Ooops...its been awhile

Well, I've been told that I have been dragging on the blog, and yes, that probably is true. For the most part, my Kansas days have looked like this.


We did make a fantastic lunch stop in the town of Great Bend, Kansas. They had a zoo, an old locomotive, and a car show. We spent some time checking out the lions and bears.



However, by the time we started cruising into eastern Kansas, things started getting more enjoyable. The winds died down, the rain stopped (for a day anyway), and the flat fields turned to green rolling hills.

Topeka was an fun town. We went to a Thai restaurant that we were told was the best between Topeka and Washington DC. It was good. I ate two bowls of rice and mucho curry. I haven't tried all of the Thai between Kansas and DC, but this may have been near the best.

After Topeka, we rolled into KC. This is a pretty cool city. Half is in Kansas, half is in Missouri. Pretty rad. We had dinner set up for us at Jared Allen's which is a sports bar named after a Chiefs player. Too bad he got traded to the Vikings recently. Anyway, his food was still good, and there was a music trivia game going on that we won. Sweeeeet.

Before bed, I had to investigate if there happened to be a chipotle or starbucks near by. As I was checking the sites for both establishments, the stars aligned. I discovered one of the most magical places on earth. A starbucks and a chipotle next to each other. I think I could live between these two buildings forever.


After having my fill of coffee and burritos, we had the fortune of getting tickets to the KC Royals game. I don't think the Royals are very good, and they lost 4-1 to the Orioles while only managing 3 hits. We still had a great time, and Chris did some heckling of Kevin Millar with phrases such as, "3 years ago you would have put that in play," and "Kevin, the Red Sox didn't want you because you are washed up." I think it got to him.



So after 108 miles, we are now in Sedalia, Missouri. We have a presentation in Jefferson City tomorrow so not much happening here on Friday night. I'll try to keep things updated more. A week from tomorrow we will be back in Columbus.

A Change in Weather

Yesterday, we left Denver early to continue our cross-country route from Pueblo. While we had been higher in the mountains the past few days, we had been riding under sunny skies and light winds. During our drive to Pueblo, the snow began to fall.



We stopped in Crowley, Colorado to give a presentation to high school students. Van, Bobby, and Anuj give a great talk, and the crowd was receptive. After, as we started to ride the wind began to pick up. We rode through 40 mph cross winds for 40 miles. Then as we headed into Eads, CO the wind turned into a tailwind, and we cruised into town at nearly 30 mph.

Today I was on support as the team headed from Eads, past the Kansas border, and into Leoti. The winds continued to give the riders difficulty, and by lunch, we decided it was no longer safe to ride with semi trucks and such passing so we loaded the bikes and finished the route by van. Since I was on support, I had the opportunity to stand on top of the vans to rack the bikes.



With our extra time, we decided to check out the local attractions in Leoti, KS. Let me say, there aren't very many attractions. We spent some time at the Great Plains Museum which had a surprisingly large collection despite this being such a small town. In the basement they had an retro town set up. I even got my picture taken with this motorcycle which would probably be easier to ride across the country than a bike.

We finished our day by eating at Charlie's Mexican Restaurant which happens to be one of the eight wonders of Wichita county. I'm not sure what all of the others are, but I'm sure they are just as phenomenal, but not as tasty.

Back to riding tomorrow as we set out for Ness City. The wind is still blowing pretty hard so let's hope things settle down a bit before morning.

Our Day in Denver

After cruising into Salida, we had a 109 mile into Pueblo the next day. This picture is from the tripod we made with our bikes, and if you look closely, in the background are the last snow capped peaks we will be seeing on the trip.

From there we loaded the bikes and drove up to Denver for our Global Health event on Wednesday. We were all pretty tired when we arrived at the assisted living center where we were staying for two nights. Fortunately, they had prepared chicken parmesan, salad and breadsticks for us. After three helpings, I decided to lay down for awhile before a night out in Denver.

We went to the Funky Buddha because it was close by and had some outdoor seating. It was Tuesday so there weren't too many people out, but we turned it into our bar and had a relaxing evening.

The next day we had a combined event with University of Colorado medical students at the Health Sciences Center. We did a ceremonial ride in and were treated to a Chipotle lunch. I realized at that time how much I had missed my chicken burritos with black beans. I had been eating the 'pote at least 2 times per week and had gone into some serious withdrawal after 4 weeks and nearly 1500 miles of riding sans burrito. I added some guac and salsa, and focused on nothing else except the deliciousness of the burrito for the next 2 minutes. Hopefully, we will be able to find some more chipotle before the ride ends, otherwise I may not make it.

The event went well overall. The last speaker was the most inspiring as she talked and showed a film about here obstetrical work in rural Peru.

Afterward, we went to the Handlebar Grill. This place was probably one of the coolest bars I have been to. It was decorated in cycling memorabilia included bike parts, jerseys, and signed pictures and posters. I heard Lance had been there just the night before. I was fortunate enough to meet up with Adam Loveland from my Swim and Racquet yard dog and Miami days. We were able to catch up over a few microbrews and enjoy the Handlebar. It sounds like he's living the life in Denver. Play on player.

The Mountain stages

We got booted from the church in Montrose early on Sunday morning due to their services beginning at 830 am. The day was to be challenging with two tough climbs was we traveled through part of Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. Both climbs took us over 9000 feet, and all of us were definitely pretty short of breath at the summits. As we descended, the support team picked a great spot for lunch overlooking a lake. I tried to keep warm by sticking my finger in the car's power outlet, and you can see the results below.

We cruised the rest of the day after lunch and ended up in Gunnison. We stayed at Western State College which I had never heard of but was pretty cool. They have a skatepark in the quad, and allowed us to eat at their all you can eat cafeteria. After my third plate of pizza and tacos, we gave a presentation of poverty and healthcare. Below is the school mascot, I think and a picture of the skatepark.


The trip from Gunnison to Salida included the climb that we had all been anticipating. We would be climbing several thousand feet over 9 miles to 11312 feet and passing over Monarch pass which is the continental divide. This was not only the highest elevation that we would reach but also represented our movement toward the Atlantic Ocean. The climb was continuous with no breaks, but in the end was very rewarding.



We descended quickly into Salida and made an immediate stop for Sonic. I chose to get an Oreo Sonic Blast which was delicious.

I was a little disappointed that I did not get the tater tots.

Support Day...

So today I was on support during our trip from Telluride to Montrose. Basically, I got to drive the van on the left in the picture and set up rest stops for the riders. I would normally be a little disappointed that I wasn't cycling, but my legs were thankful for an extra day of rest. After a fairly casual morning, the riders ate lunch at a bike shop in Ridgeway. We arrived in Montrose around 3 and headed for the library to do a lecture on healthcare access. Kel, Erin, and Ashley gave a solid presentation, and afterward, we went back to the church where we are staying for a stir fry dinner. I found a local coffee shop and am catching up on some internet business. More fun tomorrow as we head for Gunnison and then cross the continental divide on Monday.

T ride

Dolores was our first stop in Colorado. Our meeting spot after the ride was the Imagine Coffee shop where the Americano was just what I needed. We unloaded our trailer at the Dolores High School gymnasium and went to the Catholic Church in town to give a lecture about poverty and healthcare. Afterwards, a group of us went to nearby Cortez to visit their Super WalMart. I bought a bath towel because I left mine in Tropic, Utah and had been using my Patagonia R1 as a towel since that time. Wow, their clothing is so versatile, but for $3.86 I thought a towel would be a good investment. Plus, it was nicely striped.

The next morning we left Dolores for Telluride, Colorado. I had visited Telluride with the Miami Ski Club during my first year at Miami and remembered it being a pretty fun town. Along the way, we stopped in Rico for lunch. There was a coffee shop nearby so I decided to stop in and grab some java to warm up before the rest of our ride. After Rico, we climbed up and over Lizard Head Pass which was over 10,000 feet. The descent down was fast and windy at times, and I was glad to cruise into town and grab some real food.





Carissa and Katie made some delicious lasagna for dinner, and afterward, we went to the Last Dollar Saloon which is apparently a locals bar. The town is a little slow right now with it being in between seasons, but when Kelly Clarkson came on last night, the bar started rockin'.

This afternoon I left our condo in search of one of my favorite spots from my last visit, the bakery Baked in Telluride. I must say the pizza is as good as I remember.

We had our first celebrity sighting of the trip today with Katie Holmes walking down the street with Suri. She must have heard that a group of super sweet cyclists were coming through town, and she wanted to stop by and hear our presentation. Tom is not invited.

Our last day in Utah...

Tuesday we left Natural Bridges and headed toward Monticello, UT