Days 18-23

Sep. 17th, 2010:

Cherry CK, S.P., Denver, CO to Colorado Springs, CO

Today we left the C.G. at Cherry CK S.P. after fixing yet another flat tire. We then headed down Hwy 83 all the way out of Denver, CO which was a pretty busy Hwy. We had a fairly easy day through here and reached Colorado Springs, CO early. This gave us some time to go to the bank and Walmart. As we were continuing down the road heading out of town we met a man named Ryan who offered to let us stay in his empty rental, which was very generous and humbling. Nice guy! Great day!

Sep. 18th, 2010:

Colorado Springs, CO to Kit Carson, CO

Today we hit the road early and were immediately faced with the worst road hazards yet, shattered glass everywhere for about the first five miles. Matt got a flat tire and we were able to use the new pump, which works awesome. After this the ride was fairly easy. We had a slight headwind of about 15 MPH. The day was very long though - about 115 miles and 12 hours on the bikes/road. But we enjoyed the scenery and rolling hills. We topped the day off with a cheap but full dinner at a mom and pop store and are now camping for free in the city park.

Sep. 19th, 2010:

Kit Carson, CO to Tribune, KS

Today we left Kit Carson, CO and headed south to Eads, CO which isn’t much larger than Kit Carson but at least it had a gas station open on a Sunday. From here we headed down Hwy 96 and shortly reached the Kansas/Colorado border. At this point the wind also started to gust at about 15-25 MPH. Tonight we are staying in the local park and were able to use the water spigot to get in a much needed shower. So it was a good day and we are excited to be in Kansas.

Sep. 20th, 2010:

Tribune, KS to Ness City, KS

Today we started early as we lost an hour by moving into central time zone, but we got going and quickly made our way through the 35 MPH winds and over 40 MPH gusts to Dighton, KS where we had lunch. We met three cyclists there who were traveling west from chicago and were not enjoying the SSW winds as much as us, but were nice and happy to share stories. We finished out the 100 mile day in Ness City, KS with a shower by hose and camping at the city park. Good Day!

Sep. 21st, 2010

Ness City, KS to Lyons, KS

Today we left Ness City and rode to Great Bend, KS where we had lunch. On the way we had three flat tires but figued it was helpful as we had to adjust our chain tension anyway. While in Great Bend, KS we were able to pick up more tubes as we wererunning low again. We then continued on our journey to Lyons, KS, our destination for the night. Here we found a free RV/ campground with free showers, our first since Colorado Springs. That felt very nice. It was a good day, but we are tired. And the long days are catching up with us.

Sep 22nd, 2010

Sep. 22nd, 2010: Lyons, KS to Florence , KS

So today we got started and the morale was a little low. It seems that the humiduty is affecting our sleep, it is just way too hot, all the time. But besides that we got on the road and made it to Hillsboro (about 52 miles) where we had lunch. From here we continued on but shortly made a left turn straight into a south winds blowing at us about 30 mph. We decided to camp in Florence KS and the locals directed us to a city park after okaying it with a city council member. Here we enjoyed the freash spring water, showered under the water spigot, and even had a bathroom to use in the morning.