It was looking like a beautiful day with a warming sun, a moderate tailwind, and a pleasant 60ish degree temperature. That changed after stopping for brunch at Pattie’s Diner. After eating, the day offered up a 20-mph headwind, a brittle 45 degree temperature and, eventually, rain. We continued on until Jerry, fortunately, had a flat. I say “fortunately” because we stopped under an overpass so he could repair it, and while we were there it started hailing. 

Once we eventually restarted, the wind changed directions and turned into a gusty side wind. I was leaning hard in to it at what seemed like a 45-degree angle and, at one point, a gust slid my front wheel to the right a few inches. 

Cold and tired, we reached Walsenburg and found a room at the Country Host Inn, after which we watched the Indy 500 and a James Caan movie about gambling addiction. The hot shower was really nice after our cold, hard 45 miles. Today is the last day of riding for Scott and Jerry. Darla, a friend from Baylor, will pick us up tomorrow and take us to her house. They’ll fly back from there….  Scott to his home in California and Jerry back to Texas.