Welcome to my least-organized tour to date. I am setting off on Saturday (July 9th) for a weeks tour of the Rocky Mountains, and instead of my usual extended period of planning, I have a rough structure in place, some hotel nights booked, and not a lot else. Usually by this stage I have mapped days, mileage charts, equipment lists and a bunch more. And yet this time, I haven’t even thought about packing yet – I set off in 2 days.
We have lived up in the mountains for the last year and a half. I have done a bit of riding locally, but nothing major. I have my comfy armchair bike, which has a sound-system that is better than many of the clubs in Denver (not that I have actually been to ANY of those, but indulge me), and this bike is itching for some challenging mountain riding.
My life – both work and personal – has been quite hectic for a while. We were far too comfortable and settled at home, so we decided to get ourselves a puppy at the beginning of April. Luna came into our lives at that point, and has brought much joy and love and a distinct lack of sleep. It didn’t take her long to get fully crate and house trained, but she is awake and in need of a comfort break before 6am daily. She also needs a fair amount of activity, so we have been walking and exploring and socializing, and this keeps us quite busy.
Likewise, work has presented lots of good opportunities to keep me rather stretched, and so between the dog and the job and some summer activities, I am ready for a break.
I plan to disconnect significantly from the world, and criss-cross the Rockies for a week, traveling to places I have not been, and riding some steep and twisty passes that would make a mountain goat think twice.
As usual, I will keep a record here of my trip, so that you can follow along if you wish to – and so that in years to come, I can read these pages and be reminded of the details that have since escaped my ever-fuzzier brain.
I can’t wait!
Here is my approximate map for this adventure:
