Notes From The Common Man: June 18 update

This morning We slept late, didn't get up till 5:30 and went to breakfast at 6:30 at the restaurant next door. Although it is Sunday, the lady who owns the restaurant opened up just for the cyclists in town. There were about ten of us, some racers and some like us going west.

We pulled out of Eads around 7:30 with a light breeze behind us and temperature so cool I wore a jacket. We spent most of the morning rolling up and down long easy hills with either a tail wind or a cross wind. The land really had a western feel to it. In sixty miles we only saw a few houses and passed through two small communities where nothing was open. The sky was a pure light blue with some gray cloud banks early which turned into high fluffy clouds later in the morning. About 25 miles into the ride we spotted Pikes Peak barely visible in the distance. As we got closer to Ordway it loomed larger and you could see snow on the peaks. The peak must have been at least 100 miles away when we first saw it. The terrain between Eads and Ordwayis mostly grassland with small sunflowers, primrose, and some kind of squash plant in bloom, and large sunflower plants not yet in bloom. We ride alongside a railroad track almost the entire way, with low telephone poles with the glass insulators, but no wire beside the track. About 30 miles into the ride we saw a section about 100 feet long where the tracks had been washed out. It was only then that we realised that the tracks had been abandoned for years.

We got into Orway about 1:00 and checked into the Ordway Hotel and then went to lunch at the Sand and Spurs Restaurant. A little later, Pat and I checked out the local pulse at the Columbine Bar. I took a few pictures today. I hope I can get them posted below.