Getting Ready To Go

We Want To Tell Your Story

We are getting ready to go!  Hard to believe things are moving so fast!  We plan to ride Canada to Mexico, and to get to Canada, we are thinking, maybe we will ride from Colorado to Canada!

We applies to #beablackburnranger2016.  We plan to ride
from Canada to Mexico. @blackburndesign

We are journalists and love to interview people.  What is your story?  Why do you love adventure?  Why are we meeting you on the trail?

In the process of telling other people's stories, we will learn a lot about ourselves.  That is because all of us share things in common.  When we see these things in others, we find them in ourselves!

We hope Blackburn Design @blackburndeisgn will choose us for their #beablackburnranger2016 program.  If they don't, we are going anyway.

Well, see you out there!

#beablackburnranger2016 Tim "hot spring" Paynter

I love getting away from the crowds.  This hot spring is a magical spot!  These kinds of unknown springs are the perfect place to find tranquility and spirituality in nature. 

Bicycle adventuring is about discovering new places, new things.  Ways to get away from the din of business life, of the cities, of crazy people, and just have time to nurture.

You can go an amazing distance on a bicycle if you try.  Just pedal away, with a far distant goal, and one day, you will ride right up to that distant place.  The secret is putting one pedal after the other, keep it going, even when it is wet and cold.  

Eugene wants to #beablackburnranger2016

Next Application to #beablackburnranger2016

The #beablackburnranger2016 program is in full swing!  Many people are applying.  By the looks of it, they are all well qualified and really know how to create an interesting video.

In today's times, it appears rare for a company to return something to the community.  Blackburn Design is doing that with their ranger program.  Rangers are brand ambassadors.  They test new equipment, talk to people, ride adventurous routes and encourage others to get "out there".

I applied for the Ranger program because I love adventure.  I am the kind of person who wants to see what is down every wandering road.  Riding a bike for me is not enough.  I want to go farther, do more and be fully prepared for whatever I meet along the way.  When it comes to bicycle gear, that is always a challenge.  Weight is critical.  Durability is critical.  There are no "repair shops" along many of the routes I ride.  Having the right gear for the right job is what a successful tour is all about.

If you have what it takes, you can still apply.  Why not?  It is a great chance to do your part in helping this community of adventure enthusiasts grow.  You can apply here!

#beablackburnranger2016 Tim Paynter

I decided to apply to become a Blackburn Ranger, an ambassador for Blackburn Designs.  The company makes bicycling accessories primarily for those who love adventure!

Since my first taste of bicycle touring earlier this year, I definitely have the bug!  I hope to do the Pacific Coast route this next summer.  In my travels, I hope to meet a lot of you and have a chance to tell some of your stories, and mine, in the process.

I am a video journalist and love reporting on what the adventure community is doing.  From rafting to singing, it does not really matter!  Everyone has a story and I am looking for interesting stories to tell!

If you want to take either the Pacific Coast Route or the Great Divide Bicycle Route, you can find maps at the non-profit organization, the Adventure cycling Association.

Here is my video application to #beablackburnranger2016.  If you like, it, please go to YouTube and re post!  Put it on facebook or where ever your adventurous heart takes you!

You can also write to me, timote2u@gmail.com!

Thanks, Uncle Tim.

The most fun you can have on two wheels!

Bethany Hughes To Hike Americas For Women and Children

Frisco, Colorado - The daughter of missionaries is preparing to hike from the tip of Argentina to the tip of Alaska.  Along the way, she hopes to empower women to be all they were born to be, and to help children dream, and live those dreams.

Bethany Hughes says she has found her calling.  She was meant to take 4 to 6 years out of her life to walk more miles than most people drive in a year.  Bethany says, if she can do this, the women she meets along her route can do or be anything they want to be.  Children, who perhaps have not been allowed to dream big, will be encouraged to do exactly that.

"What bedtime story would you choose to read to a child tonight?" Hughes asked a fairly surprised reporter from Un Dia Sin Fronteras from 1150 A.M. Radio, in Denver, Colorado, in an exclusive interview. 

"Frankly, her charismatic and open question caught me off guard," said reporter Tim Paynter.  "I am usually ready for about anything, but when Bethany came out with that question, she stumped me.  It was out of the blue."

