Gus Dunningham was a long way from home. Sitting on the lawn in the shade of an evergreen in Veteran’s Park on Boulder’s Main Street, he appeared in no hurry to go anywhere.
He had already come a long way.
A resident of London, UK, he had flown into Salt Lake City and then pedaled his way to Boulder. Through Bear Lake, Idaho, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Grand Teton National Park in pouring rain, he cycled on. He put in two 80 mile days in and around Yellowstone National Park, and made friends with two French cyclists, making plans to meet weeks later when their paths would again cross.
But that part of the story comes later.
GETTING TO KNOW GUS
Taking a lunch break, I did not realize what I was about to learn from the stranger. I watched him from a distance at first with interest. Boulder is in the midst of an effort to attract more visitors, including those on touring bicycles, and seeing the heavy-duty, well-filled packs on his nearby bike, I decided to approach him.
Introducing myself and explaining the community effort to promote the bike barn that exists out at the fairgrounds, I asked if he had any advice about how to attract more cyclists.
He immediately expressed interest in the bike barn, a place I had told him offered accommodations for the night with a microwave, a mini-fridge, plus a nearby toilet and shower. He said he had a place to stay in Helena the following night, but did not know where he would spend that night. I offered to show him the place, and off we went, me in my car and him on his bike.
We arrived to find Marilyn McCauley hard at work in the bike barn, preparing to install brochure holders. After introductions, she said she did not think water to the adjacent toilet and shower room had yet been turned on for spring. Although Gus could easily have walked across the fairgrounds to the functioning public restrooms, I was not excited about having a guest in our community left with no access to a shower, so I invited him to spend the night at our house.
That is not the sort of thing I would normally do, inviting a complete stranger into our home for the night. Looking back, it was probably ill-advised, but there was something so trustworthy about his demeanor. Turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made for a while.
Gus was a very entertaining guest for dinner and the night. We had some good conversation, and he shared some useful insights into two things: how our community looks to a visitor and what could be done to attract more cyclists.
HOW THE COMMUNITY SEEMS TO OUTSIDE EYES
Before I found Gus in the city park, he had already spent a few hours in Boulder. He stopped for a meal at the Mountain Good, which he said looked attractive and well kept. After eating, he headed out to the park. Finding the public toilets locked, he cycled across town, seeing what else he could find, and ended up at Centennial Park. Once again, the public toilets were locked.
“All the public toilets were locked,” he said.
“That’s a reason to not stop,” he added.
The “water tap” on the “green” (his word for Veteran’s Park) was not functioning, either, he discovered.
Eventually he went back to the Mountain Good to use the bathroom and then made his way to the park to contemplate his next move.
Pressed later to be honest about what he liked or did not like about Boulder, Gus said, “It feels like a sort of homey-like town.”
He had found friendly faces at the Mountain Good and at the library, where he relaxed for a while, he said.
Riding across town, he said, a cyclist can “catch little bits of conversations” that provide a sense of how people live. “It makes you feel more connected,” he said.
He also said the “massive shoulder” along Main Street is good for cyclists.
And the invitation to dinner and a room for the night meant “the generosity of the people has to get a mention,” added Gus.
But not everything about Boulder was positive, he said. The appearance of downtown buildings, especially the bars, prompted him to comment that they “look like they could do with a little bit of care.”
And, of course, the lack of access to public restrooms, running water, and a shower at the bike barn were minuses.
Asked where he had really liked on his cycling route, Gus said, “I really like Jackson.”
Besides being a cyclist, Gus is a hiker, surfer and tennis player. Jackson Hole is “a hub of outdoorsy people,” a place he might like to live, except he would probably miss the sea, he said.
HOW TO ATTRACT MORE CYCLISTS
Gus said the bike barn was exactly the kind of place cyclists would like to find, but they have to know it exists. He had suggestions about posting it on Google Maps, on maps.me, and through a few websites he named that are commonly used by cyclists.
One of those websites, warmshowers.com, connects cyclists with home owners willing to provide a room for the night. That is how he had found places he planned to stay in Helena and Missoula, he said.
Because those accommodations do not charge, there are cyclists who rely on them and rarely pay for a spot to spend the night, he said. Asked if the $15 charge for the bike barn put it out of the market, Gus said it is not far out of line with most camp grounds where $10 per night is common.
A committee working on promoting the bike barn has discussed advertising for a bicycle repair person to be on call, but Gus suggested another route.
“Most tourists have got a good working basic knowledge of their bike,” he said. What they really need is a bike stand, a few tools, a pump with a pressure gauge, and some chain spray, he said.
His primary suggestion was to work to get the American Cycling Association to alter the preferred route between Yellowstone and Glacier to pass through Boulder. It is really a great route, with lots of scenery, small towns and lower traffic levels, he said.
ONWARD FROM BOULDER
Wednesday morning Gus was up and out on the road again before 8 a.m., headed for Helena. Having looked over the local visitor guide and asked about attractions in Helena, he had some plans for his day.
After Helena, he was intending to cycle to Missoula, then Seattle, then down the West Coast. That portion of the trip, he said, was something he was really looking forward to, being close to the ocean. San Francisco for the Fourth of July is on the itinerary. After reaching southern California, his plans will take him into Mexico, along with those two Frenchmen he met at Yellowstone. His cycling will last until the end of the calendar year, when he will switch to backpacking in South America until April.
All along the way, he promised to keep his eyes and ears open for ideas on effectively promoting Boulder’s bike barn. And true to his word, he emailed late last week with links to three news articles with ideas.
Wherever Gus Dunningham is right now, one thing is for sure: Boulder was lucky to have him stop.
Travel safely, Gus.
