30 days into the ride – La Junta to Pueblo

When I came out for breakfast this morning, the weatherwoman on the TV in the hotel lobby said “This never happens, especially in Colorado… but these storms are moving from east to west today”. THAT HAPPENS WHEN CYCLEOVERRIDE IS IN THE STATE! 🙂 Needless to say, our trip westbound in to Pueblo today was a speedy one.

JP once again beat Terran and I out of the hotel. I think he’s still on Eastern Time. For the first time in a long time I had on arm warmers, and Terran decided to put on a light jacket. I hope that becomes a trend.

For the last few days we’ve been paralleling a BNSF rail line. While it’s pretty impressive to see how much cargo they carry (including train after train after train of coal today), they seem to cause problems for the MCC. The MCC’s alarm system has 3 levels of response to “shock”, ie: someone trying to break in to the vehicle. The first level, in response to a small jolt, is a polite set of beeps. The second level, in response to a stronger hit is a short term audible alarm, plus we get notification on our phone and key fobs. The third level is a full blown “BEEWOOBEEWOO” alarm and our phones and key fobs go crazy. We’ve had problems with trains before. In Christiansburg VA the hotel was feet away from a train track so the third stage alarm went off because of the vibrations from the train. We had to disable the alarm that night.

Last night, we were about 100 yards from the train yard across the street. Far enough that I wouldn’t think it would be a problem. Well, at 5am the BNSF conductors fired up their locomotives… and they managed to continuously send out enough seismic waves to get the MCC to continually beep out the polite stage 1 beeps continuously. Since we had parked directly outside our hotel window, I heard it at soon as it started. I jumped up, saw the MCC was OK, disarmed and rearmed the alarm, and thought it was done. Seconds later, it started again. I got dressed, went outside in my stupor, and eventually figured out what was going on. That was way better than any iPhone alarm 😐

We had a solid tail wind for the entire trip to Pueblo. Terran and I were able to clock in nearly 30 miles in well under 2 hours today without really breaking a sweat. Terran called it a day after 2 hours mostly because he was sore from being in the saddle, not because his legs were tired.

I pushed on to Pueblo, chasing down JP. Now, the route I put together left US 50 for a while today to try to change the scenery a bit. Unbeknownst to me, JP missed the turn and kept cruising on 50. For punishment the road deity FINALLY gave JP the flat he had been waiting for. JP, until today, was running the same rear tire he had used last year for the second part of our east coast ride. The tire was worn flat and was literally threadbare. I kept joking “You’re going to get a flat before Pueblo”. Well, 30 miles out, he got it.

 

We rallied where the 2 roads we were on came together.. and both arrived at Art and the MCC within seconds of each other. Crazy.

We finished out the day together on 50. The final calculation for me was 64 miles at 17.7 mph and my heartrate was basically at a brisk walk. That’s probably the best possible way to finish out the flats.

Tomorrow is a short ride (less than 40 miles). We’re going to be over a mile in elevation and I’m keeping the routes simple for the next couple days as we acclimate. We’ll get one day of real climbing on Thursday and then get our rest day. Hopefully the Rockies are kind to us.

Day 29 – Holly to La Junta

Today was one of those rare days when (basically) everything goes right. When the wind is at your back and you’re heading through Eastern Colorado, you can make pretty amazing time. And when it’s not approach 100 degrees, your view on the world is a bit better.

No actual pictures of the ride today. 😉 There were much more interesting things today than the two of us riding trough the flats outside La Junta. It was almost cool when we rolled out of Holly. The breakfast at the Miles Court was great, especially for a $70 motel. So with some food in our belly and the wind at our back, we started the 84 mile trek to La Junta.

About 10 miles in, we passed a sign for the Amache Japanese-American Relocation Center… ie: one of the camps where Japanese-American’s were sent during World War II. It was a an interesting, dark time in United States history, and one that I thought Heidi and the boys should take some time to explore.

So I called back to Heidi in the MCC. They were only a few miles behind and drove in to see Amache just after I passed it. There wasn’t much really left of the camp, but there were still enough artifacts to serve as an eerie reminder of what happened there.

