Woke early w/ “shortness” of breath. I decided I need to find medically what si happening. Found emergency care in Avon. Chest Xrays were great. Listening reveals maybe asthma. Prescribed 3 days of a steroid and an inhaler. Used inhaler seemed to have imediate result.

Drove S on rt 24 towards Leadville. Stopped in Leadville where i toured a mining museum.

Plan is to arrive in Salida tomorrow hoping to ride w/ Tony and visit w/ Mark & Brenda who are good friends.

Found same spot I stayed at 2 years ago right on the Arkansas river.

Slept in same parking lot in Frisco.

Up & at it drove out to Dredge TH for another go on CO trail. Today I will add the extra that i attempted several weeks ago and missed because of my map reading error.

Rode out & made correct turn, passed several texas wheelchair camps. Found CO trail. This section noodles up & down slightly and is more technical which is fun. Cross road to repeat previous rides. This time I made the previous stal place, I did take a breather further up. Encountered a single woman hiker sitting on her pack, another pack lay nearby belonging to her fiance i learned later. Heather, they are hiking CO trail. They met last year on their thru PCT hike. They are getting married later this summer in Leavenworth because they liked it and another couple hiking the PCT will be there. They picked their friends over family for celebration. I told of my 1978 attempt which sparked amazement. They had 4 days of rain in Cascades, I had 7 days of no rain.

Afternoon thundersprinkle hit. Rain drops made craters in dust.

Drove to Breck rec center for a shower, then groceries. I walked uptown to headshop & bought Vapor Brothers vaporizer to save my lungs. Ran into Heather & finance on downtown street. I recognized them because of backpacking equipment, they not so lucky in that I am in street clothes. They hiked off trail for night in hostel.

Bought a piece of wild salmon and steamed it for dinner. First salmon since Tom’s dinner back in Sept.

Slept @ same spot in Frisco.

Checked blood pressure on a store machine. Sistolic pressure was 107 to me indicating low pressure which maybe explains my light headedness.

Mark Wiard, the web master, and wife Brenda live in Salida, CO invited me to invite myself to visit. I am trying to hook up w/ Tony Boone who lives there also for a ride. Tony appears to have a trail building contract in China.

Today i drive to Eagle for a ride w/ Larry Grossman who is a race promoter and involved w/ Squirt chain lube. He has some great trails he says.

Off to attend to tasks.

August issue of Bike mag page 40, “Elvis Sighting” keeps it going. Chris, if you are reading, we were the riders mentioned.

Boeing keeps selling airplanes, their data shows 3,000+ unfilled orders. Wish i could ahve completed my work @ Boeing instead of being sold as chattel.

Update:

Found Charlie Brown jr.’s bike shopMountain Pedaler in Eagle. Hot afternoon, threatening to rain. They are a Turner dealer where there was an actual built up DW Turner.

Larry arrived, we met, he drove home changed his clothes and rode back to shop. Skies getting darker and threatening. We headed out West of town into the pending storm. We climbed up thru sage on gysum dirt. Lightning & thunder came close till one exchange occured right over us. We pulled the plug and swooped downhill in widely spaced splatter rain drops making craters in the dust. Storm was short lived w/ strong winds as we rode back to shop.  At the store the storm semed to run out of steam. This part of the state is like high desert w/ almost just sage for ground cover. The storm hung on high spots East of town where the Boneyard trail is located. We waited out the storm to move on and then rode out. Tenderly hand cut ST worked its way upward. Larry is stronger than me and chatted while I huffed. My breathing is an issue w/ me.  We cleared a hill and looked down at Eagle cty airport where like 737s serve. Downhill was fast and sharp rocks w/ some dust mixed in. What a bike I have.

Larry & I rejoined @ Dusty Boot saloon in Eagle Ranch for a beer & dinner. Larry is involved w/ Squirt. I am now a sponsored rider as i have stickies & a large jug of Squirt. Over the Edge in Hurricane convinced me to try it. Best lube I have ever used. Got a shower before bed @ Larry’s then slept in his condo’s parking lot.

And glad to have headed W on I-70. East bound was a big rolling traffic jam, recreaters and travelers back to Denver perhaps.

Bid adieu to Todd this AM after he finished 5th in his age bracket in Super D @ SOlVista USA cycling national championships. His race was shortly after 8:00AM. I was an early riser after sleeping on new flannel bottom sheet to catch a momentary glimpse as gravity pulled him by me. Podium finish for the man from Pisgah. Congrats.

Todd & I pretty much hung together since Thurs afternoon. Fri morning was his Super D practice session. Afterwards we drove back to Winter Park to do a big climb and ride a downhill trail. Big grinder in thin air that left me walking several places. Todd rode almost all of it, 39 yo. We rode after lifts were closed and the light was falling. Catch road up dropped us @ base of summit chair. ST took off and up. Wandered around just below timberline which is controlled by 33 days plus of average daily temp 55 and above. Rockies are warmed than WA Cascades where treeline is around 6,000′. For crap maps of bike trails. We were up @ 11,200 @ 7:30 w/ sundown @ 8:30 w/ trails in shadows and trying to figure map out to get off service roads. Found a trail that we liked and dropped in on a blue run. Bermed turns, some rocks & roots mixed in, angle was great for speed but not fear inducing. Near the base Todd pointed out these “sick” fall line steep trails w/ man made features  that are for Crankworx, a absurd display of trick riding ability. The possibility of injury is very high w/ death a real possibility. We made it back to his hotel room before it got dark. Short drive into Winter Park for Mexican dinner then back to his motel for a shower.

Sat we found the Idlewild trails just above Fraser for a short ride. Todd wants to ride but he has to race Sun and wants to save himself. Trails were non tech & a bust. Area was laced w/ trails and is probably enjoyable to a local who has figured them out. For us it was continual map reading. Lots of people enjoy them. Trail left housing development into FS land. Amazing number of 2nd plus homes around ski areas, empty during summer, quite a few are for sale. White collar recession having to sell your ski home.

We made Sol Vista in time to catch the bulk of the pro women’s  XC race. Todd knows or knows about many of the top racers because of his race promotion business. Mid afternoon the pro men’s race started. What a spectacular feat of effort. Course was in a ski area and was technically boring, just dusty ST.

In the whole time I was unable to identify a Turner bike.

Not many spectators. Todd said success is in the stage races that are for the racers, not spectators.

Woke up this AM w/ another bout of shortness of breath. My chest inflates but it seems like the air exchange doesn’t happen which leaves me short of breath.

Sat we both did our laundry. All now 7 sets of riding clothes needed wash. My clothes line was too small to air dry the clothes causing some creative hanging of wet clothes. Never had all riding gear washed @ same time and I do a wash every week.

Back in Frisco today. Tomorrow I will add a bit more to CO trail to section already enjoyed. Fewer riders on weekdays. Tuesday it is Eagle to ride w/ Larry Grossman who invited me to share his local goods. Wed I will probably drive the back way into Crested Butte for several days of riding. Plan is to spend Aug in UT and ID.

At race not a single person identified me. Racers are readers of MBA I assume. At Safeway in Fraser 2 guys approached me because of BikeMag article. They are riders like me, but wanting to do what i am doing.

Randy, I am back to using wooden dowels to hold drawers shut as the catches are just too weak. I saw the drawer slides needed in an RV that require lifting the drawer before pulling out. Need to replace what i have w/ these when I find them. Regular hardware don’t carry them. Maybe earthquake prone places could use them.