CUB (Community Use Bicycles) is a project not unlike those in many cities including Madison, Wisconsin. Old, donated or abandoned bicycles, donated parts, and volunteers create usable, if somewhat worn out and ugly bicycles to be left around town for anyone to just pick up and use. The only rule is that when you get off the bike, you leave it so someone else can ride off on it. If a bike needs repair, you can bring it in to one of the participating bike shops who will give it some loving care. In Madison the bicycles are painted red. In Steamboat Springs, they are yellow.

We met with the two volunteers that run CUB and proceeded to create 7 or 8 new yellow bicycles from junk parts and abandoned bikes from a pile. We disassembled some bikes, converted multi-speed bikes to one gear, adjusted breaks, replaced wheels, and painted the frames yellow. It was very rewarding because we completed the task with the tangible yellow bicycle in front of us (which we could ride around the parking lot). I got to show off some of my bike repair know-how and everyone got to practice, experiment, and learn about bicycle repair. We've changed so many flats during the last 10 days that we were all pros in that department.

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I also explored town a little. I found the source of the name "Steamboat Springs" - the early explorers (coal miners) thought the sound of the gurgling hot springs was like that of a steam powered river boat. (It was a mystery to me why a land-locked mountain town should have such an odd name.) The springs are kind of interesting. There are about a dozen in downtown, and each is unique - having different concentrations of various minerals. There are the sulfur springs (stink rotten egg smell), black springs (hydrogen sulfide makes the pool black) and others, each thought to have different curative effects. We have passes to the "heart spring" community spa (which is where we got our showers yesterday).

The area is surrounded by tall mountains, and they are covered with ski lifts and grassy ski runs cut into the trees. In the winter, this is a big ski resort area. In the summer, mountain biking is popular, as is tubing through the rapids of the Yampa River (but not this year, the water is so low there are posted notices asking people to stay out of the water to protect the fragile ecosystem that is barely surviving).

I did laundry and caught up on my gherkins4perkins writing. Unfortunately, the church locks up its phones so there is no way to upload my e-mail. The Internet café closed at 5:00pm and is kind of pricey anyway. No Kinko's in town, either. So I don't know when you'll get this. Maybe Boulder, a couple days away through the Rocky Mountains.

Really tall mountain passes are coming up on the next few days' rides.