August 1, 2008

It's Thursday afternoon already and we are in Minden, Nebraska. Today's "century" (100 mile) ride was relatively easy. It sure helped to finally have a fairly strong tail wind. If it had been a cross wind or head wind, the trip would have been really difficult as we are in the midst of a massive heat wave out here. The temperature today was to be over 100 degrees (F) and I don't doubt it for a moment. It is blistering hot out there. I am sitting in the confines of an airconditioned restaurant that has wireless, enjoying a cool drink with Pete, Paul and Teresa. The internet at the school where we are staying is not up (again). Surprise! Surprise! It's kind of frustrating to say the least. Pete has been so kind as to lend me his laptop for a bit to catch up on our trip so far.

The week started off from Denver. What a wonderful weekend we had there, being treated royally by the people there. Monday saw us heading east to Fort Morgan, first of all along a thirty mile bicycle path. These paths are always very scenic but also very winding and so one has to be very careful not to go too fast and constantly be on the lookout for oncoming cyclists and pedestrians, not to mention potholes and posts put right in the middle of the pathway. The last thing I need is to hit one of those.

After briefly getting lost (again- a daily occurence it seems when John is navigating). I'm beginning to think he does it on purpose so that we can talk to some of the local people and ask directions and then share with them what we are all about. Actually, John does a super job. We would probably take more "detours" more often if he weren't in the lead.
Soon we were out into the countryside. It was such a surprise to actually be heading out into the prairies, so flat with the occassional rolling hill. We could see the mountains rising tall into the skyline behind us. It was hard to believe that we had actually crossed them only days earlier. Part of me was feeling kind of sad to see them behind us. Another, bigger part of me was feeling relieved. After four weeks in the mountains and crossing seven major passes, four within the last week, I had had enough of climbing, thankyou very much.

Monday was going super well and we were making very good time together, that is until near tragedy struck. We were some twenty miles out of Ft. Morgan travelling along the interstate (which was for the most part much cleaner than most interstates). Most of the major highways are littered with broken truck tire rubble that can cause a flat in seconds, as well as sand and grit that seems to make it's way over to the edge of the road. We had just crested a hill and were starting to go down the other side when there was a major piece of rubble (actually a heavy, plastic lid that had fallen off of some truck) right in our path. Following each other closely, it is difficult for the riders farther down the line to see what is ahead. With heavy traffic creating a lot of noise and a headwind to boot, made it very difficult to quickly send the message down the line, that could be heard by everyone. Unfortunately Cynthia did not see the lid in time and caught the edge, throwing her off the bike onto the side of the road.

We all quickly stopped and ran back to where she was lying. Right away we sensed it was far more serious than the visible signs (scrapped chin knee, etc. Right away she started to complain about her sore inner thigh. She was conscious and quite alert initially though a few minutes later she was quite "groggy" and having difficulty answering questions. A car pulled over immediately (they had witnessed the accident) and Sarah who providentially was an emergency worker was able to tend to Cynthia. An ambulance was immediately called and within ten minutes police, fire and ambulance were at the scene. A lane of traffic was blocked while they administered care and put her on a stretcher, then took her to the hospital at Ft. Morgan. (Having a great sense of humour, Cynthia was able to joke later in the hospital that she was the first one in that day as we were camped right across the road from the hospital where they took her).
X Rays determined that she had fractured her pelvis as well as had a concusion. Her trip across the continent was suddenly over.
Needless to say, we all felt horribly sad for her. She was such an integral part of our cycling group, so fun to be with and such a great cyclist. She had prepared so hard for this tour and was looking so forward to "doing it." The physical pain and length of time to heal will be difficult but the dealing with the mental part will be equally hard. Please pray for Cynthia as she deals with both. One thing she has going for her is that she is in very good shape and should heal more quickly.

Our group was able to visit with her immediately as soon as we cycled into camp as well as later that evening before we went to sleep. Family had been contacted (her husband Ralph had just departed from Denver after having flown out to see Cynthia for the weekend). Travel arrangements were also made as doctors indicated that she would be able to leave the next day.

