Day 23 Riverside to Walden

51 miles (82 km) – Total so far: 1,235 miles (1,988 km)

The more I ride I realise the two key things to a strong day are food and sleep. As I have said before I am not a fan of American cooked breakfasts but sometimes they are the only things possible. Eggs, hash browns, toast and coffee. My problem is it takes an hour of indigestion afterwards. Lack of sleep effects the latter part of the days riding. As in today. A party near the campsite went in until 1:30 am and from a tent everything can be heard. Add to that that the affect of riding at altitude is now greater, and it was late 20s early 30s after 11 am and today was a tough ride. There were two passes to cross, both rising to more than 2500 metes, and lots of deep rolling hills.

I met two riders heading north pretty much in the middle. A young guy riding up,into Wyoming and a 67 year old on the Trans Am. We exchanged information, and they were the second people to warn me about Walden’s free camping and thefts. Of course that’s the problem with free camping. It is usually in the town public park with no security at all. The guy said the procedure was to contact the Sheriff who would indicate the most recent state of affairs. This coincided with the Sheriff being shot and his Deputy running off to become a barber in the book I am reading (Joe Lansdale’s The Thicket, set in the Wild West of 1860), so I’ve opted for a $45 motel which is a pity, but the lights stay on in the park all night so maybe the way to get some sleep.

Distance 51 miles, Ride time 4 hrs 28 minutes, Average Speed 11.2 mph, Max Speed 37.6 mph, Departed 9:30 am, arrived 2:30 pm Altitude 2478 metres