Todays Distance: 121 miles
Cycling time: 8hrs 25 mins
Average Speed: 14.3 mph
Today’s cumulative ascent: 798 ft
Average Heart rate: 103 bpm
Distance so far: 1572 miles
Ascent so far: 59,066 ft.
Centuries so far: 4
Punctures so far: 3
Today’s Profile:
Today’s Route:
Dedication: To day is for my 5th Year Maths students in the Abbey whose summer tests I corrected yesterday in Pueblo. Enjoy the summer.
Today was special as it was the start of Tour de Plains and it was to be the longest single distance of the trip (121 miles). It was a ride with very little ascent; the wind was non-existent except that it blew against us for the last 15 miles but not as viciously as on Friday last.
Being a long day it demanded an early start and my alarm was set for 4.15 am after a good eight hours sleep. I felt refreshed and eager for the challenge and after loading at 5am we went to the Country Kitchen next to our motel for breakfast – porridge with bacon and scrambled egg. The early start was to enable us to get into Lamar before the great heat and the expected adverse winds
Everyone was pleased that those who had been a little ill over the last few days were all back in the saddle. By 6 we were on the road heading east as usual with the sky still brightening. Long sleeves were in use but we knew it would only be for a short period As we passed through the suburbs of Pueblo, I got the feeling that there must be an Irish presence there with Jerry Murphy Boulevard and I spotted a large auto yard with the sign Mc Laughlins.
Our route was generally descending over the wide plains. The roads still stretched away in front of us but there was enough variety on either side to keep one occupied. The railway ran beside us with little activity except for one coal train that kept passing us forever – definitely more than a hundred cars. I couldn’t count them as they were all identical.
As we were moving down the valley of the Arkansas River there was quite an amount of tillage on either side with irrigation channels through the fields and irrigation booms slowly moving across other large tracts. Barley had been harvested in placeswhile in other spots it needed a little more time. Corn (maize) was the only other cereal that I spotted from my saddle.
I enjoyed and wallowed in the smell in places of freshly-turned soil. It brings me back. Vast fields with perfectly parallel drills were producing with assistance from the water channels. Being Sunday I didn’t see any labour in the fields or on the ranches.
SILAGE AND HARVESTERNeat clumps of silage appeared regularly, slid straight out of the harvester and lined up like pan loaves in Brudair’s in Bank Place.
In other areas it was grassland, a rather burned –up type of grassland. The soil was heavy and the grass just had to fend for itself and go deep for the bit of moisture.
We saw as many horses as cattle on these ranches and they noticed us as we passed by on this quiet Sunday morning. My two companions are excellent animal mimics and they have the animal population of the USA driven scatty, including dogs and goats and horses and even llamas.
We passed a few large cattle feedlots with thousands and thousands of cattle corralled in for intensive feeding before slaughter. Naturally these created a distinctive aroma but I quite liked it for the period we were passing by. One feedlot stretched a good half-mile along the road.
We all had our share of punctures in our usual group of three today. I had my third of the trip so far. This time it was in the back wheel. But the other two (Steve and ‘Sarge’) had both wheels flat at the same time. Handy. We didn’t have to put the repair kit back into the bags and only had to wash the hands once. However worse was to befall another rider. He fell on the road today and was rushed to hospital back in Pueblo by ambulance. We haven’t got word back yet from the doctors regarding his condition.
We had three SAG stops on this long day and at the third one I was interviewed by the editor of the Bent County Democrat, Dan Cunningham concerning the To Providence for Providence cycle who happened to be at the local store. He says that an article will appear in next weeks edition and a copy will be on the way to Tipp.
Hasty Town is merely a village in our terms and it was at the 100 mile mark on the route. The local Post Office just across from our stop looked authentic and genuine in design.
The mid afternoon (2.00 –4.00 pm) is the hottest part of the day and the roads ahead of us shimmered in the heat; like seeing a mirage. It wasn’t oppressive and didn’t cause any discomfort. The ever-present light shifting wind helped cool matters.
As we neared the end of our 121 miles the sun was directly behind us. It had gone a full 180 degrees since outset. We had a slight headwind but the realisation that we had almost completed the longest day and still felt fresh helped us along. There was a need to pedal all the time today but it was not a battle with the elements.
We arrived at the motel at 5.15 and checked in immediately at the Cow Palace, reflecting place of beef in the local economy.Enjoyed the day with a definite agricultural blas to it. A satisfying day starting the third section of the trip
Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.
Heard Today: Reminding me that we’re in this for the long haul. Plenty of days left.“Go to the well and draw from it; but don’t drain it”
