Wray, Colorado

We are in Wray, CO, and who would have thought they’d have an awesome outdoor pool with 2 waterslides in such a small town in the middle of nowhere? But sure enough, we’re camped in a very pretty park with pretty sad toilet facilities and no showers, but just a few blocks away from the nicest pool we’ve come across yet. Diane went on the water slides and you could hear her screaming the whole way down! It was awesome on another hot, sunny day with temperatures in the low 90’s F. They are opening the pool tonight again from 7-9 just for our group.

The ride today was pretty straightforward, a lot of gradual ups and downs with a very strong headwind the last third of the ride. One of our SAG drivers, Walter Vink, the one with the big RV, decided he had had enough of being a SAG volunteer; he was going to cycle with us for a day. So he put on his old farmer pants – he doesn’t wear spandex – and hopped on an old bike he had taken along. As it turns out, this was not a good decision. The first town we came to, old Walter was on a downhill, pushing almost 30 kph, when there was a sharp turn. He was not prepared, missed the turn entirely and, well, you can see below what happened to poor Walter. Suffice it to say that he quickly decided that being on SAG was not such a bad thing!!

On the more serious side, there wasn’t a lot to see, so you really have to look for photo ops. Below is a picture of something you see more often on these barren plains, an abandoned farm house with lots of old equipment and even a couple of old cars just sitting there. You wonder who used to live here, and why they left, and where they went.

We stopped in the town of Otis with a group of us at a café. I thought the bench in front of its window was cute. The homemade cinnamon bun and ice cold lemonade certainly lived up to the reputation the bench proclaims!

In that same town, I spoke with an old farmer outside the café who mournfully told me how just a month ago a huge hailstorm had destroyed 950 acres of his wheat crop. You can see the devastation in the picture below. We rode through miles and miles of fields that looked like this. The corn, however, was healthy and tall.

Finally, I came across this old cemetery alongside the highway. At first I thought it was a war cemetery of sorts, because of the flags. It turns out it was just a small and old cemetery that’s obviously not in use anymore. Every grave I checked was from the 1800’s, and no doubt every one of them contains its own unique and interesting story.

Currently I’m sitting in a covered picnic area watching the cooks prepare supper. As usual, it smells great and we’re all hungry. I can’t wait to eat!

Today’s stats:

Distance: 141.0 kms
Average speed: 25.0 kph
Maximum speed: 45.3 kph
Time in saddle: 5.37.19
# of flat tires on tour: 6