Oakland to Chicago – Epilogue & Summary

Epilogue

Part of the lure of this trip was riding through the desert in Nevada and Utah. Although US 50 was not the lonely highway it was billed to be, and maybe was in the 50s, it was still a fabulous trip, as the woman cyclist I met in Markleville said it was. If only someone could put a cold water fountain midway between Austin, Eureka, and Ely… Southern Utah was a spectacular ride, albeit a hard one with all of the climbing. Cedar Breaks, Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Capitol Reef, and Lake Powell – they strained the visual senses and the camera budget. And this didn’t even include Mt Zion, Canyonlands, and Arches. If anything would ever spark an interest in geology, these are the places to do it.

Then there was southern Colorado in the fall. Had I not been maybe a week past the fall foliage peak I might have indeed died from sensory overload after Utah and then the Aspens and the mountains. It was disappointing at times, however, to consider the effects of damming the Colorado River in Utah and the Gunnison River in Colorado. While the lakes and reservoirs formed by these dams were certainly scenic, I couldn’t help but wonder what would have been without these dams. It seems somehow wrong to tame these wild rivers.

The low point of the trip would probably have to be leaving the Rockies. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains just receded into the distance as I rode on to Pueblo. It was difficult to adjust to knowing most/all of the great scenery was behind me when I was only about halfway home. And then western/central Kansas struck with its headwinds and uncertain weather. I suspect Kansas would have been more interesting when the wheat was still in the fields, swaying in the wind.

I think the Katy Trail was the surprise of the trip. First, I hadn’t planned on the Katy, intending to travel through southern Missouri and then I happened upon it unexpectedly in Windsor. It was certainly an easy and relaxing ride, without the distraction of the usual automobile traffic, not to mention the occasional views of the Missouri River.

And finally Illinois was a blur. I was ready to get home at that point and the finally favorable wind helped immensely, cutting about a day off of this part of the trip.

Weather was an interesting component of this trip. September was a great month, as I have usually found it to be and one of the reason I enjoy fall touring, although it was unseasonably warm. October, on the other hand, saw very unsettled weather, with almost daily forecasts of bad weather. Surprisingly, I only got rained on, and wore my rain gear, once.

And then there was the flat tire. You would think you should be able to go at least 10,000 miles without a flat…

