Sheridan Lake, Colorado, to Scott City, Kansas -- 76 miles

We woke at 5:30 am and began biking just after 6:30 am. After 15 miles, we crossed into Kansas and, of course, we stopped to take pictures. After 30 miles, we stopped in Tribune to buy Pepsi and fruit. The route was flat, and we were biking from one grain silo to the next!

After 50 miles, we stopped in Leoti and ate lunch on a bench by the grocery store, out of the sun. According to the sign on the bank, it was 98 degrees. We ran into Scott Krizek from the Adventure Cycling group – he had gone off on his own to spend a few days in Boulder, CO, and now he was going to catch up with the group again. We continued another 25 miles – it felt like the wind was coming at us from all directions. Lorraine was getting exhausted and had difficulty coping with the heat, so we decided that in the coming days, we would attempt to get off the road by noon. We reached Scott City by 2:30 pm. The time changed from Mountain to Central time when we entered Wichita County so we set our watches ahead one hour.

We checked into the Chaparral Inn Motel and relaxed in the air-conditioned room. We went to the grocery store, and as we left, Lenny asked the clerk to recommend a restaurant. She said the bowling alley had some of the best food and certainly the biggest burgers in town, so we walked 8 blocks to go there. The cook was telling us about her sons who are in the service, one in Washington state and one in Cherry Point, NC. When she visited North Carolina (having lived in Western Kansas her whole life), she said, “There were so many trees, I couldn’t see the countryside!” She said she would like more trees in Kansas, but not that many. It was an interesting perspective that we never would have considered. We found out that the temperature reached 101 today and may hit 105 tomorrow!

Ordway, Colorado, to Sheridan Lake, Colorado -- 91 miles

We woke up at 6:00 am and got on the road at 7:00 am. The scenery consisted of fields as far as the eye could see. It was flat, pleasant riding, with not a lot of cars on the road. We were averaging 12 mph and reached Eads (60 miles) by noon. We decided to have a big lunch and get out of the sun for a little while. Lenny stopped at the post office, then we went to Our Place Restaurant, where the sign outside said, “Under New Management – Come on in or we’ll both starve!” The waitress became our new best friend when she brought a PITCHER of iced tea to our table. We had awesome Mexican food and delicious pie for dessert. We met Marie and Tom from Illinois, who are biking east-to-west, and chatted with them about the route.

Once we were fed and watered, at 2:15 pm, we were feeling ambitious and decided to bike an additional 57 miles to Tribune, Kansas, the next town with motels and other services. However, it was hotter, the winds had picked up, and digestion was also slowing us down. By 5:45 pm, we still had another 30 miles to go – had we continued, we might still be biking after dark! We decided to camp for free in the Lions Club public park. There was a nice breeze and it started to cool off, but it was still sticky and uncomfortable in the tent.

Pueblo, Colorado, to Ordway, Colorado -- 53 miles

We woke up at 7:30 am and began biking at 8:30 am. The sky was overcast, and it felt cooler than yesterday. We biked through town, then out along the highway. As the buildings of Pueblo disappeared, the scenery was replaced by fields and two big correctional facilities. We met Peter and Maren Helm from Hamburg, Germany, in a park in the town of Boone. They are a couple in their fifties that took early retirement; they started biking east-to-west on May 10, and are taking their time. They told us that they only camped once in Kansas, because it didn’t cool off until 4:00 am, and they only got a couple hours of sleep before it was time to get up again. We also met Steve Blattman from Phoenix, who started in Yorktown, VA, on June 4 and is ending in San Francsico, CA. He said that he took a “detour” because his wife was getting lonely, and he wants to finish the trip before his 9-year-old starts school.

We ate lunch under a tree by the road, and it was getting hotter by the time we started biking again. We arrived in Ordway at 2 pm, and got a hostel room at the Hotel Ordway, run by Madeline Ferguson. We asked if anyone ever escaped from the correctional facilities, and she told us about a couple of women who hijacked a plane to try and get their boyfriends out. They put a gun to the head of the pilot to drop down in the outdoor recreation area and picked up the men. They had a van waiting, but were caught two states later. The women actually stayed at the hostel, and Madeline suspected they were up to no good. We bought groceries, and had disappointing, mediocre Mexican food at a local restaurant.

