59

Saturday, August 2, 2008, Methodist Church, Towner, Colorado
Finally after a restless night, the phone alarm went off at 4:15 am. It was still dark, and I got up to use the portapotty, As I was walking, I noticed a guy standing across the street in a black shirt looking my way. I thought it was a little strange, but didn’t think much of it as I entered. After a few seconds –BAM. Something hit the side of the portapotty hard. I bolted out and saw the guy running away, so I dashed after him. Once I entered the back yard it was too dark to see well and littered with all kinds of junk, parts, furniture, so as I was working my way through it, he got away or hid and remained quiet. Too bad. We haven’t had very good luck in the city parks, and we probably won’t stay in another one. After eating cereal we left, around 5:15, before sunrise. The wind was slightly with us, and by the crack of dawn, we had already pedaled 10 miles. After about 15 miles, Vicky turned too sharp on a street with gravel and fell. She was a little hurt and after a while, couldn’t keep up, so she rode with the van. Shortly thereafter, we saw two women cycling to Oregon; one was on a recumbent. Later, we saw a guy, Rocco, going to San Francisco. By then it was 11:00 and starting to get real hot; plus the crosswind was starting to become a headwind. When we finally stopped riding at around 12:00, we had gone 73 miles and were very hot, tired, and thirsty. We found shade under a tree, but it was still HOT – too hot to really rest well. I wet myself and kept a wet towel on my head. It worked, and after a while, I could rest. I wasn’t really very hungry but kept drinking. While waiting, I called Uncle Herman and Joe McCroskey. We stayed around 4 hours to wait out the heat and finally got going around 4:30. By then, the crosswind was blowing hard. It’s too bad our direction wasn’t just 5 degrees more to the north. It would have changed to a slight tailwind and made all the difference in the world. As it was, it was slow going, about 10 mph, and we had 30 miles to go. One mile from a small town, Sheradon Lake, Paul’s chain broke. I can’t believe I forgot a master link. Fortunately, we were close to town. Paul walked the bike the remaining mile to the only business, a gas station with a small store. Gloria was already there when I arrived, and the guy at the gas station had already her and us to stay at his church building in Towner, only two miles from the Kansas border, for the night. It was a blessing, especially since it was getting late. He also said he would check for any spare chains and bring them to church tomorrow. It was great that we would be able to attend a church meeting. I like doing that whenever we can. It was only 11 miles to Towner and by dusk, we were there and the odometer read 102 miles. Paul made it too. He wanted to complete the century ride, so he rode Vicky’s bike the last 11 miles. Once there, we ate cold food outside the church and hauled our panniers and sleeping bags to the church basement where we would sleep on the floor for the night. A cleaning lady came over around 8:30 and cleaned up. Once she left, we went to bed. 102 miles.