August 15th - Day 30 - Florence, CO to Fairplay, CO - 86 miles
The first 45 miles of the ride today were one long, low, constant climb away from the buttes of eastern Colorado and into the real mountains.
The first day in the mountains and our first real breakdown of communication. After 40 miles, I pulled into a small town consisting largely of log cabins called Guffey. I thought that Cynthia was going to meet me in Guffey for lunch, so when John of the Guffey Garage started to talk to me I didn't think that it was a big problem that Cynthia wasn't there. (We had no cellphone reception in that area) John is a retired union electrician who has been housing TransAm cyclists in his historic cabins and bunkhouse since the 1976 beginning of the BikeCentennial route that we are following. Since retirement he has been a welder, craftsman, and scavenger of unique items that now fill his semi-famous Garage and the Guffey museum. He has a great perspective on life and was very generous (offering me a cold beer within moments of my arrival). After some good conversation and sharing of stories with John I began to worry as to why Cynthia hadn't arrived yet.
Once back on the route Cynthia passed and was understandably flustered by her struggle to find me. The climb slowed my progess more than Cynthia anticipated and I failed to communicate where I was stopping for lunch. Not having access to a phone only made the situation worse.
Cynthia rode the next 25 miles as I leap-frogged ahead of her in about 5-10 mile increments. The wind had been a non-issue on the large climb this morning, but by the time Cynthia started to ride across the rolling plateau the afternoon wind was whipping up an annoying cross/headwind. I finished the last 20 miles into Fairplay in the fading light and dropping temperature of the evening. Luckily for me, Cynthia had gone ahead and arranged our accommodations in an RV park and set up camp. We hurried to get showered and get a nice meal in town before getting to bed late.
Quality Water Means Quality Life
1.2 billion people do not have access to clean water. Help others avoid the choice between thirst or disease.
As we passed through the Ozark Mountains, among Missouri scenic rivers, we came to a gorgeous little spot called "Two Rivers." At this convergence of the Jacks Fork and Current rivers, the silt heavy rapids of the Current meet the clear calm of the Jacks Fork river and one can actually see the divide between the two. I couldn't help but think of the divide between our access to clean water and the lack thereof in the villages of rural Ghana.
Troy and I consume on average, about 12 to 20 (20 oz) bottles of water daily. That's 12 to 20 times per day that, unlike the people in rural Ghana, Troy and I avoid illness without even realizing it. Regardless of how many miles we ride, we have no doubt that stopping anywhere along the road for water will be easy and risk-free.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Another rest day
August 14th - Florence, CO - Rest/Work Day
With the Rocky Mountains lying just ahead, we took today as an opportunity to get better prepared for a long period without reliable internet access. Mostly, this just involves getting Cynthia's medical school prep work up to date.
With the Rocky Mountains lying just ahead, we took today as an opportunity to get better prepared for a long period without reliable internet access. Mostly, this just involves getting Cynthia's medical school prep work up to date.
A climb in the morning leads to a fast finish
August 13th - Day 29 - Pueblo, CO to Florence, CO - 33 miles
Cynthia needs to get a lot of work done for medical school but yesterday was so busy that she didn't have much time. We considered making today another rest day but the campground was expensive, so we are doing a short day to get to free camping in Florence City Park.
I got a flat tire this morning from a staple, however, it was a good spot to stop as it was right next to a prairie dog colony. I called Cynthia and had her come to join me so that she could enjoy seeing them too.
After fixing the flat I continued another 12 miles to a town where I was going to switch with Cynthia to allow her some time on the bike. Before I could get to her I had to climb up a thousand foot butte, my first hill in a long time. I've nearly forgotten what climbing feels like. After switching riders I drove down into Florence, and Cynthia caught up only ten minutes later. She had an amazingly strong ride down off of the butte into Florence and she was able to ride 11 miles in only 33 minutes!!
Cynthia needs to get a lot of work done for medical school but yesterday was so busy that she didn't have much time. We considered making today another rest day but the campground was expensive, so we are doing a short day to get to free camping in Florence City Park.
I got a flat tire this morning from a staple, however, it was a good spot to stop as it was right next to a prairie dog colony. I called Cynthia and had her come to join me so that she could enjoy seeing them too.
