Internet again after a 3 day drought!

Day 22 Colorado Springs, CO to Limon, CO
Distance 123 km
Saddle time 5:06
Avg speed 24.1
Max speed 49.3
Total ascent 611m
Total descent 847m

When we left Colorado Springs today, we heard there was a chance of rain.  However, since they have had a drought here for many months (? Years?) I guess I didn’t really take the warning seriously.  I had a jersey and solar sleeves on, and at the last minute threw my light wind jacket into my handlebar bag.  At about 15 km, it started to rain.  It was soooo cold.  Around 25 km, Shannon pointed out a donut shop and she, Kaitlyn and I dripped our way in and huddled up with hot chocolate and apple fritters.  When we headed back out again it was so freezing I didn’t know if I was going to be able to keep going.  Fortunately, after pedaling a bit, I was a bit warmer.  One of the Sea to Sea vans pulled up and Malori was in it, having gotten SAGged out because she wasn’t feeling well, and she leant me another pair of sleeves, some knee high leg warmers and a head band.  Seriously ride savers – definitely saved the ride for today!  Much warmer, we continued on until, unfortunately, Kaitlyn’s rear shifter cable broke.  Fortunately, Peter rode along and was able to adjust it so that she could at least continue riding.  It was a hard ride into camp with a headwind (and another break for bacon and eggs!) but fortunately the rain let up and it got a bit warmer so it was a bit easier.  I’m on sweep team tonight, which means I have to help set up/clean up supper and breakfast so back to the grind!

Day 23 Limon, CO to Burlington, CO

Distance 126
Saddle time 5:14
Average speed 24.1
Max speed 41
Elevation change not recorded due to Garmin error

We had a pretty good start to the day.  I was on the sweep team, which means I had to help clean up from breakfast/make sure the trucks are packed and today, wait for the last riders to leave camp as the support vehicle which usually does sweep was not available.  So, we didn’t get out until about 7:35.  The first 75km or so was along I-70, which had a nice wide shoulder and was (relatively) smooth and debris free.  We had a bit of a crosswind, but we were also mostly on a gradual downhill, so it wasn’t too bad.  After we got off the interstate, we had a pretty strong cross/headwind that got pretty frustrating by the last 25 km or so, but we did ultimately make it and had some ice cream as a reward for our wind-fighting before heading into camp.  I hope we don’t have too much wind over the next few weeks, although I have a feeling these are going to be difficulty cycling weeks due to the cross/headwind possibilities.  Le sigh….

Day 24 Burlington, CO to Colby, KS
Distance 109km
Time 4:19
Avg speed 25.5km/h
Max speed 40ish(Garmin buggy again today)
Total ascent: 200ish m
Total descent 500ish m

A great day!  All that foreboding yesterday was for nothing!   We had  a beautiful, mostly flat or slightly downhill, fast day with a moderate crosswind but overall great riding.  I rode with Kaitlyn and Shannon and we had an excellent day with lots of good conversation, a fast pace line, lots of giggling and overall excellent riding!   If the rest of the week shapes up like today, it should be pretty sweet, but I guess I’m learning each day is different and there’s no way to predict exactly how things are going to go!  My bike is working well and I’m having a great time!!