I had a wonderful gift today - a tailwind! When I started cycling this morning the air was still, and I was hoping it stayed that way because I figured when the wind started blowing that it would be in my face. What a surprise to find that when the wind started a half an hour into my ride that it was a strong tailwind. That was a nice change of pace. I made it to Ordway by 1:30, an early end to the day for me. I considered continuing on to Pueblo, but that is another 50 miles from here. If the tailwind continued I'm sure I could have made it there, but 110 miles is a bit much for me, and I probably wouldn't have been too happy by the end of the day. And of course there was no guarantee that the wind wouln't shift. The morning was overcast until about 11, so the heat held off until then. It was 98 degrees when I pulled into Ordway, hot but not humid. I rode through a couple of light rain showers this morning, light enough that I didn't even really get wet. I know they need the rain here, but I'm happy not to be riding in the rain.
Ordway is far enough for today, and I have a pretty cool place to stay. The Hotel Ordway has bikers rooms and regular rooms. The biker rooms have a bed and a sink, no linen or towels, and shared bathrooms. They cost $10. That's where I thought I'd end up, but then I found out that the regular rooms with linens, towels, air conditioning, and a private bathroom were only $21. I've only seen one other person (not a biker) here tonight, and shared bathrooms don't bother me at all - but I thought it would be nice to sleep on sheets instead of my sleeping bag. $21 is still dirt cheap for a place to stay! The lobby has green plants and a bunch of comfy chairs too - a good place to write my journal... I talked to Madelyn (the owner) for a bit when I came in. The Austrian group that is ahead of me stayed here last night. No mention of the other group, so maybe they did make it to Pueblo last night. Then again, they may have camped on the side of the road again.
Before she took me up to see the room, Madelyn handed me a glass of ice water. She definitely knows cyclists. And I really like her hotel. I wish there was a place like this in every town. It's simple and clean and it has a lot of character.
When I checked in Madelyn said "good, you made it", and handed me a note from Bob - the motel owner from Tribune. I saw him on the road this morning. He was driving to Canon City to visit his mom. He stopped when he passed me on the road and we talked for a while. When he passed through Ordway he left a note here for me with his mother's phone number, and an invitation for lunch or dinner when I ride through Canon City. I'll have to give him a call when I get there. I don't know if he'll still be there, probably depends on how many days I end up staying in Pueblo. I was really surprised when Madelyn said she had a note for me because I didn't think anyone knew I'd be here today. But of course Bob knew because we'd talked about it, and he made sure that I knew about this hotel. I did know about it because it's listed both in the Adventure Cycling maps and in the Donna Ikenberry book, plus two of the cyclists I met over the last couple of days stayed here, and both of them mentioned it to me.
Ordway is a slightly larger town than the towns I stayed in the last two nights - Eads and Tribune. They actually have a real grocery store, definitely a treat. I was able to pick up some food for dinner, including fresh fruits and vegetables. That's what I miss the most on this trip - ready access to good produce. And ready access to good bread. And I actually had a bit of a Gatorade crisis today. The store in Eads had very little selection of anything. They had Powerade and All Sport drinks, but not Gatorade. I prefer Gatorade, I can tolerate Powerade, and I can't drink All Sport (it tastes like they just dumped vitamins in it). Unfortunately I don't like all of the flavors of the different drinks. The only flavor of Powerade they had was lemon-lime, which is one of the flavors I don't like (even in Gatorade). I bought it anyway and forced myself to drink it because I knew I couldn't get through 60 miles without it. Luckily the grocery store here has a good selection of Gatorade, so I've already stocked up for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be better than the last 2 days from a services standpoint since there are a couple of stores or cafes along the route. They are all very early in the day though, so I'll still have a good 30 to 35 miles without services. I'll have to get used to that though because there are some days in the mountains where there won't be anywhere to stop at all.
I made a brief stop in Haswell to stand up and stretch for a few minutes. While I was there in the city park, a couple of RVers stopped to stretch their legs too. They were headed home to Scott City, KS from a vacation in Colorado. It turns out that they live next to the city park in Scott City, so they meet a lot of the cyclists who pass through there. City park camping is allowed and free through the midwest, so quite a few of the people who ride the Transam end up staying in parks. It may not be generally allowed, but many of the cities allow cyclists to camp. All they ask is that you check in with the police.
I saw two more deer this morning. I think they are teasing me because they stand still until I'm just about ready to take their picture and then they bound off before I can get a shot. These two were standing under a low railroad bridge. It would have been a cool picture - guess I'll just have to keep it in my head. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to catch a deer with my camera. And then again, maybe not!
