Day 13: Syracuse, KS to Las Animas, CO

June 19, 2005

After that great meal the previous night, the team was slow to get up. There was only one bathroom in the house, so people sat around waiting for their turn before getting to the business of packing. I was feeling pretty good so committed myself to finishing the day, no matter how painful it was.

The hosts had set up breakfast at the "Ramble-n-Inn" or something close to it. After that great meal the night before, the breakfast was quite a pleasant surprise to many of the team members. Even so, the team was taking its time and Brett, one of the drivers for the day, was going around trying to get people motivated. Almost funny since he kept saying "five minutes everyone, five minutes!" and he would repeat this every ten minutes or so. Finally, some of us just got on our bikes and headed towards the restaurant, which got the last people going as well.

Rode over and took care of some last minute bike fixes before heading in. When I got in, I saw that there were a few tables open, but have already learned on this trip that the tables closest to the counter gets served first so promptly headed over and was rewarded by eating my entire omelet breakfast before some of the team even got served.

The Colorado state line was only 15 miles or so away so quite a few of us were getting excited to get out on the road to make the race to the line. When we finally headed out we bolted out of the gate, which after a big breakfast doesn't feel so great. But I was a bundle of energy at the moment and went full speed ahead.

When the team starts sprinting down the line it gets awfully exciting. I was initially in third, but slowed to a "low" speed of about 18 mph when I started cramping. Nick Weaver and Brenna passed me as I fought the cramps. Chris caught up to me and passed me, and then Brenna down the road. I had had enough and I caught my second sprinting wind, pedaling close to 25 mph, a pretty good clip. Caught up to Brenna and passed her, but she caught on to my back wheel and followed me for the next two miles at high speeds, drafting behind me to make her work less difficult. It didn't bother me and it made me work all the harder as I tried to lose her. After some effort, I caught back up to Chris and started passing him. He caught on as well and we suddenly had a nice little pace line going. I intentionally slowed down so that someone else would have to lead and break the wind for me for a turn. Brenna took up the pace and she immediately tried to lose us, but I was hard on her wheel drafting. She kept it up at very high speeds for a while before Chris took up the front. We were really booking it and it wasn't too long before we started to reel in Nick Weaver. He later told me that he looked back and saw a barreling pace line coming for him and he swore in his head and hit the pedals hard. Chris was starting to tire out with about 4 miles left and Nick wasn't getting any closer than about 200 feet. So I bolted out of the pace line and cheered Chris and Brenna on yelling at them "Letss go catch Nick!". But I went too fast and too hard and they faded behind me. I was getting so close to Nick that I could hear his bike, with about 2 miles left to the border. Just as I was about to make the final acceleration to take him I saw a sign that said "Historical Marker, 1 mile". D'oh! I had promised that I would stop at every marker and now with 2 miles left, there was a marker just around the bend. But I felt that I couldn't back down from the marker so I pulled up and into the site. Turned out to be a rock that said "1822-1872, Santa Fe Trail, Placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution". That was all that was there. Feeling like I had been ripped off, I headed back onto the road and pedaled the last bit to the line, coming in 7th, still a respectable place I felt.

We took a bunch of pictures and marveled that we had made it all the way to Colorado. A lot of the team had really worked hard to make it to the border, so not many were excited to get back on the bike for the last 70 miles or so. But we went on anyways and most of us stayed in a large group. There were about ten of us and we rode in a peloton, or tight biking formation. Laughing and joking casually at a good pace of about 17 mph. Along the way, we started collecting riders and the group got bigger. Sam invited Nick to join our merry band and this somehow lead to us assigning team members to the classic Robin Hood characters. With my beard and blonde hair, I got to be Robin Hood himself. It was so relaxing to ride along with friends that I could scarcely believe we made it to the first rest stop so quickly. We pulled over, snacked some and lingered enjoying each others company.

Heading out again, most of stayed together, but Mercedes was feeling really good that day and she took off, never to be seen again until the end of the day. The rest of us picked up the pace to a good clip and headed out to lunch. We just talked and rode and enjoyed the beautiful countryside. About three miles out of lunch, BJ got a flat tire and some tof the group stayed back to help him. The rest of us continued on without stopping.

In front, side by side, were Sam and Stephen. Behind them were myself and Nick Weaver. Various people were immediately behind us as well. Somehow Stephen lost his grip on his handle and he swerved to the left briefly. Unfortunately, there were some rumble strips and he started bouncing around. He pulled back to the right, but overcompensated and ran into Sam. I could see what was about to happen so I looked behind me and saw no traffic so I pulled onto the road and out of the way. Meanwhile, Sam held Stephen up and they leaned against each other for support, but now Stephen couldn't pedal and he started to slow. When he did so, he clipped Sam's front tire and they both hit the ground at around 15 mph. Stephen hit and started sliding down the road alongside me, his head bouncing the whole way. If it weren't so scary then it would almost have been an interesting spectacle. Sam managed to tuck into a ninja roll and so he kind of flipped and twisted just behind Stephen. Looking back I saw the whole peloton dive to the left and dodging around. Another interesting spectacle.

Both guys immediately jumped to their feet and there were just flesh wounds. Stephens elbow didn't look so great, but once again we were able to avoid major injuries by wearing our helmets and gloves. They checked all their joints and everyone got back on the bike and took it easy all the way into lunch.

At lunch, we had found that the drivers Mario and Brett had been able to get some Subway sandwiches donated to the team. One of the managers there had lost her mother to cancer and was appreciative of our efforts. Ate a good deal of food at which point Leah and Chris invited me to head out before the main group. Not wanting to get cold, I agreed and after a quick bathroom break we hit the road for the last 40 miles or so.

Chris wanted to take it slow so it wasn't too long before Leah and I were by ourselves. I paced for a little bit, but I think it was just a tad faster than Leah wanted to go, so she ended up in front for the majority of the time, which was fine by me. Even though we had just crossed the state line I could already start to see changes in the terrain. Where Kansas had been large sweeping vistas of very gently rolling hills and fields of wheat, Colorado started to display some of its tree and bush foliage. Also, the terrain seemed to even out, if that means anything.

Hit the last rest stop and took some Tylenol. I don't know if it's the constant craning of the neck or the heat or some other ailment, but I started to get a pretty good headache and wasn't feeling too motivated about the last 25 miles. Sat around for a few minutes talking and such, giving the drugs some time to kick in, then headed out again for the last stretch.

Leah led the whole way and I was grateful for her company. I work harder and better when working with another person and she was keeping up such a pace that it felt like it was work. But we made it into town and found the 1st Baptist Church in town about an hour and a half later.

We found another very large home made sign welcoming a cool place for us to sit down. Talked for a little bit and headed over to the wooden stage to stretch. Stretched out a little bit and promptly passed out for the next hour. I know I'm exhausted when I can sleep on something so hard and it still feels good.

People came in for the next two hours and we started to clean our bikes, something sorely needed for mine. Couldn't believe how dirty the mechanics of the bike were. As we cleaned, people talked about the names of their bikes. Some had named their bikes after relatives or people they had loved. Frankly, the idea of naming my bike didn't really appeal to me.

First, I can't name mine after a guy since I'd be riding him all day. I didn't want to name the bike after a relative for the same reason. Likewise for loves lost or such. Brett had named his after Falcore, from the Never Ending Story. I liked this thought and so settled on Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia. Itâ's just a name though, I don't think about it when I'm riding and I don't talk to it either. But now it has a name and so I'll refer to it as Aslan from this point on.

The church put on a great potluck banquet and the food was delicious. Got to eat with some of the parishioners and enjoyed hearing about their small town. Really were doing a good job of selling the idea of living in one at some point.

For sleep, some of the church members were taking 2 or 3 of us to their homes where they had showers and beds. Stephen and I were setup with Lane, a young man 25 years of age. He took us out to his home, which was beautiful. Stephen and I each got our own rooms, with Stephen taking the bed (I offered it to him) and me getting the futon (still quite comfortable). Took a great, high pressure shower, relaxed in front of the TV, chatted with him. Learned he was a carpenter.

He had gone to school and even become a trained electric line man, but the hours were bad and he was always on call. When the weather was really bad and lines were going down he always got called out. So he quit and moved back to the small town. Not too much later his brother and little sister came over. His brother was a bee keeper for the summer and went to college during the school year. His little sister was quite young and enjoyed the swimming team. Felt quite at home in a nearly complete strangers home. Six months ago I would have felt odd going to a person's house, showering, eating their food and chatting it up and then sleeping in their beds. But somehow it makes perfect sense out here and the people have been fantastic.

In fact, the people have been unbelievable. I know I keep writing about how amazing the people are, but it just keeps coming. Except for the odd truck driver who thinks it is entertaining to try to run us off the road, every person we have come across has been gracious and kind. I have thoroughly enjoyed traveling across the country meeting wonderful people that I otherwise would never have met. And I am a better person for it.