Day 51, Eads, to Sheridan Lake, CO

Miles – 28

Miles From Start/To Finish – 2,259/2,086

Ave Riding Speed – 9-15 mph

Hours Start to Finish – 3

Weather – Sunny to Cloudy and 84

It would have been a great morning to sleep in, but my biological clock said it was 6:30am and time to get up. Kim got up at the same time and we walked the 30 feet down the hall to the breakfast area. No one was there but the complimentary breakfast buffet was open. I had biscuits and gravy, apple juice and coffee. Kim tried a breakfast burrito, but I ended up finishing that for here. She settled on raisin bran and a bagel with her orange juice and coffee.

We finished breakfast and Kim went to work planning the overnights through the weekend while I caught up on yesterday’s blog. I think Kim even got a little nap in. After yesterday’s milestone ride our son recommended that we at least put on a few miles in today, versus another rest day, as it would be good for repairing our bodies. So, we planned to ride. It was 28 miles to Sheridan Lake where we could stay at a church.

With the low mile plan for the day, we didn’t leave the motel until 11am. We hopped on Hwy 96 heading east for another day of wide-open prairies, 2-lane and no shoulder highways and semi-trucks hauling in the winter wheat harvest.

We came upon a couple lone bicycles riders heading west and traveling lite. There was too much traffic so we gave the old fist pump and yelled “keep it going”. After a few more miles we came upon a couple riders and we each pulled over to our sides of the road and stood in the grass as we talked. Bob and Camila, were from Denver and out for a two-week tour. They knew the roads and the stops along the way very well. After a couple minutes of chatting, we parted ways. We passed through the very small towns of Chivington and Brandon. In Brandon there were signs of life as we passed a gentleman on a lawn tractor mowing his yard along the highway. We waved as we passed by while he waited for us to pass. I thought it was a nice gesture to hold up and not blow grass or debris in our path.

We rolled into Sheridan Lake at 2pm and stopped and the gas station, mini-convenience store and home of Piccadilly Pizza. As we were pulling in an older couple pulled in driving their pickup truck. When we got inside, they were standing at the counter and we said hi. Ends up it was the guy on the lawn mower from back in Brandon. We laughed and introduced ourselves. We met 92-year-old Pinky, in his slender jeans and cowboy boots, and Mary Lou, nicely dressed and wearing lipstick. A delightful couple that seemed so natural and so cute together. Pinky said they have an 8,000-acre farm about 4-miles south of Brandon that 2 of their sons run. They were very charming and recommended the pizza, because that’s what they were ordering. Mary Lou gave Kim a hug and said to be careful along our ride. They ordered their pizza and told the manager they would wait in their car. As they walked out the door, I was thinking to myself that they were very interesting people and it would have been fun to get to know them better. We grabbed a Gatorade, chips and salsa and headed for the church.

The church is very nice and they leave the doors open 24/7. When we entered, they have a table with some basic instructions for the overnight bicyclist, including food in the fridge and canned good in the pantry can be eaten as needed. Very generous and the hospitality is so genuine.

While we were getting settled in, we met Carol. She cleans the church a couple times a week. She mentioned she also works at the post office, just across the street. We giggled and said we would be seeing her again very shortly as we planned to send some more gear back home today.

Kim and I emptied our panniers (saddlebags) and laid out our stuff on the church floor. The piles to ship home ended up being our warm weather gear and a couple other items. We collected our respective piles and walked over to the post office, formerly the schoolhouse, and met Carol again. I asked Carol if I could look around the place while she weighed and priced out our box of gear for shipping home. I walked through a door and saw all these bowling shoes and bowling balls. I went back to Carol and asked if there was a bowling alley in the building. She said there was and asked if I wanted to see it, and of course I said yes. We walked down the hallway and she opened the door to the 3-lane bowling alley. Pretty cool. She said they used to have leagues, but the community is getting older and the there aren’t many young ones around interested in the game. Carol said our package weighed 7.5lbs, so we’ll be running a little lighter now. My gear must be around 45lbs and I’d estimate Kim’s gear around 40lbs.

From the post office we walked back to the Piccadilly counter and order a large pizza and waited in the side room of the store that had a couple tables. In about 25 minutes our pizza was boxed up and we grabbed a couple Gatorades to go with it. During the 4-block walk  home the skies to the west were getting dark and we both agreed we are so thankful to be camping indoors tonight.

When we got back to the church, we had a couple slices of pizza and put the rest in the fridge for breakfast. I happened to walk outside and met Pastor Ernie as he was walking over from his home next door to check on us. After we told him we were from Minneapolis, he said that his 2 sons live in Shoreview, MN. Kim asked him if the wind is less fierce in the morning and he said the wind is always blowing around here and that if the wind isn’t blowing there is likely some bad weather brewing. We thanked him for the hospitality and he reminded us that anything in the kitchen is available to eat. I still think that is so cool!

We were talking with our daughter Amanda this evening and she was saying that she get’s so many questions about our ride, probably things that we don’t really think about anymore, and that we should try to write about some of that. So, if you have questions just let us know either my emailing motchacrossamerica@gmail.com or through the comments on the blog.

I’ll tackle the “what do you do if you have to go to the bathroom” question. Well, can be many occasions throughout the day that there is not an actual facility, like a gas station or restaurant, handy to go to the bathroom. So, we pull over at a driveway, intersection or along the highway in a sparsely populated area and wait for the all clear, meaning no cars are coming, step into the ditch or behind a bush or tree and do natures #1. It is what it is and it makes the next 10-30 miles much more enjoyable.