Day 36: West of Lamar, CO to Fowler, CO; Dancing With the Storms

June 10, 2015

Here's a map of today's route - it's pretty simple, we just rode the shoulder of highway 50 all the way.

Sportsman's RV Park (west of Lamar, CO) to Fowler, CO (Blue Sky Motel)

(Note to readers regarding the elevation profiles; the profile is calculated from Point "A" on the map to Point "B" on the map. Since I am traveling east to west on the first half of this transcontinental journey, my route of travel is usually shown on the map as being from right to left. However, the elevation profile is shown from left to right, so it must be "reversed" in your head to understand it.)

Climbing Today; 1,248 ft -- Total So Far; 85,548 ft

Waking at 4:00 am, I fired up the jetboil stove and quickly boiled water to use for instant oatmeal and instant coffee. That was enough to get me rolling, and I hoped to find a more substantial breakfast somewhere down the road. I was off and rolling at 5:18 am. Daniel and James had to break camp and pack their tents, so I was out a bit ahead of them. There were field mice all along the roadway edge. They came out of the grass and sat on the edge of the pavement along the shoulder, then scurried away as I got close. This would be incredibly easy hunting for hawks or other birds of prey, but none were out this morn. A jack rabbit escorted me down the road, running slightly ahead and parallel to my path and hiding in the tall grass until I drew near, then running off again. The sunrise was characteristically stunning this morning.

I don't understand why most folks don't get up in time to see the sunrise. The new day dawns with hope and opportunity, so why do we choose our schedules such that we always miss it? Heading west, once the sun started to climb I was glad it was at my back.

East-to-West Has The Advantage of Having the Morning Sun at Your Back

I had been climbing steadily now for more than an hour, but the grade was gentle enough to impede my progress only a little. After enduring the Appalachians and the Ozarks, these gentle climbs were barely noticeable.

I was guessing that I was somewhere around 4000 feet in elevation now, and I looked forward to the next town with an elevation listed so I can confirm that. I reached the town of Hardy at 17 miles into today’s effort and was disappointed that there were no restaurants; it appeared that the general store/restaurant had gone out of business, so my “real” breakfast will have to wait a bit. There was nothing for it but to move on, and I was still climbing. The sun was getting a bit intense, so it was time to stop and put on my skullcap/neck drape. I saw some trees near the road just up ahead that should offer a shady place to stop, but by the time I reached them I had cycled more than a mile. “Just up ahead” can be quite deceiving out here where one can easily see for 20+ miles ahead. Rolling onward, I came upon this interesting old school;

The educational system in the U.S. has fallen way behind other nations; I discovered this when talking with cyclists from other countries I have met on this journey. I wonder if it has always been this way, or if this is just a modern phenomena? Perhaps during the time of the Star School, things were different. Nikki and Sabine (the young Swiss cyclists I met some time back on this journey) learned to speak 4 languages as part of their primary education; 4 languages, are you kidding me?! Teachers are highly respected in the Nordic countries, and it's very competitive to break into the teaching profession; only the best are allowed to teach. Contrast that with the U.S. where 50% of our congressmen are science deniers, as is the major cable news network; no wonder our populace is so ignorant. Teaching and public education are subjects dear to me as my wife has taught in public schools her entire career; first in high school, and now in a community college. I dabbled in it a bit, having taught a science class as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tulsa for 5 years. Such thoughts ran through my head as I cycled along, but every mile brought new things to occupy my attention.

I'd Pass on Using This Creek for a Water Source

Some cyclists I have met carry water filtration/purification systems with them so they can drink water from streams if they run low. I think I'd have to pass on drinking water from this stream, regardless of the use of purification systems. One comes upon numerous failed businesses along our route; perhaps because we primarily travel on low-volume roads and pass through small towns. Here's one such example;

The Remnants of Many Failed Small Businesses Are Seen Along the Route

I had hoped to find breakfast at Hasty some miles back, but nothing was there so I had to cycle on. I had been cycling in a rhythmic trance for some time now, flying uphill at 16 mph. How can this be? Was I becoming delirious from the hunger and the exertion at a higher altitude? There was no wind to speak of, and the grades were gentle, but still it’s uphill and I'm moving fast! Wow, I’ve become some kind of animal. Hardened by the Appalachians and the Ozarks, my legs have become steel springs. No, not steel; titanium! Yeah, that’s it, titanium; but not just plain titanium, a special alloy of titanium. Titanium alloyed with kryptonite; yeah, that’s it! I’m a wild beast of an unknown species, the offspring of an albino wolf mated with a bicycle, and I’m flying uphill eating up pavement in the early morning. My hunger pushed me onward, like a wolf who must find prey or starve today.

