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Monday, July 28, 2008, Porch of Park Maintenance, Pueblo, Colorado
I am the alarm clock every day. Nobody gets up before me. I’m not sure if anyone ever wakes up before me, but if they do, they don’t let on because they want the extra rest. Most stay up too late writing in their journals. We got ready pretty fast this morning and left at 6:50. We had knocked 5 miles off the journey by riding late last night, so we had only about 75 miles to Pueblo. Johnny and Sarah were too tired to ride, so the six of us took off without them on a beautiful ride under clear skies. We had a gradual climb for most of the first 30 miles to the summit, which was under 10,000 feet. One of my chains fell off about seven times, lack of tension, which I must adjust soon. We made pretty good time up. I think everyone was giving extra effort because we were looking forward to finishing the Rockies and all the mountain climbs. As beautiful as it was, we all will be looking forward to flat land. When we hit the summit, we had 10 miles of downhill coasting. It’s so enjoyable to coast for miles at 30+ mph. You feel like you’re riding a motorcycle, all without pedaling and it’s especially exhilarating after grinding slowly up a mountain for hours at 4 mph. The cool breeze flowing past your pores rejuvenates your weary body. We saw four groups of cyclists today, the most ever, a British couple, Keith from North Carolina going to San Francisco, two recumbent cyclists from Virginia, and a trio of teenagers going it alone cross country, unsupported. Pueblo is where the Western Express and Transcontinental routes converge, so we will probably be seeing many more cyclists crossing our paths. The terrain changed dramatically from mountains to plains, green and wet to brown and dry, cool weather to hot. It was hard hot riding; the last 10 miles to Pueblo and I was glad when we stopped at the first gas station store (saw the cheapest gas so far - $3.79 a gallon). Adriana and I bought the largest cherry Icee (64 oz.) they sold and refilled it twice. Gloria drove back to Vicky and the boys who were 8 miles back wilting in the hot wind and brought them cold drinks. They eventually arrived wore out but we all needed to ride ½ mile to the city park where, according to the map, the campground was. After arriving at the park, Gloria and I drove to the p.o. to pick up our mail addressed to General Delivery. My maps and Cathy’s letter with Adriana’s camera card were there, but not my mom’s. A huge storm front was moving in quickly, and before we arrived back at the park, big powerful raindrops were shooting down from the clouds. As we pulled up, we saw the kids running for shelter by the park pool. They didn’t hear our honking over the raging storm, but finally one of them heard us and signaled the others. They ran back amidst streaks of lightning and peals of thunder. We left the bikes where they were [even the most opportunistic of thieves wouldn’t have braved the weather] and drove to locate a suitable shelter for the night. After inquiring a couple of places, Ed, the tennis director, gave us permission and a key to set up for the night in the park maintenance facility, on the porch, which had a 12’ awning, enough to shield us from the rain, should it come. After situating our bikes on the porch, we drove off, with the help of NUVI, our GPS, to find a Chinese buffet and we did – Panda Buffet. We arrived at 7:00 and didn’t leave till 8:45, eating and drinking almost continuously. Oh so good! The waitress was very attentive and the food was great, and coupled with the fact we were famished from the long ride, it was a very enjoyable meal. It turns out the waitress has a cyclist son who has toured cross country to raise money for leukemia. She returned our tip at the end of the evening and said, “Buy something for the children with it.” Then everyone went to Walmart to shop, except me; I stayed in the van and wrote in the journal. I had a couple of days of catching up to do. When we arrived back at the maintenance facility, I called Mama and gave her an update. Finally at around midnight, we began looking for the “always open” public park restrooms. They were locked, so we went back to the maintenance and used their hose to clean up before hitting the deck. 74 miles.