Twilight Zone

Wednesday, August 2. Eads, CO to Ordway, CO.

Cue the wind. When we went to bed in Eads last night, the temperature had cooled down another 20 degrees, and we were expecting cooler weather for our ride to Ordway. I was trying not to think about the wind, having battled strong cross winds for the last three days. So when we awoke to find that the winds had shifted overnight and would actually be at our backs, we gleefully hopped on our bikes and headed out on Hwy 96.

Today's ride was 62 miles of nearly flat riding, all on Hwy 96. With the wind at our backs, we set a new highest average speed of 14mph. There was plenty of cloud cover, and the temperature would not even break 90 degrees. It was a glorious day of riding, and I was happy to be on the road to enjoy it. So happy that I was waving to every semi-truck, pickup truck and RV that passed us.

Highway 96 is an alternative to Highway 50. The two will eventually merge outside of Pueblo, but Hwy 50 bypasses all the quaint and picturesque grain elevators of Haswell, Arlington and Sugar City. The landscape is so flat here that the grain elevators of one town can be seen from miles away. The elevator in Haswell appeared on the horizon shortly after we left Eads, even though it was 20 miles away. We stopped in Haswell for a short break, and to see America's Smallest Jail. They're not holding anyone in it right now, so no one was around. We could walk right up to the 10x12' building, complete with chimney and window bars. An information sign dated the building from 1921, but didn't mention anything else about it's history. Of course, I got a couple of pictures.

We saw ourfirst mention of the Prairie Horizons Trail when we reached Haswell. At the gas station where we stopped for a break, a "Welcome Cyclists" sign was taped to the door. We discovered that the citizens of eastern Colorado are taking advantage of the bicycle traffic on Hwy 96, and are looking for ways to make the cycling experience "the best on the TransAmerica Trail". Businesses along the route post the Prairie Horizons welcome sign to let cyclists know that they are appreciated. The Colorado DOT is working on improving the highway itself, adding Share the Road signs, and shoulders. The Prairie Horizons Trail supporters realize that there may be long stretches of the highway with no services, and are working to improve conditions as well as give cyclists information about weather and road conditions, and points of interest along the Trail. Unofficially, it's estimated that at least 300 cyclists travel the TransAmerica trail each year--basic services would be appreciated by nearly all of them, I'm guessing.

After we passed through Arlington, we took a short break at the side of the road. (Arlington doesn't have any services, so we didn't stop) As I stood on the shoulder, munching a PayDay bar, I suddenly felt like I was in the middle of a snowglobe. The landscape was so flat that the sky seemed to begin about 3 inches above the horizon. The sky was filled with clouds (of the lenticular and nimbus variety, Matthew tells me), and gave the sky a layered look. I felt very small, standing in such a huge landscape. I can only imagine what American settlers felt when they saw this land for the first time. I was reading a blog last night written by a British couple, touring the US this summer from Astoria, OR to Yorktown, VA. They were amazed to have ridden over 500 miles and still be in Oregon--England itself is only about 250 miles wide. They made the comment that they're seeing scenery and landscapes that they've never seen anywhere before--except for Western movies!

Not too long after our break, Matthew's BOB trailer tire went flat, punctured by a piece of glass. We put in a new tube and got underway again without much delay. At this point, we could see Sugar City, and knew that Ordway was just 5 miles beyond. Sugar City gets its name from sugar beets, once grown in quantity here on the plains. Now that the farms no longer own their water rights, the crops grown here are ones that can survive with the rainfall alone.

We stopped for lunch at a crossroads diner, and had a nice chat with a trucker who saw our bikes outside the shop. When not driving truck, he rides a Harley, but he was very envious of our trip. He thinks we should write a book.

Our stop for the day is the Ordway Hotel, a fixture in Ordway for decades. The current owner is Madeline Ferguson, the hotel's former maid. Her son Tom and daughter-in-law Carol are now running the hotel now that Madeline has moved to Greeley. Tom and Carol also run a restaurant next to the hotel, but it wasn't open for dinner. We headed to the Bits and Spurs for home cookin' We noticed that there were wood cuts of cattle brands mounted on the cafe's walls. The owner, Bob, gave us some insight into the decor. As a fund-raiser for the local 4-H club, ranches could have their brand hung at the cafe for a $5 donation. Except for the two local radio stations, the brands are all still active and in use today. Brands must be registered with the Brand Board in Denver, and some of them go back for many generations. The 113 brand and the . (dot) 7 are two of the oldest, over 100 years old.

We head to Pueblo tomorrow, and hope to have another fabulous cycling day. We'll stay in Pueblo for 3 full days, meeting up with family and friends before setting out for the Rockies on August 7. We'll have time to get our bikes checked out, brake pads replaced, and have a chance to see Pueblo's waterfront, too. I only hope my legs don't think we're done yet.