The Gun Show

Greetings from Newton, Kansas. We are still cycling on and now that we're out of the mountains and onto the plains, the mileage is coming a lot easier.

After our relaxing time in Montrose with Lee's aunt and uncle, Linda and Bob, we rejoined our beloved Route 50 and pushed on to Sargents about 100 miles away. That set us up perfectly for our biggest climb of the trip, Monarch Pass, sitting at a pretty 11,312 ft. The climb was actually not that bad and we were on the downhill before noon. Route 50 (now a not so lonely road) led us into Arkansas River Canyon. If you're in Colorado and someone says you should go on Route 50, in the Arkansas River Canyon for a pleasurable bicycle ride, don't believe them because they are actually trying to kill you. The shoulder was approximately 3 inches wide, with careening semi's and sightlines that were never adequately long enough to make you feel comfortable that the Chevy Suburban coming up behind you could actually see you. To make matters worse the wind was coming up the canyon, making our lives fairly miserable for the afternoon. However, things did look up when we left Route 50, and we found ourselves in the pleasant town of Westcliffe, CO for dinner (and the night).

We had dinner at the Feed Store Restaurant and then decided we should find a spot to camp for the evening. On the way out we were grumbling about our situation, as it looked like a storm was coming. The owner of the restaurant heard us and said she knew of a good Bed and Breakfast (she owned that as well). We replied that that was a little out of our price range. She asked us what our range was, and Wes replied, "It would be offensive if we told you." She insisted, so we told her we try to stay below $40 if we're going to stay indoors. She went and had a chat with her husband and came back and said we had a room.

The next day, Lee dropped by the Restaurant to settle our account for the room. It came up that we were planning on watching the U.S. vs. England soccer match. The owner (the husband this time) said to just watch it at their house on their large flat screen tv, so we cheered on the U.S. to a tie in style.

Well, we decided we had to leave the comfort of Westcliffe, or else we may never leave, so that afternoon we headed out over our last range of the Rockies and into a storm. Biking up the mountain was no problem, but biking down about froze our hands and feet off. The temperature had dropped into the low 40's and it was sleeting. We made it 25 miles to a town fittingly name Wetmore (the mountain's name was Wet Mountain). At a general store there we changed clothes, and discussed what are next move would be. It seemed suicidal to try to make it to Pueblo, the next town, but we also didn't want to set up camp in the rain. Thankfully we were provided with a third option which we took. The owner's of the store said we could sleep on the floor in the back. They had a t.v. with satellite hookup and so we enjoyed watching the latest James Bond movie. The coolest part was that we were allowed to eat anything we wanted, we just had to save the wrapper. It was like paradise...movies, unlimited food, it could only have been better if they had a masseuse as well at the store.

On to Pueblo the next morning. When we arrived there, I realized my rear derailleur (the part of the bike that moves the chain over the rear gears) was broken. No idea how it happened, but it need to be fixed. We went to a Vance's Bicycle World, got a new part, and then got other problems we've been having with our bikes taken care of. All-in-all we spent about 3 hours there. It was three when we finally left, and we thought we could still get out some good miles.

Five miles out of town, Wes's rear tire went flat. So we spent another thirty minutes on the side of the road changing it, because our spare tube had a problem, so the original tube had to be patched. Back on the road.

Dinner.

8:30 in the evening, 5 miles outside of Ordway, the town we had chosen to stay in for the night. Wes's front tire goes flat. Another hour spent, because we had to search in the dark for the hole to be patched.

We made it into town (miraculously having completed 81 miles even with all our problems) and met another biker who was camping in the city park (I guess I should mention that all the towns in Eastern Colorado and Kansas are incredibly cycler friendly and allow free camping in all their city parks). It was nice to chat with him, as he was coming from the East. We shared stories and then finally went to bed.

The next day we pushed hard to try to make up some of the ground we had lost. We met a group of supported tourers going west to east. It was fun to see them gaulk at our mileage especially as all their gear was being carried in their support car, while ours was on our bike. They shared their food with us and let us use their pump to top off the air in our tires (our frame pump is a pain to get to high psi's). We got to Sheridan Lake, CO (pop. 66), about 90 miles from Ordway when a storm caught up with us. It looked like something from the movie Twister, minus the flying cows. The town had a church whose pastor graciously allowed us to stay in their nursery. We cooked spaghetti and Mac 'n Cheese and had a good night sleep.

The next day we set out at 6:00 a.m. with a sweet tailwind. Let me explain how a wind works with biking. Headwind equals worst situation possible. It's something like trying to ride directly into a wall (not something I have much experience with, although as a child I did once have some when switching from pedal brakes to hand brakes that resulted with me riding into a wall, but I digress). A tailwind is heavenly and crosswinds aren't as bad as a headwind, but they too can be annoying as it takes extra energy to keep the bike on the road and you often find yourself riding sideways.

The tailwind helped us to a fast 30 miles in less than 90 minutes. We stopped in for breakfast, and got back on the road. By 3:00 p.m. we had done 101 miles. We stopped for a late lunch/early dinner, took a break, and did another 32 miles, which put us in Ness City with our longest day yet, 133 miles.

While we were riding, Wes had two more flats, and we actually had to limp it in to Ness City, periodically pumping his front tire. Well, in Ness City we met Keith and Jan. Keith is riding cross country as well, with his wife supporting him with their truck/camper. Well, we got to talking at the city park where we were all camping for the night and he hooked us up with some tubes for Wes's bike. Well, we were thankful to say the least. We took pictures together, chatted some more and then split up for the evening.

The next day, Keith caught up to us 12 miles in and we rode together the rest of the day to Larned. Wes was having an incredibly unlucky week with his bike. On the edge of Larned his rack on his bike collapsed (we each have a rack on our bike that carries all of our gear). Well, we had planned on going past Larned, since it only put us at 66 miles. We ended up staying the night in the city park. Keith and Jan saved us once again. They offered to carry our gear the 58 miles to Nickerson in their truck, where there was a bike shop within 10 miles, and then drive us to the bike shop. Well, that sounded just about perfect so we stayed the night in Larned, got up rode with Keith to Nickerson, got the ride to the bike shop, got a new rack for Wes and other needed items.

Let me talk about Keith and Jan. They were awesome. Keith helped us out with our bikes doing various repairs, Jan fixed us some wonderful meals. If you guys are reading this, well, know that we won't forget the kindness you showed to us. (By the way Keith's blog is crazyguyonabike.com/keithgiezentanner).

Well, from Nickerson, we biked another 48 miles to Newton. On our way into town, a guy pulled over to the side of the road and gave us some water. Further on our way we pulled over on the side of the road to take a picture with us flexing with a sign for a gun show (I know right? Sorry, the picture didn't turn out well). Well, another guy pulled over, and asked if we'd like a roof and some showers. You need to know that we've really been blessed on this trip, but showering has been something that we have been lacking. We took him up on it, so that's where we are right now. At D.J.'s house, in Newton, full of pizza, showered, with our stuff in the laundry.

If you watch the news, the world seems like a terrible place. Cynically (and as a protective measure too I think) we tell ourselves that people are mean, out to get us, and always have an angle. I used to believe as much. You do something like we're doing, and experience things that we're experiencing, it's impossible to maintain that attitude. I don't know, I guess what I'm trying to say is quit watching the news and do a bike trip, or just keep following this blog.

Well, tomorrow is gonna be another 100 mile day, so I better get to bed. Our goal is to be done by the 4th of July, so we have some tough days ahead of us. Also, we've begun meeting quite a few cyclists heading the opposite direction, they say that we're some of the first "eastbounders" they've seen.