Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Days 51 Gregory’s 9th Birthday!

Rested and relaxed

Gregory, Sam and Caleb build a "town".

Identifying animal furs in the Trapper's Cabin at the Frisco Historical Museum Complex.

Scenic Lake Dillon

Unfortunately the beetles are killing the trees of Colorado and this has lead to clean up such as this along the shores of Lake Dillon.

Gregory receives birthday cake #2 and again with a "special candle". This time the cake is his favorite...yellow with chocolate frosting.

Cards from family and friends

A new bike bottle filled with Starbursts

A special 3-D card from Aunt Cheryl in Idaho

Bill, Barb and grandsons Sam and Caleb (Mom, Tracy is taking the picture)
Gregory is holding a special card with his picture that was custom-made by Bill and Barb

Date: Sept. 8, 2009

From: Dilllon, CO

To: Frisco, CO and back to Dillon (unloaded day ride)

Route: Bike path

Passes:

Miles Today: 14 miles

TOTAL MILES: 1,291 MILES

Top Speed on this trip: 49.2 mph

Weather: Sunny

License Plates Collected: 5 Montana plates, 8 Wyoming plates (2 motorcycle) and 1 Idaho plate (found in WY), 2 Colorado plates

What an amazing 9th birthday Master Gregory had!! One of his favorite things to do is build forts out of boxes and it just so happened that Bill and Barb had lots of large boxes in their garage. He, Sam and Caleb had a great time constructing and playing in their “town”.

We had a relaxing ride to Frisco on a beautiful bike path around Lake Dillon. We felt as free as birds riding unloaded and it was especially nice to be free of traffic. We had a special birthday lunch at the “Deli Belly” and then spent quite some time exploring the Frisco museum complex including the historic schoolhouse, church, trapper’s cabin and various other historic cabins. Each building had a button Gregory could push for an “audio tour” and in the schoolhouse was a replica of the town complete with an operable train that you could activate with a quarter. We got to feel and identify several animal pelts and examine skulls and other artifacts from the area.

Back at the house, while Mike degreased the chains, lubed them and put on new tires, Gregory continued to play in the cardboard fort with Sam and Caleb. Dinner was a feast of these amazing homemade pizzas prepared by Barb. We definitely carbo-loaded for the ride up Hoosier Pass tomorrow! It will be 18 miles of gradual climbing along a bike trail until we get to Breckenridge and then another 10 miles up and over Hoosier Pass at 11, 542 feet. We will gain about 1,800 feet of elevation in those 10 miles. Then we will have one big downhill of about 15 miles into Fairplay where we hope to stay the night.

Gregory had yet another birthday cake! This time Barb made his favorite of yellow cake with homemade chocolate frosting and it was super moist and outstanding. He also received several cards from friends who mailed them ahead to Silverthorne with General Delivery. Thank you to everyone who did this. It helped make his birthday extra special. Mike and I set Gregory up with some new bike stuff including a new jersey, gloves, bike bottle (filled with Starbursts) some reflective ankle bands to keep his rain pants out of the chain and a new and slightly bigger under the seat bag so he can carry a few more items. He also got a couple of small Lego car kits that they are currently giving out at McDonald's. And last but not least he now has his own personal travel size deodorant that he has been asking for. It is mostly practical stuff he needed but I’d say he had an exceptionally outstanding birthday.

He is getting to be quite a big boy and his dad had to raise his seat and move his crank shorteners up a notch. The bike is completely dialed in including new seats for Mike and I and new tires. We tried out our seats, new shorts and the Assos Chamois Cream today and think we are set to get back on the road in comfort. I’m healed and well rested and looking forward to conquering Hoosier tomorrow. Our stay in Dillon will sustain us for miles to come and the new friends we’ve made will last a lifetime. Once again I cannot emphasis enough how much it has meant to have such kindness bestowed upon us. We feel truly blessed.

Please note that I finally calculated our total miles!! We’ve come 1,291 miles from Baker City, Oregon to Dillon, Colorado. We estimate we have a total of 4,000 miles for the entire trip to our destination of Yorktown, Virginia.

1 comment:

  1. hi williams family. I am Everett and Renie's (from saratoga) nephew. I am also a cyclist. Not sure if this is helpful or not, but I read about your saddle issues and thought I would recommend an E3 saddle. It is available via Perfomancebike.com website and was invented by a physical therapist friend of mine, Joshua Cohen, after much research on preventing problems in the nether regions. You can get more information than you ever wanted about this and other saddles here: http://www.roadbikerider.com/pbs_page.htm.

    Also, we live in Wichita, Kansas. According to your map link you are going through Newton, Ks just north of us. When you get closer and know what day you might be going through, feel free to give me a call. We would love to meet you in Newton for dinner if you would like. Our son is 10, so might make a good friend for your son for the night. My cell is 316-393-2452. Good luck with the ride!
    Cody Barnett

    ReplyDelete