Day 25 – DON’T STOP!

The day began with a little bit of a hectic start. We crossed over into the Mountain Standard Time Zone so we gained another hour. The days are getting hotter and hotter so we decided to get an earlier start than normal. This is made difficult when you have just crossed into another time zone. It is like getting up two hours earlier than normal. We did get on the road 1/2 hour earlier and our shadows were the longest that we have seen them since we have begun. The first 10 miles were nice and very little wind. It did not last long. The wind began an unlike yesterday when it was due south today it was a southwest wind. This slowed us down to not quite a snails pace but it felt like it when we are used to going much faster. We made it to Eades, CO and enjoyed a quick snack. It had to be quick since we were meeting the girls in Haswell, CO an hour from when we stopped and we had 22 miles to go. We didn’t make it on schedule to say the least.

When we did finally pull into Haswell, CO we were ready for lunch but had a great sense of accomplishment with 50 miles in before 11:00. PB&J, a peach, cheese stick and a Gatorade got us all ready for the difficult afternoon. We got back on the bikes and had barely broken all of the concrete off our legs that had formed during lunch when psssssssssssssssssst. Dad had blown a front tire. We could have fixed it but since the girls were so close we called them and they turned around, try that on roads barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass with a 27’ travel trailer, and brought back Dad’s spare wheel. Good thing too! DON’T STOP!!

While we waited Mom spotted a sign for the Nations Smallest Jail. We rode over to it and got a picture in front of it. It was built in 1918 and is 10’x12’! It truly was small! On the road again. The locals told us that there was nothing after Haswell, CO, as if there was thriving civilization before it, so we got water in our CamelBaks and prepared for the long 40 miles with no where to refuel. The day grew hotter and the road continued to turn southwest, directly into the wind, and the water turned from ice cold to outside temperature to a few degrees below boiling in the matter of an hour.
For the first time on the trip I actually would have quit had I been given the chance. The heat, the wind and then as the girls drove past us for the final time of the day I felt the motivation to keep going pour out of my body. Why? As the girls drove past, we could see them go up the road where normally they would have disappeared. Not this time. The road turned again so we could then see them for another mile or two. It took them what seemed like hours to finally disappear and to think that I had to ride my bike down that same road into the wind for a much longer period of time was almost more than I could bear. DON’T STOP!!

We finally made it to Arlington, CO (about half way). They had a nice picnic table to lay on and an adequate outhouse. We rested for a while in the shade and then mustered up the gumption to get back on the bikes and ride to Sugar Creek, CO. We had just crested a hill with about 8 miles to go when I caught glimpse of something that was the biggest shot in the arm since my brother’s phone call about Justin Verlander’s no-hitter. The Rocky Mountains were in full view!!! It was awesome. Riding mile after mile across KS and CO getting seemingly no where was finally all worth it when we saw that gorgeous sight! This is what I have been looking forward to the most!!!

We pulled into a small convenience store to get water and an ice cold Gatorade only to find out that he had just sold out of them that morning. What a bummer!! He did give us free purified water and told us that just 5 miles down the road was the town of Ordway, CO where we could find all that we would need.
Again we shouldn’t have stopped, because as I started to go I felt a little squishy under my arms. I looked down to examine my front tire and it was mostly flat. DON’T STOP!!

We stopped in the shade of the city park to change the tire. This may sound like another event of the day but it was quite monumental since we had now used our final tube that we had brought with us on the trip. We had long since used up our patch kit so this was it. Another flat and we were done for the day. This would not set us back too far since there was a nice bike shop in Pueblo, CO (where we were spending the night!) but it would shorten our day.
The LORD had graciously changed the wind so that we made the 5 mile trip to Ordway, CO in about 15 minutes. We came to the edge of town and saw a gas station where we stopped. I ate a very late, and not too nutritious snack, which consisted of a Chef Boyardee spaghetti bowl, Gatorade, and ice cream bar. It hit the spot!!

After another application of sun block, since the day was late and the sun was getting lower, we hit the road and made a quick 13 mile trip to Olney Springs, CO where we stopped. WHY? Okay nothing happened. We rode another 10 miles down the road where we stopped again and this time it was the final one of the day. As we got back going Dad’s rear tire was flat. DON’T STOP!!!
We called Mom and she came to pick us up. At the beginning of the day, we had anticipated 145 miles, but had now ended at mile 112. Not too bad but would make for a longer day tomorrow. No problem. Mom came and rescued us and brought us to a very nice KOA in Pueblo, CO. Our lesson to be learned today - DON'T STOP!! About 50% of the time it induces flat tires and stiff legs!! It isn't worth it!

We slept soundly with the beautiful and majestic Rockies in clear view. It was awesome. The LORD is good and His mercies endure forever.