San Diego!

We made it to San Diego today without any issues. Wake-up time was pushed back to 7am, but everyone still woke up early as we have been getting up between 4:30 and 5:00am the last week to beat the heat. I will post more to my blog (all the missing entries and more pics) once I get some time. Thanks to all that supported me as I rode across the country.

Kayenta

David and I in Monument Valley

Today we went the short way (57 miles) to Kayenta (the long way would have taken us along the edge of Monument Valley, and would have been 103 miles - in the heat). Once we got in, we took a tour bus to see Monument Valley, which was a good thing as we would not have been able to ride our road bikes on the dirt / pothole ridden roads in the park. The bus had an awesome air conditioning system, with the fan reaching a top speed of 60 mph! (No windows).

Cortez, CO

Today was a short day, but we got an early start as we had to be out of the church by 6:15 for the Men’s club (we are flexible and work with our host sites to minimize any inconvenience). After Angela got a flat before leaving the parking lot, we waited for her to change it (and use the floor pump). We rode over to the Bread (not bombs) Bakery to join up with other riders for a morning coffee break – hey it was a good 0.1 miles away. After everyone left, we hung out for our 15 minute buffer before hitting the road. Lunch was at a local park, which had some shade trees just off the highway (and we devoured some of the awesome chicken left over from Emily’s aunt and uncle). The ride was fairly straight forward, a couple of climbs initially, and then some fun descents. Thanks to the joy of drafting, Michelle was able to not shift gears the entire afternoon. Several riders stopped at a trading post to pick up friendship bracelets. A couple of riders (David G, Ana, Cole) decided to take a 40 mile detour to Mesa Verde – more power to them. We were able to shower at the middle school before hitting up Pizza Hut for dinner (Thanks Ben’s mom). It was wonderful staying at Trinity Lutheran Church, where we were able to sleep anywhere in the lower level and take full advantage of the a/c on a hot day. We had our weekly townhall meeting where everyone unveiled our new t-shirts – light blue with a picture of Cole Emde (our resident bike mechanic expert) and a saying of “The Cole-alition”. On the back, was the Bike and Build logo and the words “Running on Cole Power” “NC2SD – 2008”. Special thanks for the shirts goes to Daven – designing the shirt, Dave G – placing the order, Scott W’s dad – coming up with the idea, Claire – organizing…it was a team effort. The night ended with a viewing of Anchorman, in anticipation of our arrival in San Diego in 2 weeks.

Down the Mountain we go

Dennis and I on the descent - to give you an idea of the amazing views...of course I was more focused on the road as we were going 40mph plus down the mountain (we had to slow down for a motorcycle!).

Ouray

The sights were unbelievable, probably the most beautiful scenery of the trip. Another century, which was great for the 1^st half, but the last 30 miles the road was not conducive to biking. Ouray is an awesome town and the 1^st Presbyterian Church was great. We had ice cream at the local ice cream shop before our dinner crew prepared an amazing dinner – at this point, almost any food is good. I also was heading back to the church when Maura asked if I wanted to get ice cream – sure, why not get seconds? While at the ice cream shop, we were talking with a resident who said the climb up Red Mountain was nearly impossible – sounds like a challenge to me.

Gunning for Gunnison

We woke up at were treated to an all you should eat breakfast by the Optimist Club of Buena Vista – I had 4 pancakes and 2 glasses of OJ. The ride today was challenging, as we climbed from 6,700 ft up to 11,312 feet – Monarch Pass, which is part of the continental divide. The ride was not that bad – 6% for 14 miles, but only because all of the riding has gotten us into biking shape. A couple of riders even stopped for a quick snowball fight. We had lunch at the top of Monarch Pass, and Angela treated everyone to a cup of hot chocolate. Despite the dark clouds, I decided it was time to continue the ride and went down the mountain at 40+ mph. The rain clouds decided to let loose and the rain started to fall, making the descent chilling. My teeth were chattering and my hands were shaking – not good when the hands are controlling the steering. I also had to be careful on turns as the road gets slick with the rain (and all the gas / oil on the road). I made it to the gas station at the bottom of the mountain, to see the thermometer reading 58 degrees. I went inside to warm up, and after another hot chocolate at 40 minutes, we continued our ride – really pushing hard to stay warm and get to Gunnison. We stopped at the Sonic in Gunnison (Happy Hour 2-4) before making our way to the high school for showers and dinner. David, Renee and Dennis then headed to a local bar for a drink and a game of shuffle board. Since we could not shut off the emergency lights in the gym, it was the perfect time to sleep with a t-shirt covering my eyes.

Leaving Buena Vista in the morning, with the Collegiate Peaks in the background.

On to Buena Vista

David and I in Garden of the Gods

Maura and I racing at McDonald's (note that we are wearing helmets)

Today we started our next century (100 mile ride) by going thru Garden of the Gods – it was awesome and we spend a lot of time there, which partially caused such a late arrival. I stopped at the McDonalds in Woodland Park to fill up on water and also took a ride on the bike in the playground. We had some good climbs and stopped at the National Park visitor station for some lemonade and water, courtesy of the VFW. We continued on our way and was lucky enough to avoid the storm before reaching Buena Vista. The members were so nice, but I was so tired and was fighting to stay awake. Ted told us of several great things to do, but I was too tired to acknowledge them. Dinner was great – lasagna, salad and brownies and I got to bed at 8:30 – a sign that the lack of sleep was starting to catch up.