Ride Report: 64 Miles, 2,207 Total Miles, 16.2 Avg. mph (Hey - you try 64 miles into the wind.), 850 Ft. "Climbing", 4,482 Calories.
Yesterday's forecast for today was less than promising - sunny and (relatively) moderate temperatures given what the area had gone thru recently. So, the reader asks, what's the problem? In a word: wind. Predicted out of the SE and moving to the SSE at 8 with gusts to 12. Still not too bad, but it never works out that way. "AccuWeather" always predicts moderate winds and then as the day progresses, they go with the actual and report it at the time. Such was the case today. By the time I had an hour or two left in the ride, winds were out of the SSE at 12-15 with gusts to 20. Now as wind goes, that's not terrible. It's just that riders are acutely aware of the wind. I once read an article on the amount of energy it takes to overcome wind resistance while riding. I don't recall all the details, but it was something like once ya get over about 12-15 mph or so, every one mile per hour increase in speed requires that current energy input be squared. Hence, cyclists hate anything resembling a headwind.
So, headwind = riding sucked today. But hey, I got thru it - and I knew going in it would be like this some days. I guess as Karma goes, it means I've got a bad wind day in the bank and am due a tail wind at some point in the future. At least that's what I'm holding out hope for.
As for landscape, hey, it's eastern Colorado. I've driven thru it plenty of times over the years. Typically in the winter getting to Summit County, CO (Breckenridge, Silverthorne, etc. from whence we just came) to go skiing with the kids. Both Susan and I have also talked with plenty of people over the years who complain about the lack of scenery as they travel from Kansas to Colorado. I'll be the first to admit that western Kansas can be a bit bland. For Susan's part, she says that those same people blame eastern Colorado on Kansas. Ha! Either way, bland is bland. Maybe the problem is that we've become accustomed to the scenery that is the mountain west.
So - this is my long winded way of saying that I didn't take a ton of pics today. But as always, what I have, you'll see. Here we go...
This is the overnight stop. That's the church in the background. that's also Delta leaned up against the side of The Rig and ready to go this morning. We woke up early (again - sigh) and headed out ahead of schedule. I think we were on the road by 0645. Less wind early.
One of the unique sensory inputs in this are of the country is the olfactory delight that cattle feed lots present. When we set up last night in the church parking lot, we noticed the "smell of money" right away. This morning, some 2 or 3 miles later I discovered the source of said delight. I'm thinking they didn't pay much attention to the direction of the prevailing winds when they put the feed lot here.
This is me with the same feed lot in the background. I made sure I was out of the "smell zone" (some technical cycling jargon there) before stopping for this shot.
Delta is more of a morning person than I am. Open roads, a rising sun - pretty much his definition of a good start to the day. For my part, I didn't know there were 6s and 7s on the clock until I started riding. I keep telling him I'm retired and shouldn't have to get up so early. He responds with one word: wind. I get up. Sadly, that one word controls much of a rider's decision making.
This is the scenery in eastern Colorado. But readers who look closely will observe the same thing I saw in the middle of this vast expanse of grass. That's right - nothing - except for more grass. All day...
Me - pulling in to The Rig somewhere along the route today for a break. Take a look at that face. That's my "wind face". It looks markedly similar to my "climbing face". The difference is that when climbing, one knows that eventually it will end. Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.
This is Tom from London. I ran into him on my way to Eads and he was headed to Ordway - so we're just swapping towns today. He's doing the T/A from East to West. We traded stories of our travels - turns out he was bitten by a dog and showed me the two puncture wounds. Dogs are much feared by Trans-Am'ers. Kentucky dogs particularly have a reputation for being aggressive. Guess I'll find out when I get there... However, he was bitten in Illinois (of all places) by (get this) a golden retriever. Tom isn't apparently the luckiest of guys. But we had a nice 10 minute chat and headed our separate ways.
We've planned a Rest Day tomorrow to take a small diversion from the T/A route and head south about 30 miles to visit Susan's cousin Lora and her husband, Stan. We drove down there after I finished my ride today. They run a herd of Hereford cattle and farm in the area. We've never had a chance to stop by their spread and have been looking forward to doing so since initially planning the trip. This is a picture of Susan with them. I look at this picture and now know where all the "tall" genes went...
Till next time...
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