Friday July 8th, 2011 Parachute to Kearney, Nebraska - 573 miles

A tale of two totally different rides. One of the problems of trying to recap the day’s sights is that you cannot remember it all. One needs a microphone to make verbal notes as you ride.

It was a great morning for a ride, cool and clear. Cool enough for my jacket. Leaving Parachute and heading East on I70, following the Colorado river, and whence the river goes, so does the road. For the first 60 or so miles, the road cuts through a canyon heading into the Rockies. I really like to ride the North Cascades, but this was something else. Heading East, the river is alongside the road, in fact, if you fell over the barrier wall you would end up in the river. And it is not a slow meandering river at this point. Fast with rapids. The railway line is the other side of the river. Another example of how the engineers really pulled out all the stops to build the railway, then again the road. Much of it is raised on pylons, crossing the river at times. Quite a magnificent sight to ride it, with the red granite sides of the canyon reaching to the sky. The landscape then broadens out into a kind of plain, still following the river, with the actual Rockies in the distance. Next up was Vail. I decided to pay a visit, so rode around the village, viewing all the sights. ‘No street parking’ was posted everywhere, although there was a parking garage free for the summer. I did the grand tour on my bike, getting a few odd looks. It was quite deserted, I guess the rich and famous were off doing their thing, whatever that is. Some of the cottages – mansions up on the high peaks were quite a sight. I have no idea how some drive up there, maybe they helicopter in. The actual town was really nice looking, very clean and obviously reeking dollars. Nothing like the ski resorts we have in Washington. Even Whistler seems cheaper in comparison.

I then continued east, over Vail Pass (over 10000 feet), and into the Rockies. The road still follows the river, although it is getting smaller and narrower as it nears its source. The scenery was still fantastic, and then into the Eisenhower Tunnel (elevation 11000+ feet). Once out of the tunnel, the highway descends for what seems ages, and eventually I arrived in Denver. It looked a lot like the pictures one sees, another modern city of high rises, so I decided to move on east.

Once out of Denver, the scenery changes to the prairies, for miles and miles. Quite different from the previous 150 miles. Flat and boring all the way to the Nebraska state line, where it continues for goodness knows how many miles. It was interesting that in Colorado, to the south of the highway was just the prairie, with no trees. To the north was actually agriculture, and trees. Obviously there was a water source for irrigation. Once I crossed into Nebraska, both sides were agriculture, mostly corn, mile after mile of it. Occasionally there were cattle ranches, which you knew were coming by the smell. Obviously not naturally fed. I had my longest stretch so far of road works in Nebraska, about 12 miles of filtered into the other lane traffic. So far it has not been too bad, where there have been road works or lane closures, there has been relatively little delay. At least they fix the roads, not like I5.

Like I said, the tale of two rides. One could have spent a few days just stopping along the road to Denver, the scenery was awesome. One thing of note to-day was that there was no shortage of towns along the way, with gas and services, unlike yesterday in Idaho and Utah.

So tomorrow I head for Omaha, to visit friends, then will head east again on Sunday. I think tomorrow is Saturday, time has disappeared again, there is just to-day.