Early the next morning we were able to see her again and say our goodbyes. That was really hard for us and for Cynthia. My prayer is that she will be able to see that though the cycling part is over the story is much bigger than the pedalling. Many, many people will be helped with the money she was able to raise and I know that she will touch many others even with her injury. She has certainly made a deep impact on myself and the rest of our cycling group. Our prayers are with you Cynthia. We think of you every day.

On Tuesday, we left Ft. Morgan and headed for Wray, some 145 km. away. As we progressed the land began to change from dry, desolate, sagebrush that has been such a constant theme for much of our trip through the interior, into cropland, particularly corn and cattle. In fact, as we neared Wray there were several huge feedlot operations, one of the largest in all of Colorado being just outside of the town. It smelled like it too, especially in the heat. It seemed that every second truck was a cattle truck. One of them was passing a car heading our way (we were on the shoulder), and just as it met us one of the cows inside had to go pee and guess what; we got an unexpected shower of you know what. As if we didn't have enough salt on our faces from the sweat.

Fortunately that evening we stayed in a well treed park to help us escape a bit from the sun. The pool downtown and showers were also a great treat.

Wednesday promised to be equally hot. It was also "sweep" day for Andy (deVries) and I. That meant that we would have to help serve breakfast, clean up camp and load up the truck before heading out. It also meant that we would have to stay behind everyone (hence the term sweep) and make sure everyone got in safely. I must admit that it is not one of my favourite jobs especially when the temperature is hovering near 100 degrees as the afternoon progresses. I do not handle heat very well. Andy and I were able to make a bit of a deal with some of the younger guys in our sweep team who hate getting up early in the morning. We would set up for breakfast at 6:00am and serve everyone while they would stay to load up the truck and be the last of the sweep team for the day. We jumped at the opportunity and so were able to hit the road by 8:oo am (instead of our 6:30 usual start). However, we were not complaining.

We made great time together, crossing into Nebraska an hour later. The farther we travelled west the more we ran into corn land. There are field of it everywhere it seems (very little soybeans). We passed a couple of ethanol plants along the way too, which might explain the amount of corn land.
We ate lunch at a little cafe called Grandma's Kitchen in a place called Stratton. That place is significant to me because most of my growing up years in Northwestern Ont. was in a little community called Stratton. I made sure I got a picture of that.
We arrived at McCook, a town of about 8000, at three which was pretty good given that it was almost a 150 km trip. By this time the heat was almost unbearable and the last twenty miles I was "dogging" it. My tongue felt like it was hanging on the ground. I don't know how those who come in later can handle it. One plus is that whoever is on sweep in our little cycling group, the rest of the group sets up our tents and so that was certainly a welcome treat.
After showers we headed uptown for a cold drink with a group of us. We walked into the place with our bikes in tow. Talk about turning a few heads. That kind of thing doesn't happen to often I'm sure. The place was packed. They had heard all about us (we had our sea to sea t shirts on). Right away they wanted to ask us about our trip and we started handing out cards, left right and center. Before we knew it the owner came over and the drinks were on him and a couple of other very generous patrons. The owner then came over and gave each of us a free T shirt and handed us a hundred dollar donation for Sea to Sea. A couple of other patrons also gave a donation and many more came over to talk to us. We couldn't believe the generous hospitality.
This morning, as mentioned earlier we had a hundred mile ride to do and the weatherman warned of intense heat (104 degrees) and so we hit the road early. But not before we stopped at a bakery called the Dutch Oven. The owner had heard about us coming into town and invited our group (the six or seven of us) to his shop for free donuts and coffee. What generosity again. It sure tasted good! He also made a point of bringing donuts up to the camp for everyone else too. So we had our sugar fix even before we started the journey. It was great!
In closing for now, I look back and can not believe how far we have travelled already. Yesterday marked the halfway point (counting the days that we have been on the road - four and a half weeks of the nine weeks we will be on the road). Tomorrow about 18 miles in our trip to York we will be hitting the half way point, mileage wise. The intense heat wave is supposed to be with us for a few more days. Pray that we will be able to bear it especially as the distances each day are significant. Amazingly, we have had only a half a day of light rain the entire trip so far and that was near the beginning of the journey. We have had well over 400 flats so far (I don't have the exact count though there is someone keeping track). Please pray for Cynthia, Tyler and Arnie as they recouperate from their injuries. I am doing well and continue to enjoy the trip immensely. Till next time.