Day 25 -- Dodge City, KS to Great Bend, KS

Miles: 86.28
Total Miles: 1831.96
Time: 5:18
Average Speed: 16.2 mph
Max Speed: 24.1 mph
Flats Today: 1
Total Flats: 11
Elevation Gain: 512 ft
Weather: Low head winds around 95 degrees
Today was a nice day filled with many stops and relatively no climb. We would go from one small town to another that were about 15 miles apart. Since it was so flat, you could see the grain elevator in the next town right after you got out of one town. So far in Kansas we've passed by many large feed lots. These feed lots usually have somewhere around 20.000 head of cattle. These cattle tend to enter the feed lot weighing between 600 and 700 pounds and by the time they leave, they weigh between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds in just 140 days. Anyway, we woke up at 6:00, ate breakfast at 6:30, then loaded at 7:15 and headed out of Dodge City. We were averaging about 20 mph for the first 15 miles, then our daily routine took place. Wade got a flat on his rear tire, I changed it, then when Wade was going to pump it, a sag van showed up with a real pump. At least most of our flats have come just before a sag van drove by. So, our daily flat was done and we could move on. We got about 5 more miles before we came upon a sign that said we were close to a town named Wright. I immediately knew that the town was named after John Wright, the city manager of the city of Brookville. I'm just seeming to know all of these people who these towns are named after... I guess I'm just a famous guy. Fran thought it was funny that we took a picture at the Holly sign yesterday and the Wright sign today. At one point he started saying, "Do you know someone with that name" every time we went by a sign for a town.

After the Wright sign we went on until we saw about 50 windmills lined up in a field to our left. It went on for about 4 miles, and by the way, they were all moving fast and facing our side, which means we had a fairly strong side wind. The side wind turned to a head wind, but it wasn't too strong today. Anyway, we took some pictures, then we moved on all the way to the first sag stop. Right before the sag stop was a train that I had to out ride in order to survive, but don't worry, Wade got a picture. It was close, the train almost caught me and I was thinking if I got hit, everyone at Choice One would say hurray the wicked witch is dead. Too bad no celebration for you. Notice the cute tie into Kansas. Also at the sag stop was the midway point between New York City and San Francisco, but it's not quite the midway point for us. We took a picture with Fran and I think we figured out why he's so confused. In addition, there was a sod house at the sag stop along with a museum that we checked out. We ended up staying there so long that we were the last one's to leave. This was new for us, but we didn't mind.

We went about 20 mph all the way to the next sag because there was relatively no wind... It's funny how we are so used to head winds that no wind is like a tail wind for us. About half way between the 2 sag stops we stopped at a restaurant with a mural on the wall. We didn't eat at the restaurant, but we had to take a picture with the mural. I was just trying to out ride another train. Then, about 2 miles before the second sag there was a historical marker. We weren't planning on stopping, but when I read the sign, I laughed, so we had to take a picture. It was the birthplace of farm credit. It is amazing, everywhere we go in Kansas it reminds me of Jeff Puthoff and Andy Shuman. Kansas sure is a scary place. If your interested, you can click on the picture and read the whole sign. This will tell you how it all began. After that we continued onto the second sag stop.

We quickly checked in, talked to some riders going across America the other way, then went to a cafe to have a sandwich with Fran. The riders going from east to west had been riding 30 days and they had only had 2 days of head winds... What happened to prevailing west winds. I know that I keep reiterating that point, but these head winds are making me mad. Wade suggested that maybe Al Gore was right with the global warming concept, "I think that global warming has changed the wind patterns and now the prevailing winds are coming from the east." He was just joking, but liberal Fran was proud of the comment. Anyway, we ate a Reuben sandwich at the cafe then we headed out for Great Bend. We rode at a nice slow pace all the way there, then with about a half of a mile left, we spotted Braum's Ice Cream Restaurant. Apparently it's a chain in the Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas area. It was really great ice cream, so we had 2 scoops each. We even went back for more after dinner.

