Pedaling Parson

Yesterday was one of the most difficult days I have experienced so far.  I left the motel a little after 5:15 a.m.  Sheryl had called the night before and said she and her sister Dorothy, would be flying out to spend a few days with me.  I had 95 miles to cover in order to stay on track.  I love riding during the morning hours.  Most towns are dead and you don't see any vehicles for miles.  Yesterday morning was no different.   I soon realized that I would be facing a pretty stiff wind from the east.  By 8:00 a.m. The wind was in my face at 20 miles an hour.  At about 40 miles into the ride, which was 10:00 a.m., I stopped in the town of Great Bend, Kansas.  All morning long, the skies were ominous to the north.  When I stopped the attendant ask where I was riding to, and I told him to Lyons, and then to South Hutchison. He looked puzzled and asked me if I realize heavy rain is coming in the next hour? I thought all the rain was to the north of me, but sure enough, with the wind in

I left my hotel this morning at 5:30. It was still dark and the air was heavy.  During the night a tremendous thunderstorm went through the  area. The harvesters were not happy with the rain. They have been stuck in the area, unable to harvest wheat due to rain.   When I started out, I had a 15 mile an hour south wind.  I was wondering if that would be the case all day.  At about 8:00 I ran into another biker heading west.  He used some colorful language to describe the wind and flatness of the terrain, and then headed west.  Laterin the day, I ran into another biker heading west.  He was from Greenville, South Carolina.  He too complained about the wind and the heat.   As I made my way to the east, I soon realized that things were greening up.  I started to see corn feilds that I suspect rival any feilds back home.  I also saw a beautiful feild of soybeans.  Alfalfa hay feilds seemed more plentiful as well.   About mid-day, that 15 mile an hour south wind turned to a southwest wind.  

Today was about the fight of will.  Although will won, it is badly bruised and battered.   I left Eads at about 5:40 a.m.  I was on 287 for 3 miles and then 96 turned off and headed east.  96 in Colorado was a chip and sealed road.  That slows you down considerably, in comparison to a smooth asphalt road.  I rode on chip and seal for a little under 40 miles in Colorado. The road change to asphalt in Kansas.  In Kansas there was only a one foot shoulder.  Traffic was not heavy till about noon, when all the grain haulers started hauling the harvested wheat to the elevators.  Every town has a massive grain storage system.   Throughout the day I met some interesting people.  About 25 miles in I came across an older couple riding their bikes together.  I stopped and talked with them.  They were from Netherland, and they were riding across the country.  This is the second time they have done this.  He was 75 and she was 74.  They had 90 day visas and hoped to be done in those 90 days.  They

I spent last evening with John and Kathy Fox.  John is Pat Dunn's brother.  That was life giving!  They gave up their evening to come to the hotel and pick me up and take me out for dinner.  We had a wonderful conversation about their lives in the west.  John is a physician at a small hospital, in the town of Hugo, 15 miles south of Limon.  John told me the radious they cover is similar to one of the New England.  I think he said Connecticut.  Together, John and Kathy are making a difference in their community and the surrounding communities.   I left this morning at 6:30.  287, the road that I rode on today, was a beautiful road.  In many ways it was similar to interstate 70, in the fact that is was smooth concrete and the shoulder was clean.  287 has primarily truck traffic on it.  287 is called the port to plains highway.  The road runs from Fort Worth and Amarillo, Texas, to north of Yellowstone.   The terrain today's was rolling.  I had quite a few 200 to 300 feet climb

I woke up this morning from a wonderful nights sleep.  I was out of the hotel by 6:30.  The first 24 miles were as peaceful as could possibly be.  In those 24 miles I met 7 cars.  I had the road to myself.  As was the case yesterday, I was surprised by the climbing I needed to do.  In fact, at one point I was riding in 6000 feet of elevation.  Currently, I am in Limon, Colorado and the elevation is around 5400.  The temperature stayed in the 60's all the time I was riding.  You can see wheat fields changing the further south you go.  You can also see that much of the ground is not suitable for farming.   The scenery today never changed.  I am in the middle of wide open feilds with few trees.  As is said, the first 24 miles was really peaceful.  I road on route 40, which runs parallel to interstate 70.  However, 40 ended and joined interstate 70.  In the town of Agate, I stopped trying to figure out what to do.  Do I run back roads to Limon, or do I take the interstate.  My experien

Saying good bye has never been easy!   Yesterday Sheryl and I spent the day in Denver.  We walked up and down 16th street, which a pedestrian street.  Although it was cold, it was a great day for shopping, something we don't do much of, something Sheryl loves to do on special occasions.  It was a great way to celebrate Sheryl's birthday.   We stayed in a motel last evening, and mom stayed up at Herm and Cindy's. This morning Cindy brought mom and my bike down the canyon, to the intersection of Diagonal Road and 52 East, just north of Boulder.  Herm and Cindy went above and beyond to help us the last four days.  I loaded my bike and hesitantly said good bye, and road off.  Sheryl and mom soon passed me and I watched their car for several miles until I could no longer see it.  Hello world, it is me and you again.   Sheryl and mom made it to the airport to discover that their plane was delayed.  At the point of time when I was straight east of the airport, Sheryl texted saying

This is just a short update on today and the next couple days.  I will not post another blog till Saturday evening.   Today Sheryl and I took mom to a store called Rare Finds.  The store is owned by my sister in law, Cindy's sister, Mary and her husband Tony.  It really is a rare store.   This evening we went to my niece and nephew, Hope and Dillon's softball game.  We literally froze.  We looked like hoodlums all bundled up.  Yesterday it was nearly 100 degrees in Boulder, and tonight it was in the 40's with a cold wind.  Rain eventually sent us to Herm and Cindy's home, where we started a fire to warm up.  \outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec2 } \outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec2 } Tonight Sheryl and I will sleep in the tree house.  With no heat it is likely to get pretty cold.  Tomorrow is Sheryl's birthday and we will celebrate by spending the day in Denver.   It is good to be alive!   June 21, 2017 Today was a great recovery day; I think. We woke fairly early and Sheryl

June 21, 2017 Today was a great recovery day; I think. We woke fairly early and Sheryl made breakfast for Cindy, Dillon, Jeremy and myself. After breakfast Jeremy and I climbed the hill behind our property to sit on the rock and take in the scenery. That really was a spiritual moment for both of us. We also had a spiritual moment in the two hour decent. Typically the decent takes 20 minutes, but to be clear, we were not lost! Sheryl took mom to the property to see the finished tree house and the finished shed. Mom who is nearly 84, wishes she could sleep in the tree house. Who knows, knowing mom it might happen. Since Jeremy is only here for today, we decided to hike to Lost Lake. That proved to be a good hike for Jeremy, Sheryl and I. The scenery was fantastic. The streams were running full and with great force. Lost Lake is a serene place, surrounded by mountains. The lake is at 9000 feet of elevation. One of the things that Jeremy wanted to do was to v

June 20, 2017 We left Laramie this morning at 6:00 a.m.   The temperature was 47 degrees.   It was cold enough that   we needed to wear our leggings and long sleeves. That lasted about an hour as the temperature began to rise.   We needed to climb out of Laramie, in fact at one point we saw over 8000 feet of elevation.   By noon it was getting pretty hot.   90 degrees was the forecasted high.   Jeremy at on point checked his phone and it was 98 degrees.   It was hot today!!   What make the heat so difficult is that yesterday morning we wore our cold clothes for five hours.   Once we climbed out of Laramie, we needed to drop 3000 feet in elevation.   We had a lot of down hill, but we also had a lot climbing as well.   For most of the day the wind was in our face.   That even made a difference on the down hills.   By the time we reached Fort Collins, we needed to refuel.   We ran though several gallons of water and Gatorade today.   Fort Collins is a beautiful colleg

June 19, 2017 Today was a great day!   We left the motel a little after 6:00 a.m.   The sun was out and it was 45 degrees.   Today we rode on the interstate all day.   Riding on the interstate is not what you want to do, although we did not feel as exposed on the interstate as on some of the other roads we rode on.   14 minutes into the ride, Jeremy had a flat.   This is the very thing you worry about riding on the interstate.   We soon discovered one of those little wires in his tire.   We were able to change the tube and be on our way on 10 minutes or so. The shoulder that we rode on today was as nice as any road that I have ridden so far.   Kudos to Wyoming for their great roads.   There was an 8-mile stretch were we rode on the east-bound lane of the interstate all by ourselves.   That stretch of highway was closed due to construction.   Today we saw two groups of bikers heading west.   They were carrying both front and rear panniers.   I am so glad I only have