In this strange state of mind time stood still and I vaguely noticed the roadside whizzing past my peripheral vision as my legs spun ever faster. Approaching Las Animas, the site of the Arkansas River snapped me back to reality and I re-entered the earth’s atmosphere in time to snap this pic;

The Arkansas River Crossing at Las Animas

The Las Animas sign confirmed that I was indeed approaching 4,000 feet elevation, but I hadn't quite reached it yet.

Las Animas Elevation - Climbing Towards the Rockies

Traveling only at impulse speed now, I inquired of a local mechanic and he told me that LA Café is a good spot for breakfast. It was on the far end of town as I was leaving, and the advice was good. The food was great; of course, I had cycled 34 miles to get there, so any food was going to taste good. When I’m in a restaurant, I usually park Harvey near a window such that I can sit inside and keep an eye on him. Here’s an example from my table at the LA Café;

I Like to Keep Harvey Where I Can See Him

Fox news was on the TV while I ate breakfast. I hadn’t seen any TV for 5 weeks now, other than occasional snippets while I was in a café, and the Fox news discussion confirmed that I was better off for my absence from it. The entire dialog seemed to be simply an attack on the U.S. President, because he belonged to the “wrong” political party. I’d like to give every one of the Fox News panelists the experience I have had for the last 5 weeks; when you spend all day, every day, concerned with having food, water, and shelter, the petty aspects of things like political differences fade away. If you were to take 5 “hard core” Republicans and 5 “hard core” Democrats and put them together on the journey I have experienced, you would end up with 10 folks who respected each other’s opinions and made honest efforts to compromise towards mutually acceptable agreements. I’m quite certain of this; the rigors of bicycle touring will make you appreciate the strengths of your fellow man. Here's a thought; require all newly-elected congress members to undergo a month-long backpacking trip in small groups consisting of members of each of the political parties. Or a cross-country bicycle trip, whatever; just make it something that requires them to be concerned with food, water, and shelter every day. They would learn how to work together for the mutual benefit of all; they would learn how to compromise; and they would emerge from the experience with true respect for each other's opinions. Rather than seeing the "other" person as an obstacle standing in their way, they would learn to value the strong points of the other's character. I'm as certain of this as I have ever been about anything; maybe this is the answer to how we could fix our broken political system. Our lives have become so easy that we no longer need to compromise with those who hold differing opinions, so we simply dismiss them as being inferior. Petty political differences fade away when one is faced with real challenges. I'm serious about this...

James and Daniel arrived at the restaurant as I was preparing to leave. Daniel ordered breakfast, and I thought James was going to do the same. But as I was fiddling with things on my bike getting ready to leave, James left before me without me being aware that he had departed. When I left, I observed another cyclist ahead of me and thought it was someone I had not yet met. I sped up to catch him, and although I was gaining it was hard work to do so, so I backed off the effort and figured I would catch the fellow at some store down the road. Eventually, I did catch up, and was quite surprised to discover that I had been chasing James! James is a faster rider than me; no wonder I was having to work so hard to try and catch him! He had a flat, and had stopped to change it. I rode ahead and located a spot of shade at the beginning of a private drive, so James pushed his bike there to change the flat.

Nice to Have a Shade When a Flat Happens

The bugs are rather overwhelming in eastern Colorado, even when one uses insect repellent. I stayed with James while he changed the tire; he certainly didn’t need my help, but it’s always comforting to know others are around should the problem be worse than expected. Flat fixed, we headed on towards La Junta with James in the lead.

We took the business route through La Junta and asked locals in the downtown area where a coffee shop might be. We found a perfect spot at a place called Barista’s, ordered food and drink, and relaxed to wait out the heat a bit. Daniel arrived and stayed a bit, then he left ahead of us.

