June 22, Day 22

June 22, Day 22
Pueblo to Lamar, CO
Mileage: Amy -122.4; John – 126.5
Temperature: No word other than HOT could adequately describe it

Dear All,

Whew!! This was one long day. What a great way to spend your 40th anniversary. Riding a bicycle side by side for 122 miles.

But there was sadness today as well. For those of you out there who think you can ride a bike without a helmet, THINK AGAIN!! One of our group, Bob from Wooster, OH is alive at this moment because of his helmet. Bob's a great guy who everyone in the group likes. He was riding with Larry and a little behind Larry when, for reasons no on knows, he went down. Larry indicates that it happened in an instant. Bob's head hit the pavement and cracked his helmet in two places and apparently had two large stones embeded in it. He has a conclusion and is now in the hospital in intensive care, but we are all praying that he will fully recover. Bob is a fine rider with many, many miles in the saddle. So, for those of you who think you can ride to the local store without a helmet or have children who ride with helmets while you don't wear one, we urge you to rethink what you're doing. WEAR YOUR HELMET WHENEVER YOUR LEG GOES OVER THE TOP TUBE!! ALWAYS!!

And now on to the day.

The day started really, really early. We were up 4:30 am, loaded luggage at 5:00 am, ate breakfast and were on the road by 6:00 am. The skies were clear and the temperature was in the high 60's. By the first SAG stop at 37 miles the temperature was over 70 and we were riding in short sleeve shirts. We had a groups of riders which changed from time to time during the course of the day. Luckily, the wind was calm thru the morning although it picked up as the day progressed. It became a cross wind which moved around to a headwind later in the day.

The scenery was less than impressive at the start but as the day progressed things became greener. It was clearly farm and cattle country. At about the 51 mile mark (still not halfway for the day) we saw our first cattle feed lot with a lot of cattle. The picture does not capture the smell which was something that we worked on riding away from.




By 11:00 am it was starting to seriously heat up. As you can see, water bottles were filled up as often as possible. The real problem is that within about 20 minutes after getting a refilled water bottle with wonderfully cold water, the temperature of the water in the bottle b9ecomes 90 degrees which is not the most inviting thing to drink. But, drink we most since one wants to avoid dehydration at all costs.

At the second SAG stop Amy used a cold Coke can for two purposes, first to drink and then to try to cool her blood supply. The first was successful, but we can't say the second use really worked.


Along the way we spotted what looked like huge loaves of bread from a distance. In fact, it was the way the local farmers put together their wheat or whatever it is that they bundled. The picture gives you some idea as to what they looked like.

By about the 105 mile mark we were getting pretty tuckered out. The temperature was now 97 degrees and the winds were picking up. The wind itself was hot which was an interesting feeling. A little like taking a hair dryer and pointing it at your head. Not such a pleasant feeling mile after mile.

We finally rolled into the Best Western Cow Palace which is actually a place where they used to auction off cattle in a huge room around which the motel put the guest rooms. The picture of Amy at our arrival really doesn't need an explanation.

The miles on our calculators at arrival read 122.4. Now, many of you may know that there are those who have ridden what is referred to as a “double century” which means 200 miles in one day. This is not something that either of us aspire to. However, you may also know that a metric century is 62.137 miles. Now, John figured that he would never ride a real double century but since he was close to a double metric century, he decided to take a short tour of Larmar, CO (not very exciting by the way) in order to actually ride a double metric century. His calculator shows the result. Amy rightfully declined to accompany John on the theory that he was “nuts”.

Tomorrow is another century ride (104+ miles). Yup, that's two centuries in a row. The forecast is calling for HOT and unfortunately the wind is scheduled to come from a direction that has the word east in it. The weather gods can be convinced to change their minds however, so a prayer or two along those lines would be appreciated.

Thanks for all of the good vibes and don't forget RIDE WITH A HELMET!!

Take care, all.

Amy and John
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