Day 17 (6/8/09)

Today was BORING, yet for me probably the hardest. The 111 miles from Pueblo to Eads, Co. was virtually straight as an arrow east and slightly undulating terrain. The wind again blew from the starboard. (Had the wind been blowing across the stern, we would have made a run for the Kansas border today. We sit 40 miles shy of America's bread basket.) One would think that a cross wind would neither be an advantage or a disadvantage. It is definitely a disadvantage. Traffic permitting (which was most of the day) we rode echelon to the left, with the rider on the right hugging the fog line, with the other two riders, slightly back and to the left of the rider to the right. We continuously rotated through the formation to rest in the leeward side. (The two 5' 9" guys didn't completely offer protection to the the 6' 2" guy, so after 100 miles Jere offered a nudge to the big guy to help him get out in front for his turn to pull. What probably made the day the hardest was there was no relief from peddling. At least in the mountains, the downhills offered relief to the peddle, peddle, peddle, peddle, ...

A sign of the economic times was the seemingly endless line of Union Pacific train car carriers mothballed for at least 15 miles on the tracks east of Sugar City, Co. See slide show.

Today we passed two young ladies, pulling bike trailers, heading west on their coast-to-coast. Later at the restaurant next to our hotel, we met Chris Hill, from Tuscon, Az. Chris had left Oregon and joined our route in Pueblo, heading to the east coast. Since Chris left Oregon in April, he has logged in excess of 2,000 miles with another 2,000 + miles to go. He had the most unique bike we've seen; sort of a pick-up truck on wheels or a tandem bike with the back seat converted to a cargo bed. We exchanged blog sites, his is http://zomgforeelz.wordpress.com/ Chris is blogging using his Apple IPhone as his computer, which he recharges with solar panels while he rides.

We are officially in tornado alley and will be vulnerable through most of Kansas. Yesterday afternoon, as we were rolling into Pueblo, Denver, just 2 hours north, got hit with five twisters and hail. Tornadoes that far west are supposedly a rare occurrence. I won't feel safe (from tornadoes and hail) until after we cross the Mississippi. Apparently east of the Mississippi the thing to fear are the untethered, front porch dogs of the Kentucky hillbillies.

Flat tire tally: Jere: 3, Sam: 2, Tim: 0

P.S. In our depleted stupor we failed to include photos of Day 15, the EPIC DAY in our slide show of Day 15 & 16. New pictures have been added, documenting that glorious day.