Out of the climbs, into the heat!

A huge thanks has to go out to Jesse of Fraser for putting me up for a night and showing me the route for one of the most enjoyable days of riding I had in a looooong time. Jesse is a long-time friend of my buddy TK so I stopped in to meet the man and assess as to whether he was "good people" as Tyler had claimed. Jesse and his family were indeed good people. In fact I dare venture to call them great, even fabulous, people. The pass that Jesse showed me was a gravel road in great condition with virtually no traffic and beautiful views. It dropped me right above Silverthorne where I promptly called my next acquaintance, Mr. Matthew Buglione.
Matt and I had been pals way back when. Really far back. Like 17 years or something, when I was but a wee lad in upstate New York and my world travels consisted of the creek in the woods down back. Matt was living in Vail for the summer and although a recent mountain biking injury had put him out of commission a bit, he swung down to Dillon Lake Marina. We shared a couple beers and began the massive task of catching up on eachothers' lives. Before too long we decided to load my bike in his car and head back to Vail. The combination of his injury and having drank a few beers allowed Matt to convince his friend Danny to chauffeur us. Back in Vail we attempted to go see a live concert but I basically decided sitting on the river bank was more pleasant than any further movement that evening.
The next day Matt and I caught up a bit more and awaited the arrival of Besselman. Once the Bess had landed we enjoyed some pizza and World Cup before once again loading the bike onto another vehicle. Erik and I parted ways with Matt and headed south over the mountains towards Salida. We passed through Leadville and started descend alongside the Arkansas River. As the somber clouds above tore open and unleashed torrents of rain and bolts of lightning I thanked my lucky stars; I was dry and moving along at 60 MPH instead of soaked and going 15! Bess and I arrived at his trailer (seriously, he lives in a doublewide...he wanted all of our mutual friends to take note). We grilled up quite the feast with his roommate Mike and watched a couple of interesting films from the library. If you've never seen the Iranian (?) movie "The Cyclist"...well, don't bother probably, hahaha. "His name is Nasim, or the Breeze. But today he is more like a typhoon". We all soon slipped into a food coma but awoke rested and ready to attack the river. After a few strategical mistakes we finally launched onto the river at about 330 PM...just in time for the afternoon thunderstorms. The dismal weather cast a strange pall on the river, lending it a very remote, northwestern feel. I guess it doesn't matter whether its raining or not when you're whitewater rafting; it only changes the direction from which you're getting wet at any given moment. Mike, Erik and I had a good time running the limited rapids that were present in Brown's Canyon (pretty low flow had changed things quite a bit from what the guys told me). We feasted for the second night in a row and watched another strange foreign film, albeit a much better one- "Persepolis".
Friday Erik frustrated me by waking me up far far too early (8am). He gathered the river gear while I gathered my head and we struck out to meet his friend Michelle further up the river. The rapids we ran on Friday were much more exciting (and dangerous!) but with the Bess's expert guidance I knew we would have no problems conquering the mighty Arkansas. Michelle was kind enough to lend us one of her boats; a nifty 10-footer just big enough for 2 paddlers but super agile and fun. Meanwhile she plied the waters on her high-and-somewhat-dry catamaran. After we ran "The Numbers" (a series of 7 rapids with varying difficulties and strategies) we all indulged in the delicious burgers, fries and shakes of Kay's (I think...) in Buena Vista. Michelle told me if I came over and helped her with a painting project the next day she could help me with some funds for the trip.
I spent most of Saturday painting linseed oil onto a fence at Michelle's house. Much to my chagrin I was missing the Colorado Brewer's Rendezvous in the main Salida river front park. However, on second thought, without the opportunity to make some money there was no way I would have paid the 10 bucks to get into the brewfest anyways. As is often the case in my adventures, fortune smiled upon me. Michelle more than justly compensated me for my work and with a big grin I wandered around downtown waiting for Erik to get off of his river patrol shift. As I wandered about a young man approached me for directions to a nearby store. I gave him a lift on the bicycle and in return he invited me to the brewers' after-celebration. He just happened to be representing one of the breweries! I had a couple of cold ones until Erik got off work at which point we moseyed over to some of his friends' house for a little BBQ chicken. All-in-all a solid day for the hobo!
Sunday I began the 150 mile trek to Denver. That first day found me very hungry and a little chilled in the high-altitude town of Fairplay. Fairplay is semi-famous for being the original "South Park" Colorado. Had a good evening chatting with George, a cyclist from Denver out for a 8 day loop. The next ride was nearly 90 miles through lots of hills and increasing heat as I dropped down towards Denver. On my second pass of the day I met two off-road tourists from Denver who told me a crucial route update. Instead of following 285 into Denver I was to take a back way through Deer Creek Canyon. It was absolutely amazing. A small bit of work climbing led to a huge payoff as I spent nearly an hour descending the canyon.
I arrived in Denver all smiles only to be worn down by the realization that I was merely on the outskirts and had 20 miles of suburban sprawl to navigate. Cities are always a big challenge- both getting in and out. The sun nearly melted me as I fought my way up the greenway. Eventually I persevered and found my way to Sarah's house considerably more centered in the city.
For the past two days I've been pretty useless. Mainly catching up on the Tour de France and trying to do some planning/budgeting. Tomorrow evening I am catching a car ride (I know, I'm such a cheater) that will put me within 3 days easy ride to Chicago where I plan to spend at least two or three days checking out the Windy City. I'll drop you a line from there hopefully. Try not to melt in the meantime!