Day 1: Wrap

Greetings from smalltownsville, USA. Today's post comes to you from Fowler, Colorado, first stop on The Trip 2005. We arrived at 3:30 pm after a 76 mile leg which began with a frown.

I've lived in Colorado since 1993, and rarely (like countable on one finger) have I seen it rain in the morning (before, say, noon) at any time of the summer/autumn. This morning was like Mother Nature woke up and began crying all over my ZIP code. This enabled me to peform the couch maneuver, and Mom was able to sleep a bit longer as the altitude tends to interfere with regular sleeping patterns. It turned out to be okay leaving at 9:00 am instead of 6:00 am.

I rolled by The OverTime not even a mile into the journey, and several friends had gathered to send me off safely. Thanks you guys for caring and for taking the time out of your day.

The only hitch in the first leg was planned: Meridian Road. The road is the only practical direct link from Colorado Springs to Pueblo, where U.S. 50 heads east. I took this route in August, and it wore me right out - 2 inches deep of gravel and speed bumps generated by a gravel truck dumping its load at irregular intervals. With the rain this morning, Meridian was turned into a cakey, muddy mess, so I didn't think twice about slipping the bike in the trunk of the Bonneville and skipping that ten mile stretch.

U.S. 50. One of the biggest worries on the trip, was fine. The shoulder is 7-10 feet wide and vehicles didn't even come close to me, in fact, large trucks gave me a nice artificial tailwind, and a tailwind is like falling in love - always a good thing.

Which brings the story to Fowler. I was really hungry after eating cold yam/black bean/chicken burritos all day, as well as a bunch of bananas. Potassium and complex carbohydrates are your friend when pedaling. We ended up at Bushy's Blue Sky Motel, a nice little no-frills place in the center of town (all of four blocks long). Across the street is the Stockman Diner and Lounge, and they serve a mean Chili Burger which tends to stay with you, if you know what I mean ;-)

Tomorrow's destination is Lamar, where a sharp right turn occurs and southerly progress is made. Talk to ya then, and thanks for your support.

So then, this is a PS from the driver of the support vehicle a.k.a Mom....who doesn't actually seek out adventure easily without a very good reason....I must say that road trips with Todd are some of my happiest memories - Disneyland for his 13th birthday, Berchtesgaden Germany for his 21st and, as you all know this also was one of "those" birthday years - so here we are again...mom's havin' a great time watching handsome son do his thing.....more tomorrow...

TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 76 MILES