Yesterday was one of the best days so far on the ride. No, it couldn't compare to any of our days at Grand Canyon. Nor did it match the day of exuberance I felt when I crossed the Continental Divide. But it was an incredible day in which I finally got to ride with my daughter and had the chance to make something out of nothing with my family. Ordway's a lovely little town but there was absolutely nothing to do there except play in the fountain. As with far too many small towns we've already come across, the downtown area is desolute and you have to wonder what keeps it alive out here miles from the next town.
But we had an amazing time celebrating being together as a family and we watched the food network (once again, "Next Food Network Star" and "Cupcake Wars") before falling asleep in our lovely old-fashioned hotel which was air conditioned. Of course, as is my habit I was terribly concerned about my bicycle so I chained it up underneath the outside staircase to make sure it didn't dissappear. I know, I've got too much of an untrusting nature about the bikes but as I've mentioned before, my biggest fear is that someone jacks my bicycle and I'm stuck without a way to finish this ride.
We decided to try something a bit different today and go by the same game plan we followed yesterday which was for me to leave early (to let Sarah sleep) and meet up with Amy later in the morning where Sarah would join me. The idea was for her to be with me when we cross the Kansas border. Since I knew I'd have a long ride today I got up at 5:00 am and had a short breakfast of cereal and hard boiled eggs from the local grocery store. There was no real coffee maker in the room (I did use the small one cup brewer as I was getting ready but it wasn't enough caffeine) so I stopped at a convenience store that was just outside the town where I got a really good cup of dark coffee! Yeah, that's the ticket! I also made sure I had plenty of extra water in my bag because as you can see from our route below, there wouldn't be much between Ordway and Tribune, KS!
As a matter of fact, one of the things that our hostess warned me about was the fact that most cyclists who pass through here tend to not pack enough water;
As you can see, Eastern Colorado is hot, flat, featureless and so much fun to ride! If I passed five cars in an hour I was lucky and it was great to just ride and watch the sunrise! Of course, once the sun came up it was a totally different matter. It was then that I really started feeling the heat and more importantly, the dehydration. I kept passing things that looked like they should have been towns but were really nothing more than a couple of houses in the same local with miles and miles between them.
Finally, Sarah and the family caught up to me in Eads. By all indications on the map there was supposed to be a service station and a small convenience/grocery store. Wrong!!!!! Once again I found reason to curse the folks who (failed to) update the maps at Adventure Cycling Association. However, the city park they mention on their maps WAS there and at least it had a port-a-potty that Sarah could use before we headed out on the road. She was a bit nervous about using it (I couldn't blame her) and while we had our brief reunion the boys suddenly discover a ton of the hugest ants I've ever seen. As boys are always wont to do, they became fascinated by the little critters until we forced them back into the van. It was all we could do to keep William from squishing them as if he were a giant destroyer! I swear to God, my children are Calvin, Hobbes and Suzie!
But what is so endearing on this trip is even though they get on each others' nerves, they have really done some incredible bonding during this trip and seeing (and hearing) the boys wish Sarah good luck on today's ride was so sweet. They truly do love each other and although they like to push each other's buttons, we've really seen so many little instances of them caring for each other and supporting each other. I truly hope we can continue this when we return home. Of course, on the flip side, the boys were also incredibly jealous I was only riding with Sarah so I have to make sure on the next ride day they get some miles in!
Fortunately, the ride with Sarah today was uneventful. How could it not be? We were rolling through some of the flattest country we'll see this entire journey. She was fascinated by all of the dust devils we passed and it was fun to watch multiple dust devils twirl about in their little naturalistic pas de deux. Finally, 40 miles later, we reached the Kansas border and since we were so far ahead of Amy and the boys (they had stopped to look at water towers and photograph a few - Amy's new hobby on the road) we stopped in the shade of the sign. Since it was nearly noon, that wasn't much shade at all. After about 20 minutes we finally saw the familiar black van with the blue tarp coming our way! And Sarah and I part at the Kansas border but not until Amy gets a picture of us together.
And once again I was on my own. I do love riding with Sarah but I find it does slow me down a lot. My average speed for today's ride was only 16.66 mph because during the 41 miles with Sarah we averaged only about 13 mph. But on the plus side I have somebody to talk to amidst the monotony of the landscape;
But what is so endearing on this trip is even though they get on each others' nerves, they have really done some incredible bonding during this trip and seeing (and hearing) the boys wish Sarah good luck on today's ride was so sweet. They truly do love each other and although they like to push each other's buttons, we've really seen so many little instances of them caring for each other and supporting each other. I truly hope we can continue this when we return home. Of course, on the flip side, the boys were also incredibly jealous I was only riding with Sarah so I have to make sure on the next ride day they get some miles in!
Fortunately, the ride with Sarah today was uneventful. How could it not be? We were rolling through some of the flattest country we'll see this entire journey. She was fascinated by all of the dust devils we passed and it was fun to watch multiple dust devils twirl about in their little naturalistic pas de deux. Finally, 40 miles later, we reached the Kansas border and since we were so far ahead of Amy and the boys (they had stopped to look at water towers and photograph a few - Amy's new hobby on the road) we stopped in the shade of the sign. Since it was nearly noon, that wasn't much shade at all. After about 20 minutes we finally saw the familiar black van with the blue tarp coming our way! And Sarah and I part at the Kansas border but not until Amy gets a picture of us together.
And once again I was on my own. I do love riding with Sarah but I find it does slow me down a lot. My average speed for today's ride was only 16.66 mph because during the 41 miles with Sarah we averaged only about 13 mph. But on the plus side I have somebody to talk to amidst the monotony of the landscape;
Which I obviously did not have during that video since Sarah had left me at the Kansas border. Fortunately, I only had 18 miles left to ride. But what an 18 miles it was!!! For the first time I actually got a tiny bit of a tail wind and the road was totally and completely flat! So for 16 of the 18 miles I traveled fairly consistently at 25 mph! I was flying and it was great, I felt good and even managed to take some video;
Tonight we are staying at a wonderful little cottage that has been provided for us by our hostess who often provides housing for those traveling on the TransAmerica route. I'm hoping to change out my chain tomorrow since it's been over 1,000 miles now and my shifting is getting a little wonky.
But one thing I definitely want to do is relish these moments with my children and my amazing wife. Yes, there may be many wonderful moments in our future life, but right now we are definitely having the time of our lives.
And today's report;
FFL - 2 Deer, 3 Rabbits, 9 Birds of indeterminate species, 1 Skunk, 8 UFO’s
RRL - Toilet bowl (why do I keep finding these things in Colorado?), one couch
Stay well and I'll update more from the road!
For another perspective on our journey check out Amy's blog at http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com//
To help us get the kids to Sunrise go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/
