Bikes, Beers and Bacon: Pedro Heads West

Well, about a week ago I loaded my car down with everything I thought I would need in California. The first thing I did was load my car with 4 bikes. After loading the bikes I tried to fit in stuff like underwear and maybe some ramen noodles. I figure it would all work itself out in the end.

First Stop Mohican 100

Well I left PA on Friday morning and ended up in Ohio early in the afternoon. I set up my tent and was quickly invited to join some other campers to hangout and drink some beer. This was a good start to my trip. I met folks from all over. I was blown away to meet a guy who drove from Texas, who was planning on hitting every hundred miler in the series. Anyway the race started in the morning, with a big pro presence. It was cool to see Chris E. Harlan and Tinker at the start. The first 30 miles of the race consisted of some killer single track, I couldn't believe Ohio had so many cool trails.

95 miles later the race ended for me in the rain hammering through the deep sloppy mud. The last half mile ended up being a sprint for the finish on the road with another riderr. It was pretty painful going all out after riding all day. Beers and food followed. I was happy to meet a whole bunch of riders by the keg after the awards ceremony, Jason from bikeman and a bunch of Ohio Locals threw it down hard. I also linked up with Topher, Keith, Bob and Harlan for a few beers. Hopefully I will get to see some of these face at the E100 In Salt Lake this year.

Chicago

After Drinking way too much in ohio I packed up to see my good friends Dan and Isabel in Chicago. Its a cool town, we drank beers and hung out at the dog park. I got my hands on a Fat Tire, signs of the west. Thats all I have to say about that.

Iowa

People in Iowa seem a little naive. I didn't stay very long.

Burrito Hunt
After Ripping through hundreds of miles of corn fields I found my self back in Colorado Springs, in search for the worlds best burrito. I blew by every rest stop, ignoring my hunger to save my self for a burrito from Chipotle. I had been waiting for this moment for 4 years. When I arrived there were over a hundered people waiting outside the place. It was bring a can of food in exchange for a burrito day. So I blew it off and went to the Mexican joint across the road.

After refueling I headed up to Cheyenne Canyon for some single track, it was sweet. I climbed about 5 miles of dirt road and single track that switched around. I was still smoked from the Mohican 100 so,I didn't climb all the way to the top but after about an hour of climbing I turned around at about 7000 Feet for some Killer descending.

During the ride I realized I needed a cable replaced so I headed to the Bicycle expereince in Colorado Springs. They were already closed but the guy new I was on a trip and hooked me up for a quick change out. Housing, Cable and Labor, he only charged me 10 Bucks.

After maintenance issues were resolved, I rolled in to my favorite drinking establishment, Bristol Brewing. I used to live down the road from here, they have some killer beers. This is where I linked up with Fat Lou who let me stay at his place for two days.

The next day I headed up to Golden, CO to ride some single track with some peeps. I started getting a little dizzy as I was driving up the road to the trail head.

The scenery was beautifull and the trails were awesome, fast down hills followed by technical switch backs. I had to dismount on a few rock sections as it got a bit tricky and steep.

After some killer riding I finally made it to the mecca of burrito joints. It was better then I remember. It was marvelous

Utah

I made may way through Wyoming, where I almost got blown off the road. 60 MPH winds tipped over tractor trailers and cars, so it was slow going for a while on the interstate until the winds died down and a blizzard ensued. Pretty crazy getting caught in the snow in June.

I linked up with Alex, who gave me the grand tour. We rode this trail that was a pretty smooth switch back up the mountain. It was unseasonably cold and we were underdressed. It had also snowed at the top, so we only made it about half way up before we decided to head back. We were freezing and with 5 miles of downhill to get to the bottomm we knew it was only going to get worse. The trail was awesome though. We climbed for about an hour and descended for what seemed like 20 minutes.