Day 51 - Fowler, CO

enjoyed a great tent sleep in nice temps and breezes. per my routine, brewed some coffee and cooked a big pot of oatmeal and granola. killer. got packed up and ready to roll in already building headwinds.

funny how things happen. Josh limped in yesterday with tire and tube concerns. I had mentioned my only flat occurred in florida, when jorg rolled up to join in. well, as we push off, I discover my rear tire was flat. hmmmm. changed the tube and off we went. turned out that tube had a slow leak that I was able to manage for a bit with pumps of air refills. at the water stop at mile 35, I changed the tube again. will report back on it ...
I had other equipment issues; some friction rubbing from my front rack. got it squared til an easy fix later. headwinds and friction on the front, slow air leak on the back all made for a testy start to the ride.

from the get-go we experienced stiff and steady headwinds, increasing to 30-35 as the day progressed. relentless. out in the wide open spaces of eastern Colorado, there is nothing to block the wind. at all. nowhere to hide. was only able to SUSTAIN about 8mph. my legs felt a bit toasted from the long day yesterday, but regardless, this wind was nasty.

along the way, a van pulled up next to josh and i as we struggled to maintain speed. a rough looking fellow with long straggly gray hair and beard and ONE tooth tried to engage us in conversation. he professed to be a prophet, and began to tell us his theory about the next great prophecy, the second coming of colin powell. his was a long rambling rant that left us shaking our heads.... all kinds out here.... !

at 50 miles, it became clear that reaching pueblo in time to hit the bike shop for josh's and now my needs was not going to happen, and it was going to be closed on Sunday. so, at the stop where we found water and a good deed our way, we called ahead to Vance's Bike shop. we prepaid for and made arrangements to do pick up along the way at a criterium Vance was running. good fellow.

neither of us was up to the brutality of another 33 miles of the winds, so we stopped in fowler and made camp there. kind of skanky camp spot, but a nice skanky. :)

going to go short tomorrow to recover, just past pueblo.

today: 57 tough miles
to date: 2742