Day 65 – 80 Miles

Scott City, KS to Sheridan Lake, CO

Total Miles: 3640

We got a pleasant little surprise yesterday afternoon after we got our camp set up in the park. The local pastor, Kyle, came by and told one of the guys that we could go and set ourselves up for the night in one of the buildings the church owned in town. We were kind of hesitant at first because he described it as an “old carpet store” and we’d already kind of set up shop in the park. In the end we chose to roll the dice and head over, if only for the hope of sleeping in an air conditioned building instead of a hot tent. When we got over there and walked in my first thought was, “Why the hell would he describe this place as an old carpet store?”. I mean, sure, it’s probably a factually accurate statement but holy crap if it didn’t blow all of our expectations out of the water. The church had completely renovated this “carpet store” into like a youth hangout place, it had a full kitchen, pool table, foosball table, air hockey, bathrooms and showers, just everything a cyclist (or local youth) could possibly need.

The plan for today was a short 48 miles ride so we decided last night that it would be ok to go out for a few drinks. We went to this really great Mexican restaurant and I convinced Sebastien to get the giant margarita with me and when they say giant, they mean fucking giant! It was really tasty even though they must have put about a half bottle of tequila in each one. It was a great end to a great day, just sitting around chatting and drinking. The next time we all go out to eat, though, I’m going to have to pull some kind of sneaky maneuver and give the water my credit card before we even order as one of the guys, Michael, paid for everything on the sly. We were all stuffed to the gills with delicious food so, naturally, we stopped by the Dairy Queen for some ice cream before heading back to the carpet store. Yummy yummy in my fat little tummy 🙂

We’re like a biker gang or something

I woke up a little later than usual today, around 5:30, packed up Forrest and we all headed to Daylight Donuts for some breakfast and, of course, some donuts! I got a Fruity Pebbles covered cake-like donut and a breakfast sandwich and after finishing them all I could think of was ordering more of those delicious things. But, no, I showed some self control for once. We set out at 7:30 for the town of Tribune an easy 48 miles away, the first 20 miles was the same as the last 150, just flat and full of nothing. The wind was blowing against us but nothing too crazy, besides, line riding really cuts out the suck of windy days as you only spend a mile out of every 5 out in front and taking the full face punch from it. We stop at the 20 mile mark at a convenience store to use the bathroom and for James to get a…… Orange juice. I know, surprising, right? No Mountain Dew?! It’s because they didn’t have any. None. What the hell kind of shit hole business do they think they’re running? Whatever.

Lots of flats on the last day in Kansas

The next about 28 miles we started to see some changes in the scenery, nothing spectacular but there were a few tiny hills to break up the monotony of that evil road. We arrived in Tribune 10:00, thanks to our shift backwards into Mountain Time, and headed to the city park where we planned on camping. It did not look that nice. No, that’s not quite right. It looked like some dilapidated horror movie set where a bunch of resurrected children stab hapless trespassers at night. Also there were no bathrooms or running water. A guy we met yesterday had told us about a church a ways up the road in the tiny town of Sheridan Lake that opened their doors to passing cyclists. We had had a such a great experience with the church from yesterday we decided to press on another 32 miles and turn this relatively short day into a long one. We stopped in at a convenience store to get some ice for the bottles and set out into the 100 degree heat.

I wonder how this got it’s name?

15 miles into our last leg we arrived in a NEW STATE!!! Colorado prepare for huge does of James and his Bike! As hard as it may be to believe, Eastern Colorado is somehow more desolate than Kansas. Kansas at least had some green things growing all over, it seemed like everything within line of sight from the road was dead. And it was fucking hot. Not like that disgusting, muggy Southern heat thank god but a ceaseless, burning dry heat. The only good thing to it seems to be that when you sweat, it actually helps to cool you like nature intended instead of just pooling all over your clothes and body and being of no help. The only thing that kept me going was the ice water I had filled up on earlier, it was cool to drink but even better to squirt all over my face and clothes. We arrived in Sheridan Lake at about 2:00 and headed over to the church we had heard about, the lady at the only store in town had told us that they leave it unlocked for all the passing cyclists. It’s amazing how trusting all these little towns are to random travelers, amazing and awesome. Tomorrow is gonna be another long day, about 90 miles so we’re gonna wake up even earlier -___- Stay tuned for the next edition of James and his Bike!

So strong..
The gang. We got a passing truck driver to take the photo for us

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Too Drunk; Didn’t Read (TD;DR)

-James gets a bit toasty on a MegaMarg

-Carpet store is an extremely misleading name

-Children’s playgrounds can be creepy as fuck

-Colorado looks shittily similar to Kansas so far

-Also, fuck Kansas

-Churches are awesome. If only I could find a One True Turtle church to stay in.

Screw this sign!

3 Replies to “Day 65 – 80 Miles”

  1. Looking good son
    Miss you but glad you’ve got some new friends.

  2. Ur such a hunk!!Ur getting closer to us ands I love it!!!

  3. Danielle says:

    NEW STATE! Yay!!! I can’t believe you’re already in Colorado! And who doesn’t sell mt. dew? But orange juice is better for you anyway ?

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