The buildings are mostly gone, but their cement foundations are still scattered around the landscape.

Heidi, the boys, Art, JP and I all rallied about 25 miles in to the ride for our first stop. Even though it was relatively cool the wind and low humidity still draw water out of you in a hurry. Water bottles were swapped and we kept cruising.

By this point the wind was really cooking. We were holding steady at about 20 mph on the ride and it was basically silent… Which means that the wind was at our backs at about the same rate we were moving. We met up next to the Hasty Post Office for our next rally point… nearly 45 miles in to the ride and barely an hour after our last stop. Nice.

We pushed on again, but the wind started to get a bit fickle. Eventually we pedaled in to Las Animas at around 62 miles. JP is the metric century man… 62 miles (ie: 100k) and he punched his card for the day. He rode really strong today and once again showed that being on the road before 7 is his spinach.. or some metaphor.

I grabbed a few more bottles and took a shot at getting in to La Junta. Again with the tail wind, I was cruising along, although the temps were starting to creep up in to the low/mid 90’s. Heidi pinged me after she got in to La Junta to tell me about a work zone on the way in to town. It was about 5 miles long where Rt 50 split in to a 4 lane divided… and one lane on each side was closed and there was no shoulder.

So yeah.. a 5 mile long work zone that was about as wide as a tractor trailer. I’m going to label that “not a good bike route”. I had Heidi SAG me in to the hotel. I’m a little bummed I didn’t ride hotel to hotel, but whatever.. at least I’m alive. 🙂

After we got to town, Heidi and the boys checked out Bent’s Old Fort, a national park with a (recreated) adobe fort that served as a fur trading post in the 1800s.

Heidi likes covered wagons, I think because of all the Little House she read as a kid. The next vinyl wrap for the MCC will probably have a covered wagon theme.

The fort was very authentic… “except for the restroom and electricity” as Heidi pointed out.

They even kept the old west “holy crap it’s hot out” feel. I thought that was nice of them. For the record I stayed back in the MCC, cooled off, ate about 200 grapes, and played iPad. I have had enough oppressive heat for a few days.

It was actually relatively cool in the shade in the fort.

Also, they had peacocks. Here we see the boys preparing to launch a sneak attack. What we won’t show you is them getting chased out of the fort by 6 very angry and loud birds (Note from Heidi – that did NOT happen).

In Colorado, we seemed to have transitioned from the farming in Kansas to the ranching we see here. There are a lot of cows in eastern Colorado. A LOT of cows.

Welcome to La Junta. We refilled the MCC with propane at the local KOA. The propane gauge on the MCC has basically 3 values: “full” “not full but not empty” and “empty”. We have been on the “not full but not empty” value since the first time we used propane months ago back in MD. After running the generator to run the big roof mounted AC over the last week, we had no idea how much propane we’ve used. As it turns out, we had used half of it (7 out of 14 gallons). At least now we’ve got something to gauge our propane use off of. I think we can get 30 hours of use out of the generator without worrying about running out.. which should get us to the west coast and back to Maryland if we play our cards right.

Tomorrow we ride to Pueblo. Only 64 miles, but a front is moving through and we’re likely to hit rain along the way. Tomorrow is a big day too because Pueblo will be the last big city we hit until Cedar City UT in a week and a half. We’ll be doing a lot of stocking up, especially on biking related supplies. Small riding day, but big shopping day ahead. Sleepy time.

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.

 

A Word from Bobby

Hello,Bobby here. I’m Bruce’s son.

What I think of this trip is that it’s fun. I get to see, do, and get many things.

So far I’ve see mountain views, reservoirs, and countrysides. Somethings I got to do were going to museums, finding Dollar Generals (there’s been a lot of these – every small town has one it seems), and biking with my dad. We picked up a few cool things a long the way.  I got a pair of sunglasses, a Davy Crocket hat, and some computer stuff.

My favorite thing so far on this trip was feeding giraffes at the Natural Bridge Zoo in Virginia. Its tongue was like sandpaper.

My least favorite thing was the severe storm in Bardstown, KY.

What I’m looking forward to is DefCon and seeing my cousin Nevaeh.

Overall, I think this trip is exiting.