September 29th-Medicine Creek NF to Steamboat Springs CO

Started out this morning using my GPS to try to cut through the National forest to Hwy 129, which leads through Columbine and down to Steamboat Springs.

Marked off a route that looked promising and after 2 hours of riding I was within 1 mile of the highway. 2 problems. 1-there was a river between me and the hwy. 2-the only bridge and last mile of road were on a private ranch. No Trespassing.

So now I'm faced with 2 choices.

1. Climb 2 hours back north out of the forest.
2. Slip through a couple of cattle gates and hope to zip through the ranch and across the bridge and apologize if caught.

Needless to say. 30 minutes later I was safely on Hwy 129 and rolling toward Columbine.

Shortly thereafter my front derailleur stopped working and I realized my shift cable had rusted and ripped through the housing. So I took the derailleur off and made due with just the rear gears.

Had a nice decent into Steamboat, grabbed my mail drop and new shifter cable, and settled into my campsite for the afternoon.

Ran into a Nomad named Ian. Who also happens to be buddhist. And he shared some very interesting life stories which I won't publish here to protect the not so innocent.

Also ran into another GDR rider. Craig from Minnesota. We all ended up camping in the same area and were telling lies as the sun set when 2 indians from the site over invited us to join them for a beer at their campsite.

We drank beer and whiskey and listened to country and metal music until the campground police shut us down at 11:30pm.

Great night.