Day 19 - Thursday June 7; Eads, CO to Ordway, CO (64 miles)

When setting up my tent at the city park in Eads, CO last night I noticed that the grass was pretty green compared to other places around town. Also, while posting yesterday's blog entry, the lawn sprinklers came on at the far side of the library. So, all the signs were there and sure enough at 4:00 AM the sprinklers where I was camped came on for one hour. No big deal, I was sort of expecting it - just after such a long day on the bike, I really didn't care. With the wind still blowing, things were fairly well dried by the time I climbed out of the tent at 6:30 AM.

There were low clouds and mist to start the day, but it was cool - though still very windy. I loaded the bike and was out of the park by 6:45 AM. I had breakfast, bought a Gatorade and was on the road by 7:30 AM. There wasn't much to see today and I was feeling the effects of both yesterday's long ride and today's wind. The clouds lifted by 9:00 AM and I took off my rain jacket. There were no towns until Haswell 23 miles into the ride. I stopped at the combination gas station, snack store and collectibles for sale and had an Orange Crush and a Snickers. The lady attendant was very nice. Haswell has seen better days. There is still a large grain elevator but most all of the buildings were very run down, including the snack store. It's funny, coming into town I passed a very rundown house - but it had Dish satellite. Go figure?

After Haswell, the road turned southwest then south for nearly 20 miles. With the wind out of the SSE, this was some tough cycling. I didn't see much except pavement - head down and pedaling - just keep the pedals moving. The road finally turned west again and there was a little bit of a tail wind which made the later part of the ride a lot better. I met an east-bound cyclist, Callie, who started in Reno, NV and was cycling to New York. She just found out she has a job in New York and will not be able to finish her trip. She will end it in Hutchinson, KS and take a bus/train to New York. This is the first time I've seen a woman cycling solo and I will say that it is a little unnerving. I mean eastern Colorado, and many other places, are so remote and desolate. A solo bycyclist has to be very self-sufficient because if anything happens, help can be a long way off. Also, cell phone coverage does not exist in these remote areas so you can't call for help. Callie was trying to make it from Ordway to Sheridan Lake. This is a long, long ride. She was only about 20 miles out of Ordway and it was alread after noon. I gave her the pastor's phone number for the church I had planned on staying at in case she needed a place inside to stay.

A little after 1:00 PM I made it to Sugar City which is quite small but had a cafe that was open. I poked my head in and asked if it was too late for lunch. They still had plenty and I enjoyed a burrito and taco before heading out for the last six miles to Ordway. I arrived about 2:00 PM and quickly found the Hotel Ordway where I am staying tonight. After checking in I rode to a truck stop on the other end of town and enjoyed a large chocolate ice cream cone - good stuff as it was turning a bit hot out. All my gear is unpacked and drying out after last night's man-made rain.

I'm going to take my one, and probably only, rest day in Pueblo and have booked a room for tomorrow night and Saturday night. Sunday I'll head northwest to conquer Hoosier Pass; 11,500'. I'm planning to take it slow both out of Pueblo to enjoy the scenery and to acclimate slowly to the higher elevations.

I didn't take any photos from the road today. There truly wasn't anything to see, as anyone who has driven the plains of eastern Colorado will tell you. There are a couple of photos taken in Ordway.

Hotel Ordway - my home for the night