Day 31:
Last night I had set my tent up under the pavilion. It seemed a sweet deal as there were fans which sent a nice breeze through my tent. I feel asleep quickly as I was exhausted after biking 134 miles that day. Around 4:00 I woke up to the walls of my tent flapping. A strong wind was blowing. Since I was on concrete I didn’t stake my tent so I was slowly being dragged across the floor. I wasn’t about to move to the grass so I got up and dragged my tent around to the other side of the building. That way the building was blocking most of the wind. It immediately got quite and I settled in to go back to sleep for another hour. Not even 2 minutes pass and Ellen also drags her tent around the side of the building to get out of the wind. I ask her if everything is okay and the wind blew her around so much her tent poles snapped. I had plenty of room in my tent so I told her to leave hers alone and get some sleep while you can. It was a good thing too that we shared a tent because it got really cold.

It felt like seconds before my alarm went off at 5. Ellen was already gone so I got up, packed up and everyone headed back to the gas station where we had dinner the night before. Everyone was pretty excited as the Colorado border was only 15 miles away. A new state! We got to the border in no time chanting ‘new state, new state’. Everyone took turns taking pictures with the sign. I even climbed up to sit next to it. I think it was harder getting down than up. It was another 15 miles to the next town called Lake Sheridan. Since we were in a new state I had a lot of energy and made short work of it. The next town was another 30 away so after taking a break we headed back out. The first 10 miles we stayed together but the wind picked up again and it was everyone for themselves. I wasn’t about to waste all my energy powering through it so I took my time and caught up with everyone in Eads. We had meant two older bikers that morning and they were staying in Eads so we said goodbye to them. Now we were at a crossroads. It was 22 miles to the next town called Haswell or another 60 to a town called Ordway. We wanted to be in Pueblo the next day so we could either do two 80 mile days or a 120 mile day then a 50 mile day. I was all for the 120 then 50. It was decided. I headed off with Brent to make the first 22 miles go faster. He typically bikes faster than me but sometimes I can get a groove and keep up. I got into it and made it to Haswell in an hour and a half. There was on gas station and everything looked really unappealing and expensive so I just bought a can of coke and ate a Clif bar. I forgot to mention I found carrot cake Clif bars! I only see them when I get off the east coast so I was excited to eat them. It was already 3:30 and we had 40 miles left. I headed out around 4 and about five miles in I called my dad to see what he was up too. 

Sometime later the road became really smooth. It was a nice break from the crappy roads we had been on. The road was also lined with tens of thousands of sunflowers. Although they weren’t traditional sunflowers. They were a lot smaller but still pretty nonetheless. I caught up to Ellen and we chatted the next 30 miles away. In Ordway we ran into two Irish cyclists that were headed east. We all headed to a local store that seemed to be the only thing opened. I ate chicken finger with curly fries for dinner. Even though I biked 120 miles that day I wasn’t that hungry and didn’t finish half my food. Everyone seemed to be really tired and cranky so we headed over to the city park. There weren’t any bathrooms and sprinklers kept going off in random places. I’ve had bad experiences with sprinklers so I set my tent up under a raised stage-like area. Ellen wanted a shower and real bed so she headed down the street to a motel. The mosquitos had lessened a bit but I still didn’t waste anytime getting my tent set up. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep. 
Day 32:
Since we’d been pushing for miles today was going to be a half day. It was 50 miles to Pueblo Co. The Nicholas family and Ellen had friends in Denver they wanted to go visit. Evan also wanted to visit his Dad and brother in Denver. So the plan was to get to Pueblo as fast as possible then drive the motorhome to Denver. I had no desire to go to Denver nor did Brent. So our plan was to get to Pueblo and hang out for the day. It was a city of 100,000 people so I figured I could find something to do. 

