40 km. Brantford Ontario 15C sunny May 4
26 km. Springfield Illinois 79F hazy May 6
102 km. Albuquerque New Mexico 70F sunny May 9
94 km. Grand Junction Colorado 60F sunny May 10
Colorado National Monument. This National Park sits on a 2,000 ft mesa with an entrance on either end. I have biked eastbound through the park a number of times in the past couple of years, a climb of 2,215 ft. with a 5% average grade. West bound is much tougher, with an average grade of 8%. Today I biked both directions for a total of 4,200 ft. vertical climb, starting at 4,480 feet above sea level climbing to 6,695 ft., down to 4,580 ft. and back again. A very tiring, but gratifying day. I am often asked why I am always pushing myself physically. My simple answer is "Because I can." I am always grateful to God that at my age I can still manage to enjoy His creation in so many ways. (My own little secret is that that not so many years ago I was a 340 lb. couch potato)
161 km. Denver Colorado 75F sunny May 11
I was feeling a bit down spending Mother's Day out on the road, away from my wife Elaine, the wonderful mother of my three children, but to make the best of a bad situation, I celebrated by doing a "century" ride! Denver has a wonderful system of bike paths, many hundreds of miles of paved trails connecting all sections of the city. There were literally thousands of cyclists out today. I've never seen so many bikes of all kinds in one place.
20 km. York Nebraska 73F sunny and windy May 12
53 km. Prairie Duneland Trail, Portage Indiana 73F sunny May 13
50 km. Brantford Ontario 19C sunny May 15
53 km. Brantford Ontario 9C cloudy May 16
55 km. Waterloo Indiana 55F sunny May 2072 km Troy Illinois 60F sunny May 21
57 km. Erick Oklahoma 78F sunny May 22
Erick Oklahoma is a decaying town on old Route 66, looking exactly like scenes directly out of John Stienbeck's "Grapes of Wrath"
Anyone had a Nehi Soda lately?
Erick Oklahoma is also the hometown of Roger Miller, whose signature song was "King of the Road" I wonder if this motel has "Rooms to let for fifty cents"?
50 km. Pecos Texas 98F sunny May 23
211 km. Albuquerque New Mexico 74F partly sunny May 24
This was my longest ride ever and when I got back to my truck after nine hours of cycling, tired but feeling pretty good about my self, I didn't unclip properly and down I went. As I lay sprawled across the motel parking lot, my euphoria about my accomplishment that day evaporated in a moment's inattention. An old saying that I have heard a number of times came to mind. "Those that the gods would humble, they first make proud"
179 km. Albuquerque New Mexico 85F sunny May 25
54 km. Amarillo Texas 70F sunny May 26
52 km. Straffordville Missouri 78F mostly cloudy May 27
53 km. Burlington to Brantford Ontario 23C sunny May 29