Rest day in Pueblo, Colorado

Lorraine did laundry while Lenny made phone calls. We made another walking pilgrimage, this time to IHOP for omelets and pancakes. We had planned to go to the Pueblo Zoo or take a walking tour of the historic section of town, but it was so hot, we didn’t want to leave our air-conditioned room! Lorraine was sleepy after we ate, so she took a nap while Lenny went to the post office and grocery store. In the afternoon, we went swimming in the motel pool, read, watched TV and called Lorraine’s parents. We went to Ruby Tuesday again for a tasty soup and salad bar dinner. The last thing to do was pack the bikes for the following day.

Canon City, Colorado, to Pueblo, Colorado -- 52 miles

We got up at 5:30 am and began biking at 7:00 am. We saw two commercial buffalo ranches and lots of wide open spaces. It was a hot day – the thermometer reached 92 degrees. We biked through Pueblo to Bob’s Bicycles – they were closed until 1:30 pm, so we ate lunch at Burrito’s Betty and had great Mexican food.

At the bike shop, we got 4 new tires and tire liners to protect against “Texas tacks” – sharp thorns that are the scourge of cyclists in this part of the country. The employees here went above and beyond the call of duty for us. Andy went to their competitor’s bike shop to pick up a tire that we needed, and the owner, Roger, gave Penny permission to run Lorraine out to the KOA campground to pick up a package that we were expecting (the KOA was 15 miles in the opposite direction of where we were headed). 

After we settled into the Motel 6, Lenny wanted to go to Ruby Tuesday for dinner – it was on the other side of the highway, so we made a walking pilgrimage across the urban jungle. Walking back, a friendly young gray cat came up to us. It was wearing a harness, with a rabies tag from Corvis, New Mexico, and we were worried someone had lost their pet. The cat let Lorraine pick it up, and we walked across the parking lot to PetSmart to see if they could help. The store manager Corbrin Heyn was sympathetic and said he would feed him and keep him in the store for the night, and call the phone # on the tag to try and find the owner.

Fairplay, Colorado, to Canon City, Colorado -- 75 miles

Last night was the coldest of the trip; we were camping at 10,000 feet elevation, and the temperature got down into the low 40s. This was also the first night we used our new lightweight fleece sleeping bags that we had purchased in Silverthorne. We kept putting on layers of clothes to stay warm, but we were not in any danger. 

We woke at 5:30 am, and started biking at 7:15 am. The route was downhill most of the way, with one pass to climb. The mountains were behind us, and there was less traffic on the roads. We ate lunch just after cresting the top of the pass. There was a crew doing tar and chip work on the roadway for about 4 miles. The sharp stones are bad for our bike tires, so we got a ride from the lead vehicle. The driver climbed up into the truck bed, grabbed the tube of Lenny’s 90-pound bike, and hauled it up in one swift move. 

We rode in the bed of the truck with the bikes, as well as the ladders, signs, and tools. When we reached the end of the construction, the driver made a “K” turn and we assumed that he was going to let us off, but he started heading back in the other direction. Suddenly, he slammed on the brakes, and we found out that Ryan, the flag guy, had radioed the driver to remind him that we were still in the truck bed. He got out of the cab and said, “I almost forgot you were there!” Standing on the pavement, he lifted the bikes out of the truck bed by the frame. He was as strong as an ox! 

We continued our downhill ride into a canyon and arrived in Canon (pronounced canyon) City at 3:00 pm. We stopped at the visitor’s center and asked for a recommendation of a doctor who could take out Lorraine’s stitches. Marj Woodward, the attendant, said there is a severe shortage of doctors in town, but gave us the name of her own doctor and said that perhaps he could help. We went to the office, where Lorraine saw a nurse practitioner, and we were in and out within half an hour. We ate at Captain D’s Seafood and camped at the Maverick RV Park.

Silverthorne, Colorado, to Fairplay, Colorado -- 38 miles

We woke at 5:30 am, and got started at 6:53 am. We enjoyed riding for 15 miles on the smooth paved bike path that wound around Dillon Reservoir, past Frisco, and ended in Breckenridge. Lenny spoke to Bernie McMenamy, who was mowing his lawn, and asked if we could fill up our water bottles with his hose. He told us that in the 30 years he has lived in Breckenridge, the population has gone from 200 to 2,000. He said that 40% are second homes. He mentioned that he used to be the Mayor of the town at one time.

We stopped in a bike shop to have the mechanic look at our tires because Lenny noticed small cracks in the rubber. The mechanic said it indicates a weakening of the tires; he said at minimum they would last about 100 miles and that we should change them as soon as possible because if they go, the tube may herniate through. On the way up the pass, we saw dark clouds forming in the sky, but decided to keep biking. Suddenly, it started pouring rain when we were about 8 miles from Hoosier Pass. 

