Fort Morgan, Colorado

It was a wonderful, restful weekend in Denver. Diane and I didn't do any sightseeing, just a lot of sitting back, reading, chatting, relaxing. The Denver folks were very hospitable. A lot of the married folks on tour who are not fortunate enough to have their spouses with them were met by the same this weekend. Randy De Wolde and Fred Meyerink from Chilliwack had their wives Shelly and Elly surpise them, so we did not see much of them this weekend. We were very happy for both of them. The pics below are of breakfast on the high school campus, the bike parking lot we made out of the gym, as well as the most popular place in the school, the computer room.


Today I was on the sweep team, and Bryan Flikkema and myself volunteered to be the last in. We went out last, close to 9 a.m., and came in last, just after 6:30 p.m. It was a hot, windy, and long day. It was also a slow day, as we caught up with the slowest rider about 45 minutes in. The initial part of the trip, close to 30 km, was on a bike path that took us around the city of Denver. That means no traffic, only a path following the Platte River. It was very pleasant. Once we hit the road, there wasn't much traffic on the frontage or service roads along Interstate 76but traffic was always close by. We also traveled on the interstate for approximately 30 km and of course that means lots of trucks and such. All in all it was a long day, which meant a late supper, and - I may as well be honest - at peloton meeting I fell asleep on a bleacher and missed most of what was said. I never sleep in church, though!!!!!

Now that we are out of the mountains and on the plains, the geography gets a little less interesting and photogenic. I did take a few pics, however, and hope they give you some idea of the road much travelled today: an old farm house, a wheat field and big sky, a lonely tree ("I think that I shall never see a thing as lovely as a tree" - who wrote that?), a flower, a cactus (lots of them off the shoulder of the interstate, you don't want to sit down and do you know what there!!)





One interesting incident: Bryan and I - and the rider we were sweeping, Gayle Harrison - came across a couple from California stranded on the shoulder of the interstate. Their trailer tire had blown, and their spare had no air in it, so we pumped it up with a small bike pump until it had enough air that he could slowly roll a few miles to the next exit without wrecking anything. So we fixed one tire today, it just wasn't a bike tire!

There were also 2 accidents today, one minor and one major. Dick Kastelein was on his first day riding and fell and cracked a rib. But he's OK and will continue tomorrow. One of our female riders, whom I don't want to identify at this point in case her family has not yet been informed, had a bad fall while in a pace line, and ended up with a broken pelvis and a concussion. Her tour is over, and that's a major disappointment for her and all of us who feel for her. That is 2 people in the last 2 days who had falls that ended their bike tour. So tonight's peloton, I was told, was very heavy on the safety issue, especially the risks of pace lines. Personally, I don't like them. I am far too independent, I suppose, to suffer a pace line very long. They also make me feel out of control. I prefer single file, with plenty of space between me and the next rider, or simply being on my own.

Alright, I'm pooped, and going to bed. I'm "stealing" a signal from a wireless not connected to our tour, so I'm happy to be blogging at all. Good night.

Today's stats:

Distance: 143.86 km
Average speed: 19.8 kph
Maximum speed: 53.6 kph
Time in saddle: 7.05.56
# of flat tires on tour: 6