Not long afterward, someone came into the shop and said there was a storm brewing to the west. Oops! We had grown complacent; it was nice and sunny out our eastern-facing window and we hadn’t thought to look at the weather west of us. We quickly prepared to leave, and when I stepped outside my front tire was flat – yikes! So I set about changing it on a downtown sidewalk in La Junta, and in short order I was ready to roll. In the meantime, a nice lady in the coffee shop had spoken with James and offered to let us load our bikes in her pickup and drive us 20 miles west to get past the storms. Here she is;

This Nice Lady Offered to Carry Us Past the Storm

James and I were both a bit gun-shy after having dealt with storms yesterday, and for a moment I gave serious consideration to her offer. But only for the briefest moment; I had come too far, I had survived the Appalachians, the Ozarks, and the Kansas wind and heat, and I had traveled every inch of the way from the Atlantic to here under my own power. I would wait out the storm here if necessary. We thanked the lady for her kind offer and politely declined. But once again, the kindness of strangers along this journey had made my day.

Checking radar via smartphone, we thought we could make it 5 miles to Swink before the storm hit. So we set off, with the “plan” being to ride from one town to the next and take shelter as needed until we reached Fowler, our destination for the night. Daniel had texted us that he had narrowly gotten to shelter before hail pounded the ground; so we knew this was a dangerous game we were playing. A bit of hail on the roof of a car isn't so bad, but hail can really put the hurt on a cyclist caught in the open. A couple of miles out, we got into some seriously strong buffeting side-winds that were being kicked up by the storm cell directly ahead.

Approaching Swink, Trying to Dance Around the Storms

As we rolled into Swink, rain began to fall and we sought shelter inside a convenience store just in the nick of time. So far, so good. We waited out the rain, then headed on to the next town, Rocky Ford. Rocky Ford was 6 miles away, and we hoped to make it before the next cell hit. In the photo below you can see the 1st storm cell on the right, and the next storm cell approaching from the left.

Approaching Rocky Ford; Will We Beat the Storm?

I commented to James that "This is an interesting game," as we pushed on hoping to thread our way between the two storm cells. I have a friend and colleague named Rocky Ford, so I stopped as we entered town to get this pic;

Rocky Ford. I Have a Friend and Colleague With That Name

The storm cell was close now, and as we rolled through town we noted each bit of shelter we could hide beneath if the storm caught us. At the far end of town, the storm did catch us and we took shelter under this small eave at a church;

A Nice Lady Gave us Shelter Inside During the Storm

It was raining rather hard, but we were fine with our wee bit of shelter giving us just enough of a dry spot to be comfortable. James had bought some sliced ham that day, and he had an avocado so he offered me a ham and avocado sandwich. Who could possibly refuse such an offer? So he spread avocado on bread and added some ham, and it was quite delicious.

James Prepares Us Both a Ham and Avocado Sandwich While We Wait Out the Rainstorm

No sooner had I started eating it than a lady appeared out the rear door of the house adjacent to us, waving at us to come over. We really didn't want to, as we were dry and had food and water, but it would have seemed impolite to not accept her offer. So I held my sandwich under my jersey and ran through the rain to her back porch and inside. We were both quite wet from that brief exposure, and she gave us a towel to dry off and invited us to sit at her table and finish our sandwiches. We chatted with her and her teenage son and daughter a bit, then the rain quit so we said our thanks and left. Once again we benefited from the kindness of strangers. If nothing else, this journey has helped restore my belief in the basic goodness of human nature.

The remaining 16 miles to Fowler were storm-free, but not trouble-free as James had a flat and had to change it in an undesirable spot off-road in the heat. Flat fixed, we headed on to Fowler. Along the way, I snapped this photo of a bad approach to rumble strip design;

Bad Rumble Strip Design Leaves Little Room on the Shoulder

The rumble strip is located half-way into the shoulder. This makes it less effective at warning drivers who have strayed off course, as they would be dangerously close to running off the road before they were warned. It also reduces the space available to a cyclist, and most cyclists would probably ride on the inside of the strip rather than on the outside as there is less debris the closer one rides to the travel lane. It's just a bad design. Fortunately, so far this is an exception in Colorado and most roadways have been designed much better. Rolling on, the town of Manzanola confirmed that we were still climbing.

We rolled into Fowler and found Daniel at the hotel we were sharing for the night. It was my turn to sleep on the floor, so I inflated my air pad and pillow and prepared to turn in when I noticed that I had a flat! This had been a flat day for sure; James and I each had 2 of them. Both of James' were caused by thorns. My first one outside the coffee shop had been due to a bad patch job that was leaking. But not this time; this time a small shard of glass had managed to penetrate the tire and tube. So I was up till after 11:00 pm fixing the flat and getting things ready for my final day tomorrow. Sigh...4:00am was going to come earlier than usual in the morning. Good night all...

Today's ride: 81 miles (130 km)
Total: 2,210 miles (3,557 km)

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