Day 24 -- Garden City, KS to Dodge City, KS

Miles: 50.72

Total Miles: 1745.68

Time: 2:59

Average Speed: 17.0 mph

Max Speed: 28.6 mph

Flats Today: 1

Total Flats: 10

Elevation Gain: 462 ft

Weather: Tail winds changing to head winds around 90 degrees
Today was a day of rest and relaxation. We woke up at 6:30, ate breakfast at 7:00, then loaded at 8:00 and began our ride. We rode at about 20 mph for the first 5 miles because there wasn't much wind at all. Then, at about the 5 mile mark, Wade blew a tire. It wasn't a gunshot sound like mine, but it was a loud release of air that scared a few people. Wade started feeling around for one of those tiny wires, but he couldn't find one. Then, he pumped up the ruined tube, found the leak, and I found a decently sized gash in tire. It wasn't as large as mine, but it was definitely the end of the that tire's life. Wade just can't gash as big of holes in tires as I can... at least I can beat him in that. By the way, that's 2 blow tires in 2 days. A lot of people make it through without blowing one tire... we're just unlucky. Also, we have a total of 10 flats, and it's even at 5 each. Just so you know, that picture on the top left is just a picture of nothing... absolutely nothing.

Anyway, we were in the very back of the group after we finally got a new tire. We hooked up with the mechanic, Gerard, who was riding today, and we flew at about 25 mph all the way to the first sag stop at mile 22. They had peaches at the sag stop this time, so we ate a bunch, then we headed out onto the road again. We had a slight tail wind when we were going 25 mph before the stop, but after the stop, it was a slight head wind. We road for about 10 more miles, then we came upon a bunch of bikes parked along the side of a building. We immediately recognized it as the ice cream parlor that the staff told us we shouldn't skip. It was actually very good. We had ice cream, but they had almost everything from milkshakes to floats. The service was great, the food was good, and we were refreshed and ready to go. It was an old time drug store with a ice cream parlor in it.

Only about 5 miles past the ice cream parlor, we came upon a large feed lot for cattle. It was even bigger than the last one we saw... That just proves how boring Kansas is because we're excited about a large feed lot. It was extremely big, so we couldn't just take a picture. Wade took a video of one side of the lot, but the other side was about 3 times as big. It was unbelievable. When we got to the other side, there was a large pile of feed. It was so big that I told Wade to take a picture. I have never seen that much feed in my life. This place was like a cattle farmer's heaven.

We rode another 10 miles through nothing when we came upon a historical site. We decided to check it out because it was supposed to be a rut in the dirt from an old wagon trail... It looked like a hiking trail through the woods... It was nothing. When I was reading a sign that said "This is...," I asked Wade what it was. He said, 'I can't see it too well, but I think it says, "This is nothing."" He was right because there really wasn't anything significant.

We rode another 5 miles through nothing, then we came upon a sign that said, "Dodge City." We were just going to take a picture of it, but then I thought of a better idea. We gave the camera to Fran, then we hiked up to the sign and stood on top of it. It was quite a trek, so we kept yelling at Fran to get a bunch of pictures so we wouldn't have to go up there again. We told him, "Take like 20 just to be sure." We stayed up there for almost 5 minutes to make sure he got about 20, then we came down. We asked him how many he took, and we were expecting something like 30. His answer... 5... He only took 5 pictures that whole time. If the picture isn't very good, blame it on Fran. We harassed him for about 3 more miles all the way to the hotel, then we checked in, got in the pool, took a shower, then of course, watched soccer. I needed a relaxed day like this to recuperate. Wade on the other hand, got done with his shower then played ping pong with Adella. He says that he beat her, but I bet she let him win. It was a great day, but tomorrow is harder, so please pray for tail winds.

Never mind about nothing in Kansas. We just went to dinner and then a can can show. Before the show, Wade was getting hit on by the can can girls. He went to take a picture with them, and all of them lifted up their skirts... Wade was stunned. And then, about 3 minutes into the show, the can can girls went around to let guys take off their garter for $3. Cindy, a rider who was next to Wade, held up $3 on top of Wade's head. There were actually about 15 riders who were wanted to pay for Wade to do it. Pam, one of the staff members gave me a $10 bill. Anyway, one of the dancers came up to Wade, lifted her skirt, and set her leg next to him. All of the 15 riders took a picture of Wade removing the garter... I think one person's putting it on Facebook. Since all those people were taking pictures, Wade had to take it off slow and take his time. Wade was so embarrassed, but he got to keep it as a souvenir though. The rest of the show was entertaining as well, and overall it was a good time.

