Friday, 25Jun10, Pueblo, CO
Today was another awesome day.
An early start at 5:45 a.m. because we had a 95 mile day from Salida to Pueblo. It started fairly brisk and chilly … yet, without too much wind, and a slight downhill … which was most welcome.
Last night, Adella had some “anxiety” about a line on her bicycle frame that she hadn’t noticed before … first she checked with me and I wasn’t sure … so she decided to check this morning, with Gerard (the mechanic) who said it wasn’t a hairline “crack”, it was just a hard plastic decal and the edge of it looked like a crack.
After loading luggage and checking our tires for 120 p.s.i. … we then rode our bikes over to Patio’s for some incredible pancakes … I personally had their “blueberry” pancakes and I must say they were loaded with blueberries and very delicious. (lots of anti-oxidants for the day)
Adella suggested I go ahead and take off and ride my own ride for the day… which I did for awhile.
At first I rode with Lauren … then watched as “Big John” came whizzing by … he was too quick for me to jump in with him.
As I settled into a rythym of about 23 mph … I was able to clearly see all of God’s beauty surrounding me in the mountains and on the river banks, as I rode down 50 East adjacent to the Arkansas River for about 21 miles.
At about mile 23 I noticed Fran, Tony and Wade as they passed me … riding along effortlessly, so I rode with them for a little while, then they stopped for pictures and I decided to continue to hold my cadence and speed.
Within a couple of miles, I came up behind ”Kiwi Rick” from New Zealand, said “hi” and he said “Oh you’ve decided to stretch out your legs today, eh? I said “yes” and decided to stay with my original cadence, etc.
Somehow in my mind I thought the 1st SAG was at 27 miles … so when I didn’t see it there … I was really disappointed, especially when I doublechecked the route slip and the mileage said it would be at 37.8 miles. (Darn, I had another 10 miles to go! Maybe I started out too fast, whoops!)
As I was cruising along … I noticed a small group of cyclists coming up behind me … so I slowed up a wee bit so that I would crest the hill that I was climbing at about the same time they were passing me.
Which gave me a chance to shift up a couple of gears and use the downhill to help me jump on the paceline with Rick, Kevin and Phil, it was a welcome bit of relief for me as I worked into their paceline and they carried me to the SAG in record time … 37 miles in a 20+ mph average … not bad, eh?
At the SAG stop … I took a lot of pictures … (see Facebook for the photos of lots of scenery, cyclists and even some mountain goats.)
After the SAG I continued on to the 2nd SAG … (did I ever tell you how much I love ORANGES?) That’s my favorite snack at the SAG stops. I usually don’t have much competition for the oranges … except when Tony is around … he loves them almost as much as I do! (Thank you Judy and the crew for making sure there are always plenty of great snacks at the SAGS … especially oranges!)
I spent the rest of the day cycling (on and off) behind Gloria and Nancy, they always “crush me” on the hills … and… then I seem to be able to “kick it up a notch” and sometimes catch them on some of the awesome downhills, like we had today.
Later in the day, Adella called me and asked me to wait on her … which I did … she said she wasn’t feeling good and decided to SAG in with only 10 miles to go. (I was surprised because at the SAG stops, Scott, Rob, Lester and some of the other cyclists had said how strong she was riding today, oh well, sometimes we overdo it, and there is always a “fine line” between doing really good and just being exhausted!)
We were supposed to attend a blood drive in Penrose, CO, for Bonfils … however, the timing of it didn’t work out. (Sorry Julie!)
After Adella was safely in the SAG van … I put the hammer down and tried to get back into my original “cadence and rythym” , although it was much harder because … it was now about 98 degrees outside!
Luckily we still had a slight tailwind … so I was able to cover the last 10 miles fairly quickly.
As I came into Pueblo … I saw a Dairy Queen with several bicycles parked there … I couldn’t resist and gave in to the “sugar addiction” and stopped and ordered a LARGE chocolate milk shake … Ummmm, Gooood!
That literally was the “ice cream on top of the cake” … and a nice exclamation point to a very good and strong day for me!
Then finally on to the Holiday Inn and checked in … Adella was already there … and had moved our luggage to the room, thank you Adella!
(One minor inconvenience today for me and Adella … mosquitoe bites … where we develop “huge huge welts” which itch intensely! Yuck! It reminds me of my days in Vietnam … every evening the eternal battle with the mosquitoes and the intense itch that goes with it!
Wow! Can you believe it? We’re already in Pueblo, CO, and we’ve ridden almost 1500 miles so far, in 20 days!
Tomorrow is our rest day, yet we have a blood drive to attend from 9:00 a.m. to noon. (Rudy from Bonfils will pick us up at the hotel at 9:00 a.m.)
That pretty much covers it for today … talk to you later.