28 September 2008

the Trip Home -- Leg 3: Loveland to Salt Lake City





I had a couple hours riding in the complete dark of night which was colder than I'd expected, but I wanted to get back as early as I could, because it was Father's day and I'd already given up my entire weekend with Ian. I can't remember anything too extraordinary about those hours, other than the openness all around me and the lack of traffic on the roads. I stopped for breakfast at McDonald's in Evanston, WY. More to warm up than anything else, and those boneheads at McD's didn't have hot chocolate. Seems if you want a hot drink in Evanston, it's coffee. I didn't want to make another stop, so I skipped the hot chocolate, pulled my still chilly gloves back on and headed back out. Next stop Salt Lake City.

I don't remember how fast I had been riding to Evanston, but I do remember at some prior to that I wanted to check my rear tire before departing Evanston. The guy I'd bought my bike from said he thought there were about 2000 miles left on the rear tire. I guess I was a little distracted by the cold in Evanston so I skipped the inspection. It's probably good that I did, too, or I'm not sure I would have left Evanston before I had a new one. I came down Parley's canyon at 80 MPH to arrive home at about 9am. This is the state of my tire at that point:


Thank goodness most of my riding that particular day took place before the roads had time to heat up and have a more devastating affect on what was left of the rubber of my rear tire.

So I made it home. Ian was sitting at the window watching for me and ran out as soon as I pulled in. I barely had time to get my helmet off before I scooped him up and had the best hug of my life. Happy Father's Day to me. I had a new bike and my little buddy in the same place at last.

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