Do you ride alone?

I used to ride with the bike club here, quite often. It was safe and
learned new places to ride. But most of the best rides I have had were
when I was alone, and didn't have a plan. Just a general notion of
heading off... When I lived in Denver I would just head off into the
foothills and some gently used roads would lead to interesting places.
One time, I rode from Denver and after a few hours of fairly steady
uphill climbing I came to a to a sign. A little green nondescript sign
in the middle of nowhere that said: "Elev. 10,000 feet". It made me
smile-- I had no idea I had gone up that much. Took a picture of it.

Another time, went off wandering and came across a valley up in the
mountains. No idea where I was, but it was beautiful. There was a
wooden fence and a field with no signs of people or farm animals. In
the background some snowcapped mountains. Luckily I had my camera with
me that time too and I got a crappy Kodak x-15 picture of it. I have
the picture above the sink and like to look at it when I do the
dishes... I tried to go on a bit farther, but the paved road suddenly
stopped about a mile on and there was "no trespassing" sign. I figured
it was a good turnaround point.

Another time, I somehow ended up on the Continental Divide and was
coming down a huge hill at full tilt. A bee ran into me and crawled to
the back of my leg. And stung me. Luckily, not allergic but it swelled
a bit and was bothering me. About a mile down the road was a ranger
station and a nice lady ranger took the stinger out and put a band aid
on it. No idea where I was that time either, all I know was the scenery
and road were amazing.

"Gus" writes:

I used to ride with the bike club here, quite often. It was safe and
learned new places to ride. But most of the best rides I have had
were when I was alone,

"You don't want to get mixed up with a guy like me. I'm a loner,
Dottie. A rebel."

... and didn't have a plan. Just a general notion
of heading off... When I lived in Denver I would just head off into
the foothills and some gently used roads would lead to interesting
places. One time, I rode from Denver and after a few hours of fairly
steady uphill climbing I came to a to a sign. A little green
nondescript sign in the middle of nowhere that said: "Elev. 10,000
feet". It made me smile-- I had no idea I had gone up that much.
Took a picture of it.

Another time, went off wandering and came across a valley up in the
mountains. No idea where I was, but it was beautiful. There was a
wooden fence and a field with no signs of people or farm animals. In
the background some snowcapped mountains. Luckily I had my camera
with me that time too and I got a crappy Kodak x-15 picture of it. I
have the picture above the sink and like to look at it when I do the
dishes... I tried to go on a bit farther, but the paved road suddenly
stopped about a mile on and there was "no trespassing" sign. I
figured it was a good turnaround point.

Another time, I somehow ended up on the Continental Divide and was
coming down a huge hill at full tilt. A bee ran into me and crawled
to the back of my leg. And stung me. Luckily, not allergic but it
swelled a bit and was bothering me. About a mile down the road was a
ranger station and a nice lady ranger took the stinger out and put a
band aid on it. No idea where I was that time either, all I know was
the scenery and road were amazing.

Cool stuff. We're relating, brother :-)

In the archives there are probably a couple accounts of a
ride all alone way out in the middle of nowhere surrounded
by magnificent panoramic vistas and Twilight Zone eerie
absence of any signs of any other living thing on earth
when - right at the top of the highest hill - I rode into
and through a swarm of bees (search terms "dan o bees"
should produce it).

On 8/15/2013 8:39 PM, Gus wrote:
Another time, I somehow ended up on the Continental Divide and was
coming down a huge hill at full tilt. A bee ran into me and crawled to
the back of my leg. And stung me. Luckily, not allergic but it swelled
a bit and was bothering me. About a mile down the road was a ranger
station and a nice lady ranger took the stinger out and put a band aid
on it. No idea where I was that time either, all I know was the scenery
and road were amazing.

Lucky it was not Ranger Gord's fire-watch tower.

--
T0m $herm@n