.

I spent that night at a KOA in Johnson Village.
Totals for the day:

58.51 miles
5:20:43 ride time
3,894' vertical
10.9mph average

(Spoiler alert: These average speeds will increase proportionately to the decrease in vertical gain. Thank you, Nebraska.)

The next day I continued north, riding through the town of Fairplay where I stopped to take a self-portrait with the "Welcome to" sign, which my sister Eve then emailed to the paper so they could print just the photo with a brief caption. I continued up 285 to the town of Bailey, where I asked several people where I could camp for the night. Everyone initially looked around like a lunatic had just asked directions to the asylum and then told me to turn around and find a spot of National Forest Service land, which I did, backtracking a few miles in a burgeoning rain storm until I found this dirt road climb. This is where I set up camp and my new friend Sean offered me his camper for the night, as mentioned below.

80.57 miles
7:20:01 on the saddle
10.9 mph average
4,215' vertical (though there's always the possibility of this being well off because of the barometric pressure changes caused by the storm)

The next day was my last in the Rockies. The riding was relatively uneventful, though it left me with the memory of being constantly above 8,000' and wondering when I was going to start the descent into Denver. I knew Denver is around 5,300' or so, and therefore, every mile I pedaled above 8,000' meant my descent would be that much steeper. I've only got ten minutes left before this computer boots me off, so I'll just say quickly that the descent was exactly what I had been anticipating. Approximately 12 miles straight downhill. Hardly pedalled at all. Again, I was happy that there were few hairpins and I almost never touched my brakes.

Also, I chose not to stop in Denver and pushed on all the way to Fort Collins.

104.71 miles
8:16:06 riding
12.5mph average
4,066' vertical

Okay, gotta go. I'll catch you up on the rest of the trip since then (and, hopefully, add some audio/visual material) as soon as I can. I'll be in Iowa tomorrow. See ya!