Sea-to-Sea NA Day 30 The word for the day – HOT. Thermometer is pushing 100 now (mid afternoon) and it promises to be this way for the next few days. The idea is to leave earlier in the morning to avoid the heat of the day. The slower riders or those who take more breaks end up riding in the mid afternoon heat. I was fortunate to get away just before 7 this morning,; which is ¾ hr earlier than normal but I only got up ¼ hr earlier so the morning duties are taking less time. I decided to ride straight through again today so prepared food and drink accordingly. The wind was onto my right shoulder most of the day. We had heard it was to be out of the west but it was not to be. From time to time it seemed like the wind was shifting but think now it was just the road changing direction. At best the wind straight on my side, a hot wind from the south. Funny thing is it doesn’t feel that hot while you are in it riding, but when you stop, oh boy it’s hot! Anyway I got here in good time, 5 hrs for 152 km, went to the subway for a milk shake and some cool ice tea. I broke down and went to the Wal-Mart and bought an adult size chair to replace Rita’s kid size I had bought for her earlier on the trip. We started to see trees along the roadway today but they were too far back to give any shade to the road but they could be used Rita just got in at 3:30 but Rita Beerda and Margaret still on the road. I wasn’t able to post again last night; coverage has been spotty. I don’t intend to post regularly anymore. Bye for now. Bill

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 29 The road stretched off to the horizon. Only a few grain elevators and communication towers reached into the sky. This is prime cattle-grazing country with some irrigated crops like sugar beets and corn. From time to time there are wheat fields; which by now have been harvested. Today I was on a solo ride and never unclipped from the start to finish of the ride, 140km. I take enough food, in fact more than enough to keep me going, and drink for the day, two bottles of Gator Aid and two of water. Once I get into the ride it seems I could go forever. The contour map says we are loosing elevation but there was still what seemed to be a lot of climbing. The wind was against us or from the side and that may have added to this impression. I finished the ride in 4:15 for an average speed of about 33kph arriving at our new camp around noon. At first this town like the others along the way seems pretty dead but a closer examination, after a piece of pie and coffee, revealed many nice well-kept homes. The swimming pool is exceptionally nice for a town this size with many fun water park type features. I toured around a bit looking for photo shots and found a few. Usually I just take pictures with the handlebar-mounted camera while I am riding but for these pictures I stop and dismount the camera. At present (3PM) the tents are all set up. Anne and others have gone to the pool while I write and wait for Rita to arrive. It is probably in the low 90s here now so physical exertion becomes more difficult as the day wears on. Just to finish a few details for yesterday; it did rain a little and the winds died down around 6:30. On a sad not Cynthia Aukema had a run-in with a box on the interstate and broke her pelvis so is in hospital preparing for the trip home. She like Tyler was set to go all the way and enjoying the ride immensely.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 27 & 28 Sunday morning we all biked to the open-air stadium for our Denver Celebration Service. This High School like most we have stayed at have a small stadium for their football games. The sun was out in full force; bottled water was handed out through the service. Despite the heat it was a lively service with an inspiring message on fighting poverty. In the afternoon bus rides to downtown were available so we went for a walk there. Denver is a fairly new city with wide streets and many sidewalk cafes, lots of flowers and a few parks. After that I had to dismantle the tandem for shipment back home and finish preparing the other two single bikes for use today. Right now the wind is blowing hard, I can see the rain in the distance. My tent and bikes are ready but some riders are still on the road. The wind is from behind so it should help them some. We have such a variety of tents it is interesting to see how they stand up to the strong winds. Mine goes convex in the strong gusts. The ride out of Denver was along a concrete riverside bike path through the city and out into the country. Canada Geese lined the path as if they recognized fellow Canadians. They did the regular goose salute along the path in some places. It was a good thing that I had my single bike so I could manoeuvre around the droppings easily. The river looked nice in the early morning sun but smelled like a sewer. Rita had left earlier with Anne. I completed taking down the tent and the other packing as well as loading my own bike. They were about 50km out when I came across them. I rode with them for a while until the SAG stop where they continued and I stopped for some personal relief in our Port-a-Potty which had hit a few bumps and somehow spilled some of it’s load. I never use the thing but thought I would be nice today since it was still in a built up area. Next time I will restrain myself. Anyway I caught up with the ladies a little farther down the road, rode with them for a few minutes and then said my goodbyes. A young rider, Aaron carpenter caught up with me shortly after and we rode together for the remaining 90 or so km. Much of the ride was along the I76 where the speed limit is 75 mph. We rode outside of the rumble strip where the pavement was smoothest. Because the road direction were confusing, the SAG ladies couldn’t find the road, we stayed on the I76 right to Fort Morgan, had something to eat at McD and before 1PM went to the high school. The ladies arrived after I had the tents set up and finished my shower. The road that couldn’t be found earlier was found and they had followed it to Wiggins where the restaurant owner would not let them pay for the coffee and pie they had, or for that matter any other riders who stopped there after that, because she was so supportive of our cause and journey. That’s about it for today. The wind is still blowing and most riders have been blown in by it. Supper will be inside because of the wind. Sorry, no pictures tonight, I accidentally erased the few I had.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 26 Today my team is on ‘sweep’ which means that we served dinner yesterday, breakfast this morning, load the gear truck and that a few of my group sweeps any slow riders in or in other words are the last on the road. Today a bunch of the hard riders went of tour and rode up an extra peak to 16,000 ft. When they depart from the set route they are basically on their own but before they got that far Tyler went down while the pace line slowed down and broke his collar bone. This is the worst injury so far and as a result of it he will not be able to ride any longer and will go home. The climb today was long, probably 30 km and we climbed about 2800 ft. The road had 2 lanes in our direction and there were not many trucks. The sky was overcast and temperature cool if anything all ideal for climbing. It was 8:40 before we left camp so it was a little warmer already than when the first riders set out at around 6:30, just as well since I forgot to take my jacket and would have been very cold at the top. For most of the climb I was able to use my second lowest gear or higher so it was not as steep as some others had been. Reaching the top at 11,300 ft was a little anticlimactic since there was not even an elevation sign. From the top, except for a few hills - one of which was serious – it was down hill for 100 km and a 6000 ft drop. It consisted of two main sections, one from the top dropping several thousand feet into a village where many of us stopped for a coffee and Danish. For this section I pretty well had the road to myself since George VK, our riding partner for the day had dropped over the edge a few minutes before us, I throttled our speed with the drag brake and by Rita sitting up straight with mouth open wide (yelling at the same time) as we entered the hairpin turns. This pattern of accelerating to 75-80 kph on the open straights and slowing for the hairpins repeated itself 5 or 6 times on the 15 km decent. We were about to pass George when he stopped to take a picture. I checked his tires as we flashed by to make sure he was all right. He joined us and others in the coffee shop a few minutes later. The second special section was through a canyon on a nice curvy road with a small river and rock wall on both sides. Here again I took full advantage of the whole lane with enough speed that the cars were not bothered. George was drafting in the wake of the Rumba and Rita leaned into the curves like a pro. Another local rider took advantage of the draft too. I was busy shooting pictures of the canyon and alternatively applying the hand brakes as we entered corner after corner for what might have been 20-30 minutes. A beautiful ride it was. As we entered the outskirts of Denver we passed by a CRC church and downed 3-4 glasses of water and Gator Aid before continuing the last 10 km of our 145 km ride to the local Christian School where we will spend two nights. As we entered the street it was a festive atmosphere, cheering and music, water and a small care package. Here we met up with old friends Joe, Margaret, Rita and Peter. The two ladies will start to ride in Denver and the men make their way back to Hamilton by car. They have kindly transported our single bikes to here and will take the tandem back home. We had a nice dinner, ice cream social and even free haircuts so far. Tomorrow promises to be another special day.

