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We really were in the wide open spaces of the western United States today. The vistas were beautiful. The cattle were feeding on the prairie grass.
I don’t mean to focus on the difficulty of the journey, but it is a major part of the reality of this adventure. At least it was today. After 23 miles there was water and a little snack food to be purchased. That was it for the day.
The next 40 miles were without water or services of any kind. We had a pretty strong headwind from start to finish today. Climbing to 4500 feet in elevation we dropped down to 4200, and then ended the day close to 4400 feet.
Our trip odometer crossed the 1,200 mile marker during today’s ride. The temperature of 100 degrees combined with the strong head wind and rough road surface made today an especially difficult ride. We are both exhausted this evening.
During the hot afternoon of riding we were just about out of water when a car flagged us down and the people asked us if we needed water. They jumped out filled our water bottles and drove on. Again, we find kind and inspired people helping us in amazing ways.
One of the exciting happenings today was the first sighting of the Rocky Mountains. I have read how the first explorers crossed the plains thought that the plains would extend to the ocean.
But, without warning they began to see these hills or mountains in the far distance only to realize as they came closer that they were very high everywhere.
We began to experience that today. Jake had especially wanted to see the mountains and was thrilled to see them again.
After leaving Eads with no breakfast to speak of, we came to Haswell, CO after 23 miles. This first picture shows the great eating establishments where we nourish our bodies with wholesome food. Unfortunately, this place is a repair and welding shop with minimal food.
The second picture shows the very wide open spaces we rode through today.
Fourteen miles after Haswell, we came to the next shade available on the prairie. It was very hot. We couldn’t really stop because we discovered normal looking house flies in Colorado, which bite and suck out blood much like a mosquito, only worse.
Union Pacific has parked old cattle railroad cars across this whole county of 22 miles – something like 1,000 cars. I was counting on jumping into them for protection if the lightning storms began, which they fortunately did not.
We finally reached a town which had a restaurant – so to speak. It is Sugar City, Colorado. We ate our first meal of the day after more than 50 miles of riding in the 100 degree heat and wind. The food was great.
Yes, that’s right – we are in Colorado now. We crossed the border this morning after 16 miles. The smell of sage brush permeated the air, and for us, this was the first time in several years.
After the violent winds and thunderstorm of last night, we were curious to know how the weather would be – and more specifically, how the winds would be this morning.
The first thing we did was look at the American flag flying high at the gas station across the street. As you can see from the picture it was blowing strongly out of the east, which means we had a tail wind.
We moved as quickly as possible to pack and get ready to ride. There was no place in town to eat breakfast except the gas station and you couldn’t call that breakfast. So, we started riding.
At the Colorado border where we took several pictures, Jake’s grandpa arrived with some bananas and yogurts – our breakfast.
The tail wind lost its power later in the morning, but we had ridden far with its energy. We arrived in Eads just around noon with the temperature rising into the higher 90’s.
We thought about riding farther but there are no services for miles.
We had two choices this morning about attending church. There is a small branch of the church some 55 miles to the south and west in Holly, Colorado, or a ward back in Scott City, Kansas – 47 miles back.
We decided to travel back with my father in his car to Scott City. Because we would lose an hour traveling back over the time zone, we got an early start.
I really wanted to be spiritually fed today, and I was not disappointed. We heard wonderful talks about Father’s Day and listened to a most stirring rendition of Oh My Father by two young women playing the violin and flute. The other classes were very edifying.
It is always interesting hearing the local members pray and to hear what concerns they had. Back in Missouri and eastern Kansas, it was the rain and flooding. Here in western Kansas the prayers were for a good harvest (of the winter wheat crops) which will begin this coming week.
The old section of many of these Kansas towns have streets paved with bricks.
We wish we could honor Dad more today. He has been so great! We are so thankful to him.
