This trip is not about the destination, as that is indeterminate right now. I'm leaving from my home in Fort Collins (which in case you didn't know, is in Northern Colorado) and heading north. I have the first few days planned, and will see what happens after that. Of course, when you leave on a bike trip everyone asks you where you are going. I've been answering "toward Yellowstone", which seems to satisfy most people, who turn it into "to Yellowstone". If I reach Yellowstone, that's great. If I don't reach Yellowstone, well, that's great too, as I'll have had an adventure and be ready for home! And who knows? I may end up going beyond Yellowstone.

I have the summer off of work so I don't need to worry too much about how long the trip will be. I need to truly thank my employer for that. I'm on a leave of absence. The purpose of the leave was sort of a mental refresh, not necessarily a bike tour, but I'm merging those two activities into one! So I expect to take this trip day by day, and to ride as far as I feel like riding. I'll know that the trip is over when I feel like it should be over, not because I've reached a particular destination.

The plan as it exists is to head up route 287 to Laramie, then navigate west to Rawlins and pick up the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) Trans Am route heading west (locally north) toward Yellowstone. Based on advice from a very nice guy on the Warm Showers list, I expect to ride from Laramie to Centennial to Saratoga before hitting Rawlins. That route sure beats riding I-25! Whether I follow that route (including the Trans Am from Rawlins) remains to be seen.

I expect to start out slowly. I'm not an especially strong rider, and have some mountains to contend with right away, before I have my "touring legs". I'd like to keep at least my first week, probably longer, to less than 50 miles/day, maybe a lot less. The challenge is that I'm out west where things are spread out and it can be much further than that between towns with services.

I'll see how it goes!