Days 5 and 6 were awful. Everything started out fine. I met another biker, we biked together for a bit and then we parted way so I could eat breakfast. I had a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich that I believe was deep fried and then grilled in butter. Delicious! After breakfast, I hit the road again. About half an hour later I stop by the forest ranger station and asked if there was anything I need to be aware of. Oh there was a blizzard in the mountains last night? Oh they need 4 days to plow it? Oh that road is closed? Oh that's the road I'm supposed to take? Oh there's more routes I need to take later that they expect to still be closed and I'll have to take alternative routes for those too? Damn!
They tell me bikers do these "alternative routes" all the time. So I begin my way out that way.
I began "the climb" (photo of me at the 2000ft (610m) point. Not so bad, so I decided to continue on to the next camp site as I had only biked about 10 miles (16km). The next site would only take 2 hours to get to. On the way there, I lose ALL phone reception. Not even emergency call access.
I arrive, but it's closed.
So I decided to bike to the next one about 30 minutes away...also closed.
I bike to the next one which had an open gate and no closed sign...but the map said it didn't have drinkable water and I was out about an hour before and starting to get really thirsty.
I decided the next one would be best because it's got a convenience store and listed as having cabins. So I pull into the gate and notice I'm going to have to do a considerable climb down the road to get to it. After biking down 400ft (192m) I pull in front of the convenience store / cabin rental office. Nobody's in there and the door has a sign that says CLOSED. SUMMER HOURS 0800-1800. I glance at my phone and notice it says 6:25pm (18:25). MOTHER @#$_&-+()/*"
I began to feel the creep of despair. A girl walked across the parking lot and asked if I needed help. I told her I wanted to rent a cabin. Apparently the US government is more bureaucratic than the German government. You can't get one unless you reserve it 24 hours in advance. She suggests I go back to the one with no water, but to take 4L of water from there before I head over. SUCCESS! Or so I thought....
After climbing the huge hill again and then biking 3mi (5km) back downhill the way I just came from. I turn into the campground road and follow that road about 15 minutes as it's already getting dark. As I make the final turn for the campsite, I turn the corner but instead of a ranger I see a gate and a sign that says CAMPGROUND CLOSED. WTF? LIKE REALLY WTF? Words can't even express the level of despair I was at. So I climbed the gate with my bike and went to campsite #5. I put up my tent and threw in the sleeping bag. I began to cry because this was the most vulnerable I had ever felt; then fell asleep. The time was 8:30pm(20:30).
Around 12:30am (00:30) I was suddenly awoken to the sound of CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH outside my tent. I suddenly needed to pee. I layed there still, without making a sound. After about an hour of hearing nothing more, I finally used the bathroom and then layed back down. I was mostly in/out of sleep until my alarm went off at 4am(0400).
DAY 6 was finally here!! After the rough day, the day before, I decided I needed to start the day off with a positive outlook. So I bike up the mountain beyond the convenience store and have a coffee by the lake. I was in a good mood because the internet finally came back. So then I start the trek up the 2000ft (610m) to the peak of the mountain.
Between my legs being weak, cars zooming by ever 5-15 seconds, breathing in only car exhaust, no shoulder, and the side of the road being a snow and lava rock mixture; I was not able to bike very far. I had to PUSH the bike up the @$_&-+*# mountain. All 19mi(30.5km). This took me about 8 hours. All the while, cars are still close to hitting me. And I'm having to walk through the snow/lava rock mixture, which provided no traction.
When I finally reach the peak of the mountain, I broke down in tears again because I knew I could fly down he mountain and be at my hotel in no time. Except that I had to ride the breaks the whole time because the cars were not moving over at all. Even on the downhill, I only had car exhaust to breathe in.
I'm finally at my hotel. I'm alive. I survived. THAT SAID... I need to ask the hive mind of the internet. Should I change my plans? Should I move off and try to find a different route that might be biker friendly until I get beyond Colorado? The only time I've enjoyed myself so far was on the Eugene/Springfield bike path, where I was in nature and not a busy highway.
Another option would be to rent a car and drive to different bike paths along the way and still bike my 40-60 miles every day until I get down to Colorado? It seems less genuine that I'm going across America, but I'd be happier and I'd still bike from Colorado and doing the full 4000miles (6400km).
Or am I just overreacting? Is this just the mind playing a trick on me because it's under so much stress? I know I'm in love with biking in general because my legs and stomach are HOT after just 1 week of biking this much. But I kept feeling like my leaving Berlin was final and I keep going back to that, every time I have a car zoom by.
If there wasn't going to be more alternative routes ahead, I'd think I was overreacting.
Distance for the day: 33mi (53km) and 35mi (56km)
Total distance: 203 mi (327km)