A picture of Dad while driving on Father’s Day – 2010, at 95+ years of age.We saw several spectacular cloud formations today resulting in an intense dust storm.The resulting dust stormOn weekends we try to stay in a motel in order to prepare for Sunday and church, and for a place to keep our bikes secure. But, the quality of what we stay in often gives us no choice. In this case this weekend, the only motel in town is the only motel.
In one way we didn’t want to ride today, Saturday, because we already knew that the town we would be leaving, Scott City, had a church we would want to attend on Sunday, tomorrow. But, when the wind is blowing the right direction you must ride – and it was.
The wind was a slight northern side wind and easterly tailwind. Jake said this is “fun!” We began with cloud cover. Instead of the expected 101 degrees, it was a pleasant 79 or 80 degrees all morning.
For biking conditions it could not have been better. We covered the 47 miles from Scott City to Tribune, Kansas in just under three hours including rest stops. It was a day to be appreciated and long remembered.
As we neared Tribune we crossed the time zone line and entered into the Mountain Time Zone.
We passed by several large cattle feed lots today and a wind farm which produces electricity.
After we arrived in Tribune the cloud cover vanished and became very hot – 100+ degrees. Since we do not ride on Sundays we knew our friends in the Adventure Cycling Tour group would be traveling further tomorrow and then after Pueblo, CO heading northward, whereas we would continue westward over Monarch Pass.
So we bid goodbye to these intrepid pioneers of the two-wheeled, self-powered highways. They have been great to be with and they have wonderfully befriended Jake.The first picture shows a typical sight in the eatery part of the local drug store. The local people are always very friendly and helpful.The other picture is of our cycling friends at the city park across from the city swimming pool, repairing and preparing.
Sometimes when we go to the only restaurant in town for breakfast, the 14 Adventure Cycling Tour group is already there waiting for their breakfast. Such was the case today.
We waited and waited for breakfast and on top of it all, it was terrible. We both felt sick afterward and it delayed us an hour. But, by 9:00 am we were on the bikes heading west.
Today we had a direct headwind of about 10 to 12 mph for the first 31 miles. As a result we lowered our heads and pedaled away.
The winds gradually changed and by the afternoon when the temperature came close to 100 degrees, the winds changed to the right side and then a slight side/tail wind until we arrived at our destination of Scott City, Kansas. It is a little oasis of a few trees and a grain silos out in the middle of a vast flatland of grain and hay fields.
On our way we passed a marker to George Washington Carver.
Jake’s grandpa was, as usual, very helpful to us by finding the best places to eat and a hostel for us to sleep at tonight. It is the local athletic club and sleeping bags are all over on the carpets and lawn. It cost us $10 per person to stay the night, use the showers and bathrooms and especially be cooled by the air conditioning.
Today was a memorable day for several reasons. Most importantly because Jake passed the 1000 miles mark today as we came near our destination for this day.
Actually we are now at 1,003 miles since leaving Bardstown, Kentucky on the 24th of May. This picture of Jake was taken at the time his odometer turned 1,000 miles since leaving home.
The day was also memorable because we have now ridden four days in a row over 60 miles each day. We will not easily forget this day because of the riding conditions.
It was 98 degrees today with sun all day long. However, it was the wind that we will not forget. The wind was out of the south and southwest in excess of 20 miles per hour with unpredictable gusts of 40 mph.
The highway we rode on was quite busy at times with many semi’s almost blowing us off the road and some drivers coming to close at 75 mph.
It was a very precarious and dangerous situation, trying to ride a loaded bicycle, which is a balancing act in and of itself, while being hit with 20 to 40 mph side winds, all the time watching for passing and oncoming vehicles.
We rolled out of Larned, KY at 7:50 am and into Ness City after 5:00 pm. It was a long, hard, hot day. But, Jake did very, very well.
Ken and Jen left first from our city park camp site, only for us to catch up with them later in the day. They had a goal of riding 100 miles today. Given the winds and heat, we don’t know if they achieved their goals. If so, it would have been pretty late by the time they had covered that many miles. They are good people out for a good cause of organ awareness.