Day 23 -- Lamar, CO to Garden City, KS

Miles: 103.98
Total Miles: 1694.96
Time: 6:25
Average Speed: 16.2 mph
Max Speed: 25.3 mph
Flats Today: 1
Total Flats: 9
Elevation Gain: 836 ft
Weather: Head winds all day around 90 degrees

Well, today was difficult. We had head winds from the start, and they only got stronger. I'm too much of a wimp to not complain about the head winds. Since we went 121 miles yesterday against the wind, and 104 miles today against the wind, we are both pooped. These head winds are tearing me apart. I can't take them anymore... but I might have to since there will probably be more tomorrow. In addition, there was nothing to look at except fields of wheat and corn. It was an extremely hard day, but looking back, I enjoyed it. We got to see bigger fields of wheat and corn than what Puthoff has. You have nothing on these farmers out in Kansas... we see either a horizon of wheat, corn, or on occasion, a horizon of cattle. We woke up at 5:15, ate breakfast at 6:00, and loaded at 7:00. Fran wasn't late today, so I think he caught our hint from yesterday. We were one of the first ones out today, and we were going smoothly for about 15 miles before things started to go downhill. Larry, one of the guys we were riding with today, had a flat at mile 15, so we helped him change it, then got going again. Once we got on our bikes, we realized that the wind had really picked up. From then on out, it was tough. We dragged on for about 10 more miles before we came upon a town with a very peculiar name. The name reminded me of something or someone back home, but I just couldn't remember... maybe I'll think of it when I get back to work. Congratulations Holly, it's good to know our accountant is famous.

After the town of Holly, we rode another 10 miles to the first sag stop. We were only 33 miles in, and we were already tired. We ate a bunch of food, then we headed out onto the road again. Only about a mile after the sag stop, we arrived in Kansas... Now the scenery's going to get really boring. We took some pictures by the sign, then we moved on. It was a long ride into the head winds for about 30 miles before we came upon anything. At one point I just got tired of riding in a pace line since we've been riding in them for almost the entire trip. We pushed against the wind for a long time before we came upon the sign that told us we were switching from mountain to central time. We took some pictures since there was nothing else, then we moved on. Our phones actually didn't changed time until about 10 miles past the sign. Wade tried jumping back and forth from one side of the sign to the other, but he didn't have any success... We found later that our phones wouldn't change until we got connection from a tower in the central time zone.

We rode about 10 miles past the sign, then we saw the second sag stop. We were all getting excited to get to the sag when out of nowhere we heard a "bang," It sounded like a shotgun, but it was my tire. I blew a huge hole in my tube and all the way through my tire. I don't know how it happened, but I'm glad that it happened only about 100 feet from the sag stop. While I was at the sag I got one of their extra tires and tubes, put those on my wheel, ate a bunch of food, then headed out again. We rode another 30 miles against strong head winds into the hotel, got in the pool, took a shower, then went to eat at a buffet. What a day, but at least tomorrow is only 51 miles instead of another century. By the way, we just did 3 centuries in 4 days... We are exhausted.

Day 22 -- Pueblo, CO to Lamar, CO

Miles: 121.12
Total Miles: 1590.98
Time: 7:12
Average Speed: 16.8 mph
Max Speed: 26.9 mph
Flats Today: 1
Total Flats: 8
Elevation Gain: 1050 ft
Weather: 10 mph head winds most of the day around 90 degrees

Today was a day of great achievement. We completed 121 miles in 1 day, which is the furthest we've rode in one day. We were on the bike for 7 hours and 12 minutes, which is the longest we've ever done in 1 day. We only took 7 pictures, which is the least we've taken so far. The headwinds were only 10 mph instead of 20 mph. The temperature was only 90 degrees instead of 95 degrees. Jeff Puthoff told me to stop complaining about the wind, and I did. Wade told me to go faster, and I did. All of this combined together turned riding 121 miles in the middle of nowhere into a great day of biking. We woke up at 4:25, ate breakfast at 5:00, loaded at 5:45, waited for Fran until 6:10, then began our longest day ever. For the first 121 miles, there was nothing... The end. I'm just kidding even though there was nothing. When we got about 20 miles in, we stopped to pee, turned around, and saw mountains in the distance. If you click on the picture and look closely, you can see Pike's Peak sort of in the middle of the picture. It's kind of sad looking back and knowing that the scenery of the mountains is gone and all we have now is Ohio farmlands with prairie dogs instead of ground hogs. A couple of people asked us why we weren't taking many pictures today, and we said, "What is there to take pictures of? This looks just like Ohio."