Wake up was at 4:30. I was definitely half asleep when we rolled out of town. I ate an awake granola bar as we were riding. Mark and Jolee were booking it and soon rode out of sight. I hung back with Ellen for some conversation. The terrain wasn’t hilly but it was definitely getting there. I could see the Rockies silhouette in the background so that was cool. There was no way we were going to get to pueblo by 9. Since Ellen wanted to go to Denver with the Nicholas family the motorhome picked her up and I continued to pueblo alone. It didn’t take me much longer and ran into Brent outside the bike shop just as they were opening. I told them I just needed a check up and nothing was really wrong with it that I knew of. They informed me a needed a new chain which didn’t really surprise me with all the climbing and what not. So a very expensive half hour later I was all good to go. Brent and I headed over to a coffee shop that was recommend to us. I explored coffee drinks further and offered a chocolate something and a egg bagel. The coffee wasn’t as good as McDonald’s but I needed the caffeine after waking up so early. We scoped out a place to stay (the lake pueblo state park). Since we practically had the whole day to kill we looked up things to do in pueblo. Pueblo was such a large city it seemed like everything was at least 3 miles away. There was a movie theater but I didn’t see anything interesting that was playing. The city park looked cool and there was a zoo so we headed there. There was a 12 dollars admission fee but the lady let me in for free! I hadn’t been to a zoo in such a long time. It was nice to walk around and not worry about biking anywhere. I was glad we were done for the day as it was getting really hot. The animals seemed to be feeling it as well. Most were sunning themselves or laying in the shade. The zoo wasn’t that big so I was done walking around at 2:30. With nothing else to do I biked back into town. I asked the visitor center what else there was to do. They gave me a list of suggestions. I ended up doing the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk trial and then going to the natural history museum of Pueblo. The museum was really small and lots of native American artwork. I started getting hungry so I got some good. The wind starting picking up and I could see some dark clouds in the distance. I texted Brent to let him know I was heading to the campground. Just outside of town we regrouped to bike to the campground. Just as we got there the wind picked up and I shouted to Brent I was going to wait in the visitor center. The checkin building seemed to be on the other side of the campground. It was a good thing we stopped because at that point the sky opened up and it started pouring. The visitor center was closed so we huddled under the ledge. It didn’t look like it would last long. The rain stopped as quickly as it started but it then decided to hail. This was the first time I’ve been caught in hail. I didn’t really expect come across it so I was surprised. At least it wasn’t really hitting me. The sky looked like it was snowing. After the rain stopped we headed over to reserve a spot. The motorhome and rest of the crew was still in Denver so I had a lot of time to kill. The campground set on the edge of a lake so I went over to the marina and borrow a book to read. It was a nice way to end the day. Around 7 the motorhome called us to tell Brent and I they wouldn’t get to the campground until 9:30. This wouldn’t have been a problem but they had all my stuff. Eventually the sun started to set. I walked out on the dock and sat for 45 minutes. It slowly sank beneath the horizon. I sat criss-cross applesauce on the edge of the deck. I think I would rank this as one of the most peaceful times of my life. I had no obligations. No where to be and nothing mattered but watching the colors change in the sky. Once the sun had sunk I suddenly became aware that it had also taken its warmth with it. I headed back up to our campsite. The motorhome was still an hour away and I debated on weather to wait in the bathroom. I was still in my bike outfit from the morning. Just then our neighbor came over and asked if we needed anything. It was nice to talk to them and swap stories. After they retired they decided to buy and R. V. and travel around the U. S. It really started to get cold so they invited us over to share their fire. I was extremely grateful as I don’t like the cold. It has also started to rain again so we ducked under the picnic shelter. The motorhome finally showed up and I wasted no time getting into bed. The campground had showers but I was too tired to take advantage of it. The motorhome leaves tomorrow so that means I have to carry my stuff again. We’ll hit the Rockies so while I’m looking forward to the scenery, I’ll be climbing all day tomorrow. I’m currently at 4700 and Guffey (our end destination) is at 8600 feet.