We stopped at a private residence, and ducked under the roof overhang to put on our rain gear. There were a lot of cars on the road, and we kept pulling over to get out of the way. It stopped raining as the climb became steeper, and about 4 miles from the top, the sun came out. We met Ted Borstad, whose son Chris is also biking across the U.S. He is ahead of us, and we probably won’t catch up since he is averaging 75 miles per day. We reached Hoosier Pass, elevation 11,542 feet, the highest pass of the trip, and took photos.

 We ate lunch here, then got back on our bikes to go downhill. The wind was very strong, and we had to go slower to avoid being blown all over the road. We got back on a paved bike path for 6 miles between Alma and Fairplay. In town, we camped at the South Park Lodge and had a tasty dinner at the Brown Burro Cafe. The Mexican food out west beats anything we’ve had in the east!

Kremmling, Colorado, to Silverthorne, Colorado -- 38 miles

We woke at 5:30 am, and began biking at 6:30 am. The traffic was still bad, despite our early start. It was another tense day on the road - we were pedaling furiously to reach our destination. Most drivers are not aware that a bicycle with a fluorescent triangle (indicating a slow-moving vehicle) is entitled to ride anywhere in the lane. The shoulder widened about 6 miles before Silverthorne. We reached town by 10:30 am, and stayed in a private room at the Alpen Hutte hostel.

We ate lunch, then went to the Pearl Izumi outlet store to look at bicycle clothes! Lenny got a new long-sleeve jersey. We also got lightweight fleece sleeping bags at the Coleman outlet store, and sent our heavier Polarguard bags back home. We went to get groceries, and when we came out, it was raining heavily. We went back to the hostel to shower, cook dinner and relax. Lorraine made stir-fry chicken, vegetables, and rice in the kitchen, while Lenny seam-sealed the tent rain fly. We went to bed at 8:30 pm.

Walden, Colorado, to Kremmling, Colorado -- 62 miles

Happy Anniversary! Lenny and Lorraine celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss today. The festivities included: Biking up hills! Camping in the rain! Cooking over a campstove! We got on the road at 7:15 am. The route was mostly rolling hills. We met Dusten Dennis & Melissa Rasmussen from Monterrey, California, who are biking west-to-east along their own route, ending in Washington, DC. They were traveling very light, and we asked them questions about how they were able to accomplish that. They were using one rectangular sleeping bag between the two of them with a bottom sheet that they attached to the sleeping bag with snaps. They were also buying food at their evening destination, to avoid carrying any excess weight. Dusten also created his own adaptations of bike tools that were lighter but just as effective. We talked to them about vertebral subluxation, and they said they’d be interested in checking out our website.

We ate lunch at the top of Muddy Pass (elevation 8,772 feet). As we turned onto US 40, the shoulder disappeared and the vehicles became more impatient and more aggressive. We experienced more intolerance in this 40-mile stretch than in the previous 1,800 miles combined. We reached Kremmling at 2:30 pm and met a biker named Jen, headed east-to-west. We camped behind the old fire station for free with fellow bikers Dan, Theresa and Jen. Lorraine cooked pasta and sauce. It started raining heavily around 6 pm and continued until 10 pm.

Riverside, Wyoming, to Walden, Colorado -- 51 miles

It took us awhile to get the show on the road this morning. The mosquitoes continued to attack as we broke down camp, then Lenny experimented with packing the bikes differently, and made a few phone calls before we left. We started biking at 9:20 am. No wind today - just rolling hills.

The sky was cloudy and we heard thunder in the distance, so we were biking to keep ahead of the storm. It began raining, just spits at first, then harder and heavier. Lenny was afraid that we would be a ripe target for lighting, being the highest object on the plains and riding metal bikes, so we pulled over at Ginger Quill Ranch and knocked on the manager’s door. There was no answer - just a big barking dog in the house - so we stood on a covered porch for about 15 minutes to let the storm subside. There were two hummingbird feeders hanging from the roof; we watched the hummingbirds chase each other and touch down a few feet away from us to sip from the feeder.

When it stopped raining, we continued cycling, then took a break to eat lunch by the Platte River. We arrived in Walden at 3:00 pm and stayed at the North Park Motel. We had a great dinner at the Moose Corner Restaurant.