Terrain Changes, Oh My

Day 29 – New Raymer, CO – 86 miles

All of our sickly comrades found there way back onto their bikes today for a very interesting ride out of Holyoke. The day began as a very shallow climb out of the city. As we traveled through each new town, the elevation on the signs increased by about 200 feet, showing the team that we were not just imagining the grade. We passed one of the most shocking terrain changes of the trip about mile 20 when we entered a small town of about 200 people having passed corn and wheat fields all morning as we had for the last few weeks, and left the far side of the city about a half mile down the road to find ourselves in prairie scrubland such as you would expect in an old western film, tumbleweed and all. We took a break to appreciate the new terrain and check out a massive wind farm about 10 miles off in the distance with what seemed to be more than a hundred windmills. Wish we were close enough to go take a look but we chose to push on into the city of Sterling, where we enjoyed lunch at a Colorado visitor center. It only took about half an our of us sitting in the parking lot before someone alerted the local newspaper of our presence and we were lining up for photos in front of the trailer. More great exposure, gotta love it.

We left Sterling on CO-14, the “scenic” highway and entered the Pawnee National Grasslands at about mile 55. This was our second dramatic terrain change of the day. Along with the theme of Colorado being a state of extremes, the grasslands have become the new flattest area we have traveled on so far. We redefined being in the middle of nowhere when at several points along the ride we could see from horizon to horizon without having a single tree obstruct our view. Some of the interesting sights we saw along the way were a disarmed ICBM missile silo, a herd of about 20 buffalo that ran along the road next to us for a few minutes and even some pronghorn antelope. Still, the most exciting part of the ride was when Shane and I squeezed through not one but two barbed wire fences in an attempt to get pictures of the prairie dog colonies that were next to the highway. Those guys are just too cute but noisy as heck when they think you want to BBQ them for dinner. We finished out the day as a pretty slow pace as temperatures reached past 100 degrees. The heat led several riders to take to the van on the prairie ride just because dehydration and heat exhaustion became a real issue.

We finally rolled into the bustling metropolis of New Raymer, CO about 3 pm, a town of approximately 91 residents, where we took up residence at the community center. We realized after a quick count that there were enough chairs at the center for every citizen to sit in two at once and there still be several left over. Fun fact. We had no hose or shower facilities either, so we took to knocking on the doors of houses and making friends with locals for showers. Everyone we encountered was very friendly and a special thanks goes out to the Boon family for allowing five of us to invade their facilities for the evening. Despite the many attractions the town had to offer we decided to hit the sack early and be ready to roll tomorrow for our mountain approach.



















Day 30 – Fort Collins, CO – 74 miles

Best day of riding yet. The ride today was initiated with an incredible cold front that moved in over night, dropping the temperature to sub-60 degrees for much of the morning. Never thought I would be using arm warmers in the middle of July but no complaints were heard after the previous day’s scorcher. We left town by 6:45 am and were back on the scenic highway early enough to see all the wildlife running about, including several more pronghorn antelope. There was a slight tailwind and we made great time with very little effort. All morning long we kept watching the horizon for any sign of dark mountain outlines but to no success except for us occasionally convincing ourselves that we could see something that really wasn’t there. Finally, about mile 30 we crested a large hill and there before us were the snow capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Keep in mind that this was still nearly 50 miles out at the time, so they were very faint at first, but as we rode closer throughout the day they took a more defined shape and continuously grew taller until we decended into Fort Collins at 1pm where the foothills finally began. Nothing has been so exciting and frightening at the same time. We have been warned by people across the nation about these mountains and now we are finally here. The sights are going to be absolutely incredible but the effort required will be equally awesome. The next three days of riding should prove to test everyone to the edge of their abilities. The ride into Estes Park will be a good warm up as it is shorter but there is still a substantial amount of climbing to be done. The following day we are going through Rocky Mountain National Park and riding Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuously paved highway in America. Finally we will be doing nearly a full century into Leadville on day three, the highest incorporated city in America.

What has been interesting already is the effect of being at altitude where the oxygen concentration in the air is lower than where most of us are from. We played a game of capture the flag with youth from the church we are staying at and it was remarkable how much we could already feel the extra strain low oxygen takes on us. Yet another obstacle to overcome in the coming days.

Fort Collins is great town, home of Colorado State University so it contains all elements essential to a college town. We spent much of the evening exploring and taking care of last minute necessities before heading into the mountains. While walking around College Ave, the main street for the university, we saw a sign advertising a jazz festival going on this very weekend. Not only that, but tonight none other than the world famous Wynton Marsalis would be playing at the theatre in town!!! Being a jazz head, this is an opportunity that cannot be passed up so I made my way to the box office to inquire about tickets, only to find out that they were $85 each, but they were sold out to boot. Still not to be dissuaded, Matt and I made our way back right after the scheduled start of the concert and pleaded with the ushers to let us stand in the back of the hall for just one chart. Thanks to winning smiles we not only got to get in the show, but we watched nearly the entire first half of the performance with the ushers. It was, of course, a stunning performance and the last number we were able to catch was “I left my heart in San Fransisco.” How appropriate. We met up with the rest of the pack after the show and enjoyed some college nightlife for a change before retiring to our beloved sleeping bags. A great end to an amazing day.