June 27, 2005
Day 41: Meeker to Sunbeam
I got up at sunrise. It was clear and cold. I went across the road to the convenience store and had a microwave ham & egg bagel. Me and all the guys in their pick-ups - heading out to drill in the gas fields.
I was ready for the ride to Maybell. It's the quietest stretch of pavement in Colorado. Strawberry Creek Valley was as beautiful as ever. The Price Creek Ranch just past the divide was stunning - lush hay fields, fresh bales, a jagged ridge to the west, and a dome of blue overhead. Plus I had a light tailwind which picked up as the day progressed.
The ride down to Maybell was a breeze. I zoomed down the canyon in high gear all the way. Downhill with a tailwind. Yee-Hah!
I got into Maybell before lunch, but discovered that the cafe wasn't open on Mondays. So I got a can of tuna fish and a loaf of bread and made a couple of tuna sandwiches. The wind that had been so wonderful this morning kept shifting to the west. I spent the better part of the day trying to wait it out. There's a great park in this little town with giant cottonwoods offering shade, picnic canopies, and wonderful water.
I flopped out in the grass in the shade - rolling over every so often to stay in the shade. I wrote a bunch of postcards and STILL the wind was blowing hard. I guess it wouldn't have been as difficult getting back on the road if it hadn't have been such a long, empty stretch ahead. On previous visits, there had been lots of kids in the park - maybe no kids left in town, maybe video games, maybe summer camp.
A family from Utah stopped and the dad took his 2 and 4 year old daughters over to the slide and teeter-totter. He played with them for a half hour while their mom tended to the baby in the car. It sure was nice seeing all that attention showered on those kids. It's what kids need to thrive.
Well - the wind finally seemed to die down so I got back out on the road. Wrong! Once I got out of town it was a tough haul. About 12 miles out, I saw a truck off on a dirt pull-out. A father and son from Massachusetts had just come in from riding ATVs. They offered me some ice-cold water from their cooler and we sat and talked for a while. They come out west every year. I felt better - more from the conversation than the water, I think. I cycled along the empty road until sunset, set up my tent in the sagebrush, and promptly fell asleep.
Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 2,054 miles (3,306 km)
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