Day 16 (6/7/09)

Dateline: Pueblo, Co. Sixteen days on the road and we finally descended out of the mountains. We conquered the mountainous west at its widest part and not only endured, but became stronger and leaner. At this point, our legs and endurance are not failing us, what makes us want to get off the bike are those parts of the anatomy that touch the bike. Also, after 6-8 hours of peddling you just get danged bored.

Our coup de gras was yesterday's epic ride. After we already rode 100 miles, we assaulted the highest summit of the entire route, Monarch Pass, (11,312'). See GPS download below Posting. We descended into Salina, Co. setting a new record for the most miles ridden; 130 miles in slightly more than 8 hours of saddle time. (After Day 14's near death experience, I actually did not look forward to the decent. If I applied too much brake, I ran the risk of over heating my rims, which could cause a tire to blow; really bad news. If I didn't brake enough, going into hair pin curves hot, without guard rails; you get the picture. Jere, the ex-racer, attacked the downhill. He confessed to never using his brakes and getting as aero as possible. Today, he even passed a car, and pulled up beside a motorcycle, who gave him the naughty finger, before Jere backed off). Day 15's effort was not all our own doing, your well wishes and prayers gave us a strong tailwind and sunny skies across the summit. Our grand total of feet climbed over the 16 days was 103,716' (just shy of 20 miles of vertical climbing). We have averaged 101 miles/day with an average speed of 16.5 mph (Our average speed only factors saddle time and not total time). Tonight, Jere put aero bars on our bikes for the flat roads ahead. With a tailwind behind us, we have already comfortably held a 30 mph average. With little to sight see in the Midwest, weather permitting we hope to make good eastward progress. We may make Kansas and the Central Time Zone, tomorrow, if the winds are favorable.

Although our goal is to ride across the U.S. within Sam & Jere's allotted time (remember, Tim is retired, what the hell else does he have to do?) we do take time to enjoy the beauty of our surroundings. Jere confesses to having extremely good peripheral vision, so he can see sights without moving his head. We now affectionately call him an Iguana. I on the other hand, am constantly looking around; it drives Jere nuts. He said I look like one of those Chiuaua dogs in the back window of a car with my head bouncing all around. Through our joint efforts we spotted elk, mule deer, prong horned sheep, antelope, and a prairie dog. Unfortunately, no big horned sheep and fortunately, no mountain lions. Over the several days, we have passed several burdened down cyclists, going in our direction and the opposite direction. We have yet to encounter any cyclists doing the trans continent supported. At the end of each day, as we sip our cold beer after having a shower, we toast to the fact that; "gee isn't it nice we aren't setting up our tent now?"