Sorry, we
haven’t had access to wifi since Sunday night…
I’m learning how difficult it is to try and keep this type of thing
updated! Also, my dad suggested I put
more recent (chronological) events towards the top of the page. So if you find yourself reading backwards in
time just take it as a cool experience or something? Sorry this is only from my perspective; John
is using facebook if you want to check out what he’s been doing on it (which I
honestly don’t have any idea of).
Friday
Today we
crossed from Kansas into Nebraska with no noticeable difference, just a bumpier
road and the same small towns and scenery (wheat, corn, and grass fields for
miles). But! Today was our second century ride (100+ miles
long) of the tour!!! Also, a church
supplied us with some fantastic baked goods about mile 22 and then a small town
burger stand gave us each a free ice cream cone near mile 68! What a great day! Until the last kilometer (I was riding with a
Canadian…). When suddenly we found
ourselves in a torrential downpour and facing head/side/shifting winds that
buffeted us around on the lane we claimed.
Some sections of road (tire paths and edges) were under 1” deep running water
and the rain came down so hard it hurt any skin it hit. Anything outside at camp got soaked (people’s
tents, pillows, and sleeping bags). Apparently
if we had gone maybe ½ hour slower we would have encountered only a few
sprinkles like Larry and Sherry among multiple others. Thankfully the community building was promptly
opened up for us to sleep in overnight (and it’s air conditioned!)
5 flats and
2 falls
Church sign for baked goods stop! It's awesome to see signs made to welcome us as Sea to Sea!
Today we rode past the geographical center of the continental US... Wow we've come a long ways! Over half way already... Woah, just realized that.
Thursday
What an
amazing day!!! Winds were similar to
yesterday (20 mph up to 40) but today were almost a direct tailwind! My (Joel’s) group averaged over 19 mph for
the 72 mile ride, finishing well before lunchtime. Our host tonight was Prairie Dog State Park
in Kansas. Really nothing else to say… It was such a fast ride and then slow
relaxing day at the park.
0 flats and
0 falls (1 flat overnight but they decided to count it as yesterday’s…)
Apparently John and now also Adam require no tent to sleep at night...
Wednesday
Today I rode
with my mom and dad which requires patience and is mentally taxing in different
ways than biking with other (faster) bikers.
It was still a good day for a relaxed ride due to a less than average
distance day and the strong crosswinds the entire day. Winds were said to be 20 mph with gusts up to
40!
10 flats and
1 fall
Who would have thought that people could draft a tractor thing at 25 mph! I couldn't even catch up to take a picture!
Eric and his new girlfriend! What do you think? Look good together?
Actually, I have no idea what day this was...
Tuesday
Today (I) Joel
tried to keep up with Eric… Big
mistake! Eric kept a very impressive pace
of about 20-22 mph for 2 hours while fighting some crosswinds on I-70 East and
then promptly died around mile 45. We
had pretty nice weather the entire day apart from strong crosswinds for the
last 10 miles. In order to use I-70 we
were required to pay a $700 fee (because we were an event…) which gave us a
police “escort” for the whole 40 miles we were on it. Any governmental people involved sure learned
that we don’t all stick nicely together the whole ride…
12 flats and
0 falls
An example of our daily "Peloton: meeting
Monday
Today we
were following Mark Kiemel’s “favorite” route out of Colorado Springs… In other words it was very (probably
unnecessarily) hilly. The morning
started off cool and a little wet but about 10 miles in we were all (for those
of us that did that is…) glad that we wore long sleeves. The next 25 miles were cold, wet, misty, and
a little windy. After 35 miles or so the
sky cleared up and it became very nice and sunny for the rest of the ride.
12 flats and
1 fall
Funnel cloud near the top of Pike's Peak. At the same time 5 guys are getting near the top (by bike!)
4000 ft of climbing with grades up to 20% (I think that's right)
Hiding from the rain while eating supper in Colorado Springs... under the kitchen truck looks like a good spot!
But it’s
10:00 pm (well, now 10:20) here and I’m one of the last few people up… So I’m heading to bed. I hear that we will be staying in a small
town for the weekend (presumably it is at least big enough to have a McDonald’s!?) So night!
And hope everything is going as great for all you guys as it is for
us. We may have some things to feel
sorry for ourselves occasionally but really we have an awesome life on the
tour!
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