As it turns out, Hughes grew up in Ecuador, Chile and the Dominican Republic.  She speaks about the two sides of the coin most Americans hold in their hands, though few realize it.  As persons of privilege, they can do or dream about anything and those dreams can come true.  A U.S. citizen can get a passport to go about anywhere in the world.  Yet, as a blond haired, educated youth growing up in Latin America, Hughes found many of the children around her were not so privileged.  Hughes wants to return to bring the message, all children must have a chance to dream like she has been able to dream.

If Hughes can hike roughly 20,000 miles, some of it through challenging terrain, at times with great risk to personal safety, then Hughes hopes she can help shine a light to families and children everywhere.  All people face obstacles, but the end to every journey starts with the first step.  Dreams can come true, the end of the Hughes journey comes by putting one foot in front of another.  In the case of Hughes, if she never steps on the same ground twice, that will be 105,600,000 steps.

Bedtime stories are one of the first places children learn the values of society.  In some places, where many cannot read, it is the folk stories told to children Hughes is excited to hear. Back home, Hughes challenges people of privilege to choose their bedtime stories carefully, so our children can learn about values. 

For example, instead of enriching a material life, Hughes is choosing to give up a career and income for many years.  Sure, Hughes may not have a new car and a fancy home.  But she places a higher value in meeting new people, learning about diverse cultures, and experiencing an adventure many Americans can only dream of having.  

Hughes also speaks about her tremendous debt of gratitude to the women in the Dominican Republicwho patronized a fruit wagon Hughes hauled as a youth through the barrios.  Hughes was trying to make enough money so she could fly home and see her grandmother one last time before her grandmother passed.  Her missionary parents did not have the funds to make that happen.  It was the Dominican women who supported Hughes, one piece of fruit at a time, though the women could have ignored her and bought from local stores.  Thanks to the support of people of extremely humble means, Hughes was able to raise enough money for the trip home.  The Dominican women were demonstrating the strong values of supporting an extended family, which is common in the Latino culture.

Follow Bethany as she makes her way across the Americas, returns the gift of hope and inspiration given to her as a child, and to the best of her ability, rights wrongs she has seen.

Riding Vail Pass, the riders

Jimmy Packs the Panniers

Our goal is to ride from Frisco in the Colorado Rockies, to the resort town of Glenwood Springs.








The forecast was for partly cloudy skies.  Seeing as there was no rain predicted we felt pretty safe in heading out for the great divide, a trek up the old ten-mile railroad grade, now a bicycle path, to the ski resort of Copper Mountain.  With luck, we would pass through Frisco and then Copper Mountain.  Next we would summit Vail Pass (10,662 feet) and find a place to camp on the West side.

Ten thousand feet into the sky is plenty high for heavy endurance riding.  The Federal Aviation Authority requires oxygen for pilots who fly above 10,000 feet.

Shortly before Copper Mountain rain began to fall in huge sheets.  The ground turned into a million little rivers.  We found shelter at a small covered bench at the lakes below Copper.  After a half hour of non-stop, drenching showers, we made a run for the coffee shop at the base of Copper.  That was to become our headquarters for the next several hours.  

With only light rain falling, we left the comfort of the coffee shop and headed up Vail Pass.  Night was soon to fall.  We needed to find a place to camp, fast!  The regulations were clear, our site had to be 100 feet from trail, road and stream.  In the pinched median of the opposing lanes of I-70, making up the East side of Vail Pass, options were limited.  Finally, I spotted a fairly level spot above the path.  Jimmy hauled the last bike up the steep grade as I put the finishing touches on the tent.

Then the cats and dogs style rain began again and we settled into a wet night in the alpine environment of the Colorado Rockies.  My 20+ year old North Face Tent could not keep the water out, despite a fresh sealing of the seams.  We are doing this tour on tiny budget made up of centavos and a prayer, so things like expensive tents are out.

Jimmy Rivera packing the tent on Vail Pass

The next day, we crested the summit of Vail Pass in beautiful sunshine.  Should we press on to

Glenwood Springs, or should we head back to the valley?  Since I had to be at work on Monday, we reluctantly played it conservatively, and headed for the barn.  Glenwood Springs would have to wait for another day.

All trips have the risk of a downside.  While laboring up Ten-Mile, a skateboarder zoomed down the path, veered into my lane, shoved me nearly causing a fall.  If you recognize this thug, let me know so we can report him to authorities.  




Unfortunately, the skateboarders often take over the Frisco-Copper Mountain bike path, with little respect for others who use the path.  We won't let that ruin an otherwise great ride!