Ride Summary

Day	Date	Day	From	To	Pop	Dist	Time	Avg	Max	Climbing
1	1-Sep	Sat	Oakland, CA	Danville	7,000	31.3	2:40:53	11.6	35.7
2	2-Sep	Sun	Danville	Danville	7,000
3	3-Sep	Mon	Danville	Escalon	3,122	76.1	5:30:05	13.8	33.7
4	4-Sep	Tue	Escalon	Big Trees State Park		71.5	7:45:39	9.2	41.2
5	5-Sep	Wed	Big Trees State Park	Lake Alpine CG		27.6	3:36:13	7.6	35.7
6	6-Sep	Thu	Lake Alpine CG	Woodfords		42.5	4:31:29	9.5	34.5
7	7-Sep	Fri	Woodfords	Lahontan Rec Area		79.6	6:18:18	12.6	35.9
8	8-Sep	Sat	Lahontan Rec Area	Middlegate, NV		65.6	5:28:35	11.9	29.8
9	9-Sep	Sun	Middlegate, NV	Austin	370	64.6	6:31
10	10-Sep	Mon	Austin	Eureka	650	69.4	5:42:25	12.1	31.4
11	11-Sep	Tue	Eureka	Ely	4,756	78.0
12	12-Sep	Wed	Ely	Ely	4,756
13	13-Sep	Thu	Ely	Great Basin NP		72.5	6:50:35	10.5	35.6
14	14-Sep	Fri	Great Basin NP	Great Basin NP
15	15-Sep	Sat	Great Basin NP	Milford, UT	1,107	92.1	8:33:38	10.7	42
16	16-Sep	Sun	Milford, UT	Cedar City	13,443	58.1	6:30:51	8.8
17	17-Sep	Mon	Cedar City	Cedar Breaks		32.6	4:52:49	6.6		6,097
18	18-Sep	Tue	Cedar Breaks	Bryce Canyon NP		64.1	5:18:41	11.9	40.4	4,124
19	19-Sep	Wed	Bryce Canyon NP	Calf Creek CG		65.5	5:37:53	11.5		4,487
20	20-Sep	Thu	Calf Creek CG	Torrey	140	51.4	6:04:24	8.4	48.7	7,889
21	21-Sep	Fri	Torrey	Hanksville		54.9	4:43:53	11.5
22	22-Sep	Sat	Hanksville	Lake Powell		53.2	4:35	11.5
23	23-Sep	Sun	Lake Powell	Natural Bridges Monument		62.4	7:03:13	8.7		4,175
24	24-Sep	Mon	Natural Bridges Monument	Blanding	3,118	42.4	4:24:22	9.5	43.4	2,470
25	25-Sep	Tue	Blanding	Dolores, CO	886	86.2	7:39:27	11.1	42.7	3,090
26	26-Sep	Wed	Dolores, CO	Telluride	1,309	67.4	7:36:03	9	37.5	3,665
27	27-Sep	Thu	Telluride	Ridgway State Park		51.3	4:39:03	10.9	42.7	1,730
28	28-Sep	Fri	Ridgway State Park	Cimarron		62.3	6:30:27	9.5	44.5	4,625
29	29-Sep	Sat	Cimarron	Gunnison	4,636	52.1	5:08:13	10.1	35.7	2,385
30	30-Sep	Sun	Gunnison	Salida	4,737	65.8	6:19:39	10.2	42.5	3,645
31	1-Oct	Mon	Salida	Silver Cliff	322	51.1	4:35:15	11.1		1,995
32	2-Oct	Tue	Silver Cliff	Pueblo	98,640	62.9	4:54:54	12.6	48.7	1,420
33	3-Oct	Wed	Pueblo	Ordway	1,025	53.4	4:41:53	11.2		80
34	4-Oct	Thu	Ordway	Eads	780	62.4	6:49:50	9		630
35	5-Oct	Fri	Eads	Tribune, KS	918	58.1	5:01:14	11.5		310
36	6-Oct	Sat	Tribune, KS	Dighton	1,361	75.9	5:58:39	12.8		90
37	7-Oct	Sun	Dighton	La Crosse	1,427	71.1	5:48:55	12.1		180
38	8-Oct	Mon	La Crosse	Sterling	2,115	79.0	7:27:20	10.5		165
39	9-Oct	Tue	Sterling	Sterling	2,115
40	10-Oct	Wed	Sterling	Florence	636	83.5	6:11:43	13.3		505
41	11-Oct	Thu	Florence	Ottawa	5,634	103.2	8:42:26	11.8	27.4	840
42	12-Oct	Fri	Ottawa	Harrisonville, MO	7,683	60.2	5:17:19	11.2	28.2	1,040
43	13-Oct	Sat	Harrisonville, MO	Sedalia	19,800	81.3	6:33:49	12.2	32.1	1,055
44	14-Oct	Sun	Sedalia	Cooper's Landing		71.3	6:32:09	10.8		560
45	15-Oct	Mon	Cooper's Landing	Hermann	2,754	66.9	6:08:30	10.8		155
46	16-Oct	Tue	Hermann	Ballwin	21,816	65.3	5:38:52	11.5		365
47	17-Oct	Wed	Ballwin	Florissant	51,206	27.4	2:14:22	12.2		415
48	18-Oct	Thu	Florissant	Havana, IL	3,610	124.0	7:59:46	15.5	30.2	1,040
49	19-Oct	Fri	Havana, IL	Peru	9,302	111.8	8:16:56	13.3	34.6	1,135
50	20-Oct	Sat	Peru	Naperville	85,351	72.6	4:44:52	15.2		630
			Trip Total			3021.9	264.2	11.44	48.7