Day 28 – Garden City, KS to Holly, CO

There’s a song with “Colorado” in it somewhere right? “I Know You Rider” by the Dead comes to mind. I’d like to say I was singing it when we crossed the border in to Colorado today, but honestly I was in the MCC after 5 hours in the saddle battling heavy head winds and mid-90’s temps. I wasn’t in the singing mood.

But I’m ahead of myself. Yesterday was a rest day, and in proper rest day fashion we didn’t put up a post. Mostly I think we were all trying to take the “rest” word seriously. We slept in, had breakfast at the hotel, then hit the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City.

The zoo was a bit like the National Zoo in the sense that you could just walk in and enjoy it. There was no entry fee unless you drove around in the zoo in your car. If you park across the street, you’re welcome to walk in and enjoy the sites. The zoo had some great habitats for the animals there, including a nice duck pond (Dax LOVES ducks it seems) and what must be at least 2 acres for a bison and a few elk to roam around in. Most of the animals were chilling out in the shade because of the heat, and frankly we did a lot of that too.

There was also a very Dax-friendly playground at the zoo. The spiderweb you see here was really an impressive feat of knot tying. The 2 boy scouts and myself couldn’t for the life of us figure out how this thing was put together. But it was comfy once you got settled in.

We had dinner at a Freddy’s last night. Wow. We’ve been seeing Freddy’s for about 1000 miles now but had never stopped. Good thing too, as it may be the only place we would choose to eat anymore. Great hot dogs, really unique burgers, fries made of crack, and lots of ice cream. We rolled out of that place and went in to a food coma back at the hotel.

This morning we started our journey on US Route 50. That’s our new home for the next few weeks. There will be some deviation here and there, but for the most part it’s the US 50 show.

For instance, today the route had us leaving the hotel, taking a few turns, then finishing the last 65 miles on US 50. Tomorrow, we turn right out of the motel onto 50, ride 85 miles, then turn left in to our hotel. That’s the route. Good times.

Sunrise was a little late today since we were so far west in the central timezone. I got Terran up about 6am, got dressed, ate, and were on the road together just before 7. JP left about 20 minutes before us and may have even been out before sunrise (again).

The wind ramped up early today. And while the weatherman said it was supposed to be from the southeast, it was (once again) straight on from the west. By 8 the wind was getting serious and the temps were starting to climb rapidly. Terran and I worked together through the wind and Heidi caught up to us 21 miles in. What we didn’t realize is that we had already caught (and passed) JP. We pulled up to the MCC, turned around, and saw JP coming up behind us. Apparently he had stopped in the little town a few miles back to restock and we shot right past him.

Terran had been working hard through the headwinds, so he called it a day after the first 2 hours. JP and I pushed on for another 10 miles… which took an hour. I kid you not, it was like climbing a hill all day long. At one point we were on a 2% downhill and were pushing the pedals hard to even keep the speedo above 11mph. Crazy.

JP called it a day around mile 30. I pushed on and mile 40… another hour. I got in the MCC to cool down, fill up bottles, and rest up a bit. The thermometer read 88, so I figured I still had some time before things got crazy hot. The Mountain Time Zone line was just ahead, so I told Heidi to go up 5 miles and wait for me. I pushed across the line, got within a mile from Heidi, and started to feel really off. My heart rate spiked and I started feeling a little “light”. So I called her to pick me up. Yeah, it was only a mile, but I was in trouble. Turns out it wasn’t 88.. it was more like 96 or 97. I really hit a wall (and yes I was hyrdrated.. I just think that after pushing the pedals non-stop for 4 hours, the heat was just too much). So I called it a day.

I asked the boys yesterday when they thought we’d see Cactus in the wild for the first time. Turns out, it was today… right where we crossed the time zone even. Pretty amusing.

So, I didn’t make it across the CO border on my bike. But we’re in Colorado nontheless. Here’s the pic for the “pics or it didn’t happen” crowd.

We rerouted on to US 50 because the TransAmerica Trail has NOTHING between Larned KS and Pueblo that even resembles civilized lodging. Tonight we’re staying in Holly. Holly got hit by a big tornado about 13 years ago and much of the town has been rebuilt. It’s a nice place and we had a fantastic lunch at the local “pig” themed diner.

A word about our motel. We’ve stayed at ~24 different hotels on this trip, and to date all of them have been part of a chain. Hampton’s, Garden Inn’s, Holiday Inn’s, Rodeway’s, and even a Super 8. Today is the first day we’ve been at a locally owned motel, the Miles Court. The online reviews of this place were crazy. All 5 stars, all glowing. It’s hard to take them seriously for a small town motel… I had a feeling there had been some ballet stuffing or something going on.

WRONG!

This place is awesome. As JP said, it’s basically a Hyatt. Modern facilities, everything is clean, spacious rooms, lots of power outlets (!?!?!). Somehow I don’t think all our our motel stays will be like this, but I really wish they would be. If you ever find yourself in Holly CO (or even near Holly CO) stay at the Miles Court.

Tomorrow should be 8-10 degrees cooler than today. AND there might be a tail wind. The day after will be another 8-10 degrees cooler. I’m hopeful we’ve seen our last 100 degree day for this trip.

Sleepy time.