After fixing the flat I continued another 12 miles to a town where I was going to switch with Cynthia to allow her some time on the bike. Before I could get to her I had to climb up a thousand foot butte, my first hill in a long time. I've nearly forgotten what climbing feels like. After switching riders I drove down into Florence, and Cynthia caught up only ten minutes later. She had an amazingly strong ride down off of the butte into Florence and she was able to ride 11 miles in only 33 minutes!!
Rest day
August 12th - Pueblo, CO Rest Day
We took today as a rest day to get some work done and get resupplied. For a "rest" day it ended up being very busy as we ran around Pueblo. My cellphone has been acting very screwy as if it had gotten wet. We took it into an Alltel store and they offered to send me a new phone, but seeing as my car doesn't have a P.O. box, that option didn't work. I was forced to buy an old refurbished phone, but at least I now have a phone that can make calls.
We are going to stay another night at Lake Pueblo State Park.
We took today as a rest day to get some work done and get resupplied. For a "rest" day it ended up being very busy as we ran around Pueblo. My cellphone has been acting very screwy as if it had gotten wet. We took it into an Alltel store and they offered to send me a new phone, but seeing as my car doesn't have a P.O. box, that option didn't work. I was forced to buy an old refurbished phone, but at least I now have a phone that can make calls.
We are going to stay another night at Lake Pueblo State Park.
Ghost sprinklers attack during a thunderstorm
August 11th – Sugar City, CO to Pueblo, CO – 56 miles
So, last night we stayed in a small park in Sugar City, it was generally nice, but had amazingly green grass for the region. We saw the sprinkler heads and tried to place our tent in a section of unhealthy grass hoping that it wouldn’t get sprayed by the sprinklers in the night. We were wrong. There was a thunderstorm last night that dumped a lot of rain, so you would think that sprinklers would be unnecessary. Nope, in fact they came on twice. A wonderful example of how western towns use their scarce water resources efficiently. Grrr. Oh, and it gets pretty cold at night, especially during a rain storm. I was out there in the rain getting sprayed by sprinklers that it was too dark to see trying to figure out how to block/turn the sprinklers to stop them from pummeling the side of our tent. After crawling out of my warm sleeping bag three times I finally got it right. Needless to say, we awoke to find that the tent was now our personal swimming pool and we were adrift on our bedrolls/liferafts. Great. Perfect start to a day.
After the morning drama, the ride today was a relief, except for another flat tire from a cactus needle. I caught my first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains 44 miles out from Pueblo. Seeing the slight difference in color between the sky and the mountains on the horizon was a great inspiration and a welcome sight signaling an escape from the Plains.
We found camp tonight in the beautiful Arkansas Point Campground at Lake Pueblo State Park. The campground is amazing, but expensive at $18 a night.
So, last night we stayed in a small park in Sugar City, it was generally nice, but had amazingly green grass for the region. We saw the sprinkler heads and tried to place our tent in a section of unhealthy grass hoping that it wouldn’t get sprayed by the sprinklers in the night. We were wrong. There was a thunderstorm last night that dumped a lot of rain, so you would think that sprinklers would be unnecessary. Nope, in fact they came on twice. A wonderful example of how western towns use their scarce water resources efficiently. Grrr. Oh, and it gets pretty cold at night, especially during a rain storm. I was out there in the rain getting sprayed by sprinklers that it was too dark to see trying to figure out how to block/turn the sprinklers to stop them from pummeling the side of our tent. After crawling out of my warm sleeping bag three times I finally got it right. Needless to say, we awoke to find that the tent was now our personal swimming pool and we were adrift on our bedrolls/liferafts. Great. Perfect start to a day.
After the morning drama, the ride today was a relief, except for another flat tire from a cactus needle. I caught my first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains 44 miles out from Pueblo. Seeing the slight difference in color between the sky and the mountains on the horizon was a great inspiration and a welcome sight signaling an escape from the Plains.
We found camp tonight in the beautiful Arkansas Point Campground at Lake Pueblo State Park. The campground is amazing, but expensive at $18 a night.
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