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

at camp in Fowler, CO

this young lady whose name we didn't get was very thoughtful and helpful towards Josh and I during a rest stop today. we were low on water and looking around for some while evauating our options for the day when she drove by offering to help. she was about to head home for bottles of water for us and then we found an operating (and un-padlocked) well water spigot. we say thanks anyway and then she returns in a few with a ziploc full of ice for us. didn't get her name, but she gets today's Good Deed award.

Day 50 - Haswell, CO

awoke to a very pretty morning in tribune. was looking to go long today, 80+ to haswell, CO. said goodbyes with Susan and we were both on our ways. early sunny skies turned overcast, again .... the skies cleared up in short order and I was left with a warm sunny day with winds that were mostly cooperative, abeit somewhat stiff from SSE. settled into a groove early and made good time to my water stop in eads, CO. in and out of there and got to beautiful metropolitan haswell, CO. (rolling eyes here ...) set up camp in the local park (if you want to call it that..). came across a cold water spigot so an opportunity to primitive shower and get clothes washed and out to dry. nice breeze made for quick drying on the line. Josh showed up at the park not long after i got there. he had stayed in eads the night before and was having tire/tube issues that allowed him to only progress 22 miles. he chose to camp here and we'll work together to push the 90 miles to pueblo in expected headwinds. nice to have unexpected company tonight.

excellent ride today. kept up with nutrition and hydration, feasted on last night's leftovers for dinner. beautiful night out for camping; cool dry air, good breeze.


today: 83 miles
to date: 2685

sunset in Haswell, CO

enjoying the late afternoon warm sun at camp in haswell, CO.

Welcome to a new state !

Day 49 - Tribune, KS

today brought STILL another gloomy morning, but with clearing skies and NO RAIN today. headed out with the intention of going long to Eads, CO, but fatigue and winds made me have to consider stopping short in tribune. besides, would rather spend the time visiting with Susan than grinding all day. these towns the last couple of days have been spread out, but more so today. found a very snappy B&B, a cottage really, so a good stopping point to relax.

saw more west-to-east cycle tourists today: a solo rider, a couple on a tandem who stopped by just a moment; they tipped me to the B&B. also saw another fellow later in the ride. he was grinding the NNE headwind he had and while he acknowledged me, he appeared completely and understandably uninterested in chatting....

the skies did clear nicely in the afternoon, with a good forecast for the next couple of days. the main street of tribune was quaint; there was piped-in music, something from back in time - charming !!

Susan heads home tomorrow, and I go long to haswell, CO.

cooked a home-style dinner in the cottage! nice to cook inside for a change!

today: 49 miles
to date: 2602

Day 48 - Scott City, KS

a rather foul-weather ride today along 96W, heading today to Scott city. a full goretex day. drizzle led into steady rain for long stretches. wasn't so cool out to be too cold, but nasty riding weather. get those sometimes.... decided to stop there vs. move on to dighton because scott city seemed to have more going on. met up with Susan there to visit for the remainder.

saw another solo west-to-east rider today. shortly after, I crossed paths with jorg, whom I had ridden with briefly in Florida. we anticipated running into each other, and it was good to do it. we were both navigating bad weather, so timing up for a pre-happy hour happy hour wasn't meant to be this time.

today: 57
to date: 2553

Day 47 - Ness City, KS

today, we shared coffee, oatmeal, and our touring isms. fine morning with the weather, another great night of camp sleeping. next stop, continuing on this endless ride on 96 west is ness city. today would have an added surprise ! my honey from home, Susan, drove up for a semester break visit and to shadow along a couple days of the tour!

today: 75 miles
to date: 2495

Pre-happy hour happy hour on the way to ness city...

Ft. Larned, Larned, KS

Day 46 - Larned, KS

today, we shared coffee, oatmeal, and our touring isms. fine morning with the weather, another great night of camp sleeping. next stop, continuing on this endless ride on 96 west is ness city. today would have an added surprise ! my honey from home, Susan, drove up for a semester break visit and to shadow along a couple days of the tour! 

today: 75 miles
to date: 2420

As we were pulling into the city park area to set up camp in Larned, we bumped into the first touring cyclists we have seen on this trip since i rode with Jorg early on. Everyone, please meet Josh and Brian !

Day 45 - Day Off in Hutchinson , KS

today began with a nice sleep-in and weak hotel coffee - yuk. the weather was, you guessed it, cloudy and gloomy. there was a high chance of rain, so a seemingly well-timed day off. moved our bikes and gear a few blocks away to the cyclists' hostel at a local church. we had scoped out the place yesterday and found it to be a great setup: beds, stocked kitchen, showers. had a quiet place !

I had begun to experience flare-ups of a chronic foot ailment in the early spring, so I hadn't run in some time, maybe 10 weeks. my foot had been feeling fine as of late from the rest, so with the weather actually looking up, I decided to go for a short easy run to break up the grind of cycling. very much enjoyed the run, feeling the wake-up to running muscles. unfortunately, my right foot didn't agree; I seem to have easily aggravated the plantar fascitiis. will have to bag running til I can see my foot guy back home. :(

spent a couple of hours at the library doing blog maintenance, mostly downloading pictures from the digital cam; most of each days' pic posts come from the iPhone. it's been a nice treat, and a good impression of the regular presence of public libraries in these small midwestern towns.

the weather cleared throughout the afternoon into a sunny day; go figure, the day expected to be the crappiest of the week turned out to be the nicest. it did rain later that night. ugh.

settled into an easy dinner of a monster salad, and called it an early night.

in the picture above is the church that housed the cyclists' only accommodation. very nice.  fully stocked kitchen, HOT WATER shower !