Here are the pictures for day 25

We just finished a long farwell meeting for the 15 or so riders leaving in Denver concluded with celebrating the Lords Supper.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 24 We both said it at the same time, “oh what a beautiful breeze”. The fresh cool pine scented breeze came out of the woods; which lined both sides of the road. This we had not experienced in a yet on this trip. We were one hour into our main climb of the day, the sun was out in full force but the elevation had kept the temperature a little cooler than it was in the past few days but still after an hour of climbing in the second lowest gear we were both hotter than is pleasant. The climb originated in the ski resort town of Steamboat and was a full 11 km long at a steady slope of 6-7% and a climb of 2500ft. One hour and twenty-two minutes later we arrived at the end of the main climb and took a well-deserved break at the SAG wagon. The 80 km prior to the hill had been a slow climb with the wind in our back. When we were over the top there was a few up and downs before we reached the Continental Divide at about 9500 ft. After that an 11km downhill drop of 1400 ft for which we had the full road and because this was a highway the corners were manageable without the use of the drag brake except for a few. This allowed a maximum speed of just less than 80 kph. For the remainder of the 150km ride the wind direction changed a few times and the there were more downs than up but too many of each. Camp life has pretty much settle in, who tents were and with whom. Some get up early just after 5, others late sometimes after breakfast time is over at 7:30. Despite more precautionary measures than the 2005 tour people are getting sick, some with colds others the flue. Many have saddle sours, including me. We have several riders out due to injuries and the altitude affects others. Aching muscles heal at night, soar joints come and go during the day depending on the riding conditions. Despite some very busy roads we feel blessed that there have been no serious accidents. Every day except one people have fallen off their bikes for one reason or another but so far getting off with only scraped skin. Two more days until we reach Denver, and a lot more climbing and soaring to come. Stay tuned.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 23 Dry! Dry, dry despite drinking enough on the road when we pulled into town and stopped at an ice cream place, you just want to eat or drink everything. After a milk shake and a ½ lemonade we went to the grocery store and bought a chocolate milk, drank that too. Then an hour after arriving, we had to bike up the hill to the high school in Craig, my belly was so full we hardly made it. Then a bike bottle with iced tea and still feeling thirsty but I had better stop and let it absorb into my body. The ride today was hot as usual; cloud cover at first but sun in the mid day, a rear wind onto my right shoulder for part of the ride was helpful. The countryside was up and down with 4300 ft of climbing but only 426 ft of elevation change from where we started. Some hills were steep others less of a grade, the one leading up to the town was almost 30km long but a gentle slope. Total ride 140 km at 25.3 kph. We are getting tired of these desert conditions and looking forward to a change of scenery soon but we have to go over a few major climbs before then. Tonight we have a view over a big valley with a coal fired generating plant on the other side. The coal source is on the large hill behind the plant. We can see the tower for the dragline moving around just over the hill. The train runs through the valley, something we haven’t seen or heard for about a week now.