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Wednesday, May 9, 2007

On the road again feels so good to be on the road again

Well today was a 90/40 mile day (read on, I will explain). So last night
we stayed in Ordway, CO and for the last time (sniffle sniffle) we slept in
the back of the U-Haul truck. Ordway is actualy 50 miles past where the
U-Haul truck needed to be turned in (thats in Pueblo, CO). We (actually it
was all Heather's idea) decided to camp in Ordway, then in the morning I
would leave with the truck and my bike while Heather waited with the stuff.
I left at about 8 am, drove the hour into town, returned the truck, then
finally hopped on my bike and headed back to where Heather was. On my way
back I stopped at a bike shop to buy a water bottle cage (my REI novara
brand cage came apart at the welds) that I needed. I think that was my
cheapest bike shop visit ever!

I booked it back to Ordway (ave 17 mph, ie 51 miles in 3 hours) with a
slight headwind. I noticed the ground was really flat (well, slight
rolling hills but compared to the last 3 weeks it was flat) and my map had
some interesting changes to it. You see, these maps have contour lines
(the mountainous regions have elevation profiles as well) that show, well,
elevations. I always have a hard time with these because I'm no
"mapmetician" (yes I know it is not a word, and I should use somthing like
cartographer or expert navigator, but read on, it makes sense) and the
lines confuse me. I never know if I need to add the numbers, divide the
area inside the lines, or find the median line of the difference of the two
adjacent elevations (get it now, mapmetician?) to figure when I am at the
top and when the downhill starts. I just know that when it says 4,000 I am
going to be at least at 4,000 feet or maybe as high as 4,999 feet. So my
point (and yes there is a point I just wanted to make sure you understood
that I have no idea what I'm talking about here) is that on the maps we
have been using so far, all the elevation lines have been in 1,000 foot
increments (I just assumed this was standard) I was heart broken when I
looked at our current map and there were several climbs indicated. On
closer inspection I saw the new maps are in 250 foot (that's right, two
hundred fifty) increments. I had to double take on that one. I thought
"250 feet that's all? I doubt I will even notice those", and if the climbs
are so small that they need to break it down to 250 feet, I am stoked. In
truth, this morning (all day actually) I did not really notice the climbs.
YIPEE we are now officially out of the mountains.

While driving the last 50 miles to Ordway yesterday I noticed some writing
on the road (cute little messages really) but I was not able to read them
because we were going so fast. I made a mental note to check them out
today. On my way back to Pueblo to return the truck I only read one, it
said "hill" with an arrow that, appropriately, pointed to a hill. Weird, I
thought. On my bike ride back I could not read the first message (going to
fast again) but I took the time to stop and go back (much easier on a bike
then in a U-Haul) to it. It said something like "just 100 miles to go" the
next one said "keep it up only 99 miles left" and finally "you can do it
just 98 miles from here". These were of course spaced 1 mile apart, in
case you were wondering. My thought was that these were encouragements for
a century (thats 100 miles for all you non-cyclists out there) ride. There
were other messages as well like "hill" and an arrow pointing to the state
prison with the word "NOT" right after it. Finally a few miles into the
trip, I figured out what these really were. Seems a group (they must have
a SAG vehicle) is doing a cross country ride and these are their doings.
The reason I found this out is one of the messages said "D.C. or Bust!".
Well I was stoked to see that, to say the least. The whole day was filled
with their witty humor. One more example is along a barren stretch of road
there was a lone dilapidated windmill surrounded by what looked like an old
corral. On the road with an arrow pointed in the appropriate place was a
message reading "look there is...something?" we both got a good laugh out
of that one.

The first 50 miles for me was difficult because I was pushing really hard
to get back as fast as I could. Then we connected the trailer (after I ate
large quantities of food Heather prepared for me in my absence) and WOW
that thing is heavy! I went from booking it at 17 mph to struggling to
maintain 10 mph. Ryan told me if we want to enjoy this ride together I
would have to take enough weight from Heather so we go the same pace. So I
took all the weight. I am not sure if I would classify my experience as
enjoyment right now but I do love having Heather right there with me to
chat with.

When we finally made it to Haswell, CO I had gone a total of 90 miles and
Heather had gone 40 miles (thus the 90/40 up top there). She is busy
setting up camp while I write this. Near the end I was real tuckered out
and really had to dig deep those last 5 miles. We did get a nice surprise
here. There is free camping in the city park. A nice lady, Debora, walked
over and told us the water is safe to drink (comes right from the town
system) and it is indeed free to camp here. There are bathrooms (actually
permanent outhouses) but no electricity. The second surprise was when I
put my jacket on the sun pre-warmed it for me so I got to enjoy a nice warm
jacket. That is a good thing cause the rest of me is really in a lot of
pain.

Not sure if you all read the comments from other readers like yourself but
there was one I really need to talk about. This comment was from Steve at
Cynergy cycles (www.cycnergycycles.com). He made a great offer I think I
may take him up on (read the comment a few posts ago, to find out what he
said) in the near future. So a few things we could use. One medium sized
container of "hammer gel" (we already have the dispensers) and the most
important one of all a "brooks saddle model B66 standard"

www.brookssaddles.com the pre-aged one would be nice and color is not
important. Steve, if you can talk your boss into buying that for me, also
ask him something else too. What is your return policy for a one month old
(1,400 miles) saddle designed for torture, pain, and general debilitating
injuries (I figure if it is not better after a month it will never get
better) to a cyclist? Our next mail drop is in Miami, Oaklahoma I hope to
see a box from Cynergy there. I know it is a long shot but worth the try.

Oh and Janice, if you get a box from Cynergy cycles make sure to post a
comment about it here so we know it is waiting.

Oh and for you avid cyclists out there I have developed a new rating (I
have not done the research so someone else may have already thought of
this) system for bike seats (or saddles, as the jargon goes). I think all
saddles should be rated in hours. For example, my saddle is a 2.5 hour
saddle. Go as far as you want and as fast as you want, just make sure you
are back in two and half hours or you will regret it. This could be
matched with bike shorts. The shorts could have a chart saying "extends
2.5 hour saddle to 5 hour saddle". Well just a thought. If you
manufacture bicycle saddles and want to use my rating system, I charge a
very small license fee per model. Contact me for details.

Well that is it for now. The sun is down, I am fed, and the bugs are
biting. Time to hit the sack. Literaly because we are basically sleeping
in sacs. I hope this finds you all well or at least keeps your mind off
not being well for a short time while you read.

-dana

"those who say it cannot be done, oh be quiet you're wrong" -dana

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I agree with you about the bike seats!!! It helps taking a day off. I can't image riding that far. I gripe about Military Hill. I can't imagine doing mountains. Have a safe trip. I have been doing about 15 miles a day and the seat is not agreeing with me! I also don't have a speed bike just an old fashion one. PAL

Anonymous said...

Ha! Go Cynergy Cycles!! They totally rock for wanting to sponsor you guys!!

Great post!

Mom said...

That's my son..... only the best for his new bride..... the back of a U-Haul!!! He really was raised in civilization!! I'm off to SD tomorrow for Bruce!! Booooo!! Off on another trip to Guatemala in a week. Keep cycling and keep safe. Love you lots and lots.