Anyway, we arrived at the first sag stop almost last because Fran took so long to get going. We ate, put on sunscreen, then headed out. We rode with Larry today along with Fran, so at least Fran didn't have to listen to just us for 121 miles. We rode through nothing for about 20 miles, then Fran got hungry and I had to pee, so we stopped at a Safeway, bought some pastries, then ate them. We rode about 10 more miles, then it happened just like every other century we've ridden. We got another flat. This time it was Wade, so we're tied 4 flats each... He so competitive that he couldn't even let me win that battle. I changed the tube out, then Wade pumped it with the hand pump. It's pretty bad when there's so little to see that you have to take pictures of changing tires. After rode about 2 more miles until the next sag stop, then once again, we ate.

After the sag stop, we rode about 25 more miles to where the next sag stop was going to be, but we blew right by it. Only idiots can't spot a sag stop in the middle of nowhere... That's why I blamed it on Wade. We got about 2 miles past where it was supposed to be, then we called the van, they brought us some water, then we found out that Fran was late for a good reason this morning. He was packing brownies that his wife made him, and he gave some to us... I guess we'll let him slide this time. We ate the brownies, drank some water, then we went to finish our last 20 miles. When we got about 5 miles out, we saw a huge feed lot full of cattle. That guy that owned it even had more cattle than Putoff. The picture doesn't do justice to how big it really was though. It went on to the left off of the picture for a mile. We're not even in Kansas yet... I can't imagine how big those feeding lots will be. Anyway, we went about a mile past the mile long feeding lot, and we came upon a sign that said "Arkansas River." That roaring river that we followed through large canyons is now just a small stream. It is amazing that out here the farther the river goes, the smaller it gets because people use it for irrigation. Back east, as the river goes farther, it gets bigger and causes flooding... What a difference. We had to take a picture since we only had 6 at that time. After the photo, we rode the last 3 miles into our hotel. After 121 miles into headwinds, surprisingly, I felt great. Also,we added a video of our beautiful 50 miles along the Arkansas River and a video of the Balanced Rock at the Arches National Park because the connection is good again.

Day 21 -- Rest Day in Pueblo, CO

Since today was a rest day, we slept in until 9:00. For breakfast we ate some cherries that were left over from yesterday and some peanut butter crackers that I got from the sag stop. There wasn't a continental breakfast at the hotel, so we ate what we had. At about 10:00 Debbie and Tom showed up at our room and Tom helped us try to fix our head set that we use when we ride to communicate back and forth. Apparently they've gotten wet and that hasn't been good for them but without rain I don't know how they got wet... Everyone knows that I don't sweat!!! Anyway, we went with Tom and Debbie to downtown Pueblo and drove around until we found the river walkway. We checked the time to see how long we could do the walk before we had to get to a bar to see the USA soccer game. We had about an hour, so we headed to the river. It was a very nice set up around river and a nice downtown as well, it reminded me of the pictures that Kaye showed me of downtown Austin, Texas, only a smaller version. The river was the Arkansas River, which was the beautiful river we followed yesterday. It was outlined with bricks and concrete, it had waterfalls with water rushing through rocks, and there were many amphitheaters and sculptures. It was so beautiful that I even tried to push Debbie in... It was Wade's idea, I promise. To keep the water level consistent, there was a reservoir up stream and a waterfalls downstream, but I guess only an engineer would care about that. The numerous sculptures downtown reminded me of a very nice downtown in Ohio called Versailles. We took some pictures with the statues and the river, then we moved onto the thing we've been looking forward to for days. By the way, Tom isn't in any of the pictures because he was kind enough to take all of the pictures for us... the one picture I took with him in it is way too blurry, so sorry Tom.

Anyway, we asked some guys downtown and they told us that a nice bar was an Irish Pub called Shamrock. We found the bar, then we did what we've been waiting to do... sit back and watch soccer. This was the first USA game we've gotten to watch of the entire World Cup because we've been riding every day that they play. We did exactly what we set out to do... we watched soccer. We weren't the best company for Tom and Debbie because we were sucked in by the TV. Joan can testify to our tendency to be absorbed into the television. Tom got some good pictures of us staring at the TV. It was a good game, but the wrong team won. We just shouldn't have watched it... they did better when we didn't watch. Oh well, we were first in our group.

After the depression from the loss, we went back to our hotel, showered, then went to church. Fran and Meaghan came with us, so the car was packed. Meaghan claims that she wasn't with us the rest of the day because she was studying for an important test... We all know that she just doesn't like Wade. I'm just kidding, she's taking a test on Monday to become a licensed registered nurse. It sounds like a hard test, so good luck Meaghan. Anyway, we all went to church, came back to the hotel, then we said our goodbyes. We gave them all of our warm clothes to send back to Sidney because from how on it will be HOT!!! Since the connection is really good here, we are adding some videos from some past days: The windmills that showed us how strong our headwinds were, and Wade throwing a snowball at Fran on Monarch Pass. Thank you Tom, Debbie, and Meaghan for coming 2 hours to spend time with us, and thank you for the pictures.

Day 20 -- Salida, CO to Pueblo, CO

Miles: 103.94
Total Miles: 1469.86
Time: 6:10
Average Speed: 16.8 mph
Max Speed: 41.0 mph
Flats Today: 0
Total Flats: 7
Elevation Gain: 3025 ft
Weather: Tail winds most of the day around 95 degrees

We thought yesterday was amazing, but it was nothing compared to today. The first 50 miles were the best 50 miles I've ever ridden in my life. We thought 61 pictures was a lot yesterday, but we took 70 pictures today. Adding to the beauty was a nice tail wind... It completed the greatness of the day. We woke up around 5:00, loaded at 5:45, then went to breakfast at the Patio Pancakes. It was a good breakfast, and we were the first ones out because Fran had to make it to Pueblo by 2:30 to see his wife and son. It was rather cold at first, but it didn't even take 5 miles to warm up. In that first five miles, we began on adventure in utter magnificence. We followed the Arkansas River for 50 miles, and almost the entire time we were in a canyon. We were spoiled by how beautiful it was.

We started following the Arkansas river at about mile 1, but not until about mile 3 did we come to the really cool stuff. When we turned the first corner around a mountain and the river came into view with the cliffs on the sides, we all said the same thing at the same time... WOW. Obviously we took a picture, but like everything else, it got better the further we got. Maybe by the end of the trip we'll realize that the first awesome site we see won't be the best. Oh well, that's why we have 70 pictures. Anyway, we continued around the next cliff about a half of a mile up, and once again we all said, "WOW." We stopped and took a picture. When we went around the next cliff about a half of a mile further, we all said, "Wow." I guess the third time's the charm because we didn't stop that time. After we got around the next cliff, we looked out to our right away from the river and we all stopped again. There were snow capped mountains out to our right. This is what it was like for about the first 50 miles. The Arkansas River to our left with our road beside it bending around cliffs, and snow capped mountains to our right. How much better can you get? To top it all off, we had a tail wind, so the riding was easy too.

We rode into the first sag stop completely in awe and having the time of our lives. When we got there, I looked to my right just to check out the gorgeous scenery some more, and up on the mountain I saw about 5 mountain goats. I told everyone else, and immediately everyone got out there cameras and started taking pictures of them. For an old man like me, I have pretty good eyesight. Wade zoomed in on them and took a picture, but it's hard to see the mountain goats because they blend in with the rocks, so I'm not going to post it. Anyway, we got out of the sag stop fast because Fran was in a hurry to get back and see his wife. There was an optional route today that went up to Royal Gorge, and we were planning on doing it. The would add 8 miles to the total, which would put us over a century, there would be about 2,000 more feet of steep climbing, but the views would be amazing. Since Fran was in a hurry, the only way we could get him to go with us would be to hustle out of the sag stop. We got out fast, and Fran decided to do it.

We got to mile 50 where the optional route broke off, and we broke off with it. We rode about 2 miles before we started to climb, and those 2 miles were tough because the road was so rough. When we started to climb, it was definitely a climb. We hit a 15 to 20 percent grade and I felt like my heart was just going to blow out of my chest. I was breathing as fast as I could imagine, working as hard as I could, going as slow as I could, and Wade was behind me laughing and taking pictures of me climbing. His foot unclipped twice, so at one point he was riding with a camera in one hand, one foot on a pedal, and unable to change gears because of the camera in his hand... How was he doing it? I had to stop half way up a 0.3 mile steep section the way it was. He did get some good pictures though. We climbed for about 4 miles, I took quite a few breaks, we had to walk around a gate that said the park wasn't open, and we caught up with the fast guys. They claim that they were held up because the park wasn't open, but I bet I'm just that fast. There was only 6 of us brave enough to do this side trip.

The park opened right when we got to the top because it took us an hour to climb, then came more awe and wonder. We first had to go through a tourist trap, but just past that was an outlook post. The Royal Gorge was amazing. I can't explain it in words how gorgeous it was, but we tried to take a bunch of pictures and videos to help out.

After the lookout, we went down to the main attraction. It's the highest suspension bridge in the United States, it's made of wood, and it moves in the wind. We took some pictures before we got on the bridge, harassed Fran for being afraid of heights, then walked our bikes across it. We went as slow as possible to take as much in as we could, but we couldn't stay too long because Fran had to get to his wife in Pueblo. We all know that it would be bad news if he was late. We finished taking a bunch of pictures, then we began our descent back to our regular route. We had a nice downhill on the route right when we got back on, then we began our rolling terrain.

We had 15 miles of up and down all the way to our second sag stop. We didn't stay too long there, then we moved on into the heat. It was about 95 degrees all the way back to our hotel. We filled up with ice cold water at the sag stop, and not even 10 miles past it our water was very warm. Just about 5 miles past that, our water was no longer warm... It was hot. I could have put a coffee packet into my water bottle and had some hot coffee to drink. Wade was drinking his water and said, "Oww... I burnt my tongue." We eventually made it to Pueblo and got off of the busy road. Once we got off, we spotted a Dairy Queen. Fran went on to get to his wife while we quickly ate an ice cream cone. Before we went in, I took off my do-rag, which was soaked with sweat. It wasn't even 10 minutes before we came back out, and it was dry. That's one large difference between heat here and in Ohio. In Ohio, it would have taken 3 days for that to dry, but here it took about 10 minutes. Anyway, we finished the last mile to the hotel, got our luggage and headed upstairs to our air-conditioned room. Later that night, we met up with my sister Debbie, my niece Meaghan, and my brother-in-law Tom. We'll be with them tomorrow since it's a rest day, and hopefully we'll be able to watch USA against Ghana, GO USA. Just like Salt Lake City, we need the rest tomorrow for both our legs and our butts!!!

Day 19 -- Gunnison, CO to Salida, CO

Miles: 69.08
Total Miles: 1365.92
Time: 4:43
Average Speed: 14.6 mph
Max Speed: 46.8 mph
Flats Today: 2
Total Flats: 7
Elevation Gain: 4877 ft
Weather: Low wind, 33 degrees in the morning and around 90 degrees later

Today could be described in one word... Photo. We went over Monarch Pass, and it was magnificent. We took 61 pictures today, and we could've taken many more. We ate continental breakfast at 6:00, loaded at 6:30, and headed out. Since it was in the 30's, we bundled up in clothes. Wade was wearing everything he had except his rain gear, and I was wearing everything except my long pants and rain gear. For the first time, we were wearing more clothes than other riders. It turned out that wearing a lot of clothes paid off... other people complained about how freezing it was while we were comfortable. We got about 20 miles in before we first started stripping off layers, but we still kept some warm clothes on. We went about 6 more miles, then we had to stop again. This time it was for a flat... my flat. With that one I went up 4 to 2 on Wade for the number of flats so far. I changed and once again, just as Wade was about to hand pump it, the sag van came with a real pump. He's one lucky kid.

Anyway, we rode 2 more miles into the first sag stop and we stayed there for awhile. After the rest, we started our approach to the Monarch Pass climb. It was relatively flat heading into the mountain, but having mountains in sight was really intimidating. Wade saw one with snow on top and he said, "I'll be very disappointed if we don't get up past the tree line and into snow." He must be crazy because I was hoping we wouldn't even get close to that. Eventually we got to the mountain and it was definitely a mountain. Right where the cue sheet said begin climb for 9 miles, it was about an 8 percent grade. We had no idea what we were in for.

We began the climb and immediately Wade said, "I'll stay behind you for awhile so I can get pictures of you climbing." What was I supposed to say to that? "Ok I'll stay in front of you until you decide to pass me." He took about 10 pictures in the first mile of Fran and I climbing next to each other. He eventually had to stop after a mile because I had to take a rest... I mean I had to take a picture. It was a great view, like the whole climb up, but it was a nice rest too. About a mile further up the mountain, Wade had to stop. I was hoping he was tired, but it was just a flat. Oh well, I got to rest while I changed it. This flat wasn't as surprising as the others because the last 2 days when I pumped up his tire in the morning, the pressure was only 20 psi when it's supposed to be 115 psi. He made it all of yesterday without a flat, so we thought we would stick with that tube again today... This time it didn't work out so well. It was completely flat, and I had to change out the tube. Wade didn't get as lucky this time and he had to pump it up with the hand pump.

We took some pictures there because like the rest of the mountain, it was beautiful. Then, we started climbing again. We were riding along a cliff for almost the entire ride up. For some parts there was a guard rail, but at some parts there wasn't. If we would have moved right about 4 feet, we would have been falling down some rocks. At one point there was a rock ledge that we walked out on and took some pictures. Wade wanted to go further out, but I decided to make his mother happy and say no. I hope you're proud of me Joan!!! Anyway, we took quite a few pictures there, then we continued climbing. We didn't get much further before we stopped again and took more pictures. After those pictures we rode a good distance before we stopped again. Then, after that stop, we finished up the climb. There was a sag stop at the top, and Pam, one of our staff members, cheered us in. It was a great feeling to reach the top. We ate a bunch of fruit, went to the bathroom, then bought tickets to go up in a gondola to the very peek. When we bought the tickets, we also got our souvenirs for the trip. We got $8 t-shirts that said, "I made it to the top of Monarch Crest." Also, the t-shirts had a bike in the background, so it was perfect. We were 11,312 ft up, which is the highest we've ever been and the highest we'll be on this trip. Monarch Pass is also part of the Continental Divide, so it's all down from here. This was the longest, and supposedly toughest climb of the trip, so the t-shirts were awesome.

We got on the gondola and rode to the peek with Fran. It was even more beautiful up there. We could see mountain peeks out in the distance for miles upon miles, there were trails on top of the mountain, and most importantly, there was snow... Wade got what he wanted. We went out of the lookout and onto the mountain, and almost immediately Wade ran to the snow. He grabbed some snow and started throwing it at me. Who would have thought that Wade would be throwing snow at me in late June. He stayed out in the snow for awhile, and Fran and I sat on a ledge as we all looked out into the pure magnificence. I took quite a few pictures of Wade in the snow, and I even took a video of Wade throwing a snowball at Fran. The connection is bad again, so I doubt we'll be able to get the video up, but we'll try. After we got done outside, we went back in and found the line of the Continental Divide. We took a picture, and of course we jumped back and forth from side to side a couple of times. We stayed up at the peek for about 45 minutes, and we could've stayed longer. We got down from the peek, took more pictures, then started our decline. As a whole, we were on the summit of Monarch Pass for about 2 hours.

We began our descent, and it was beautiful as well. We took some pictures, but it was harder to stop because we were going so fast. I hit 46.8 mph at one point on the descent. That is the fastest I've ever gone on a bike in my whole life. It was nice, and it was downhill all the way into Salida. We went to the old downtown and ate at a restaurant along the Arkansas River. Fran had to have his sandwich for lunch. We didn't get our ice cream today, but we got cherries... those were gone in about a half of an hour. Anyway, it was an all around great day for pictures, and tomorrow we follow the Arkansas River the whole day. I doubt we'll beat 61 pictures tomorrow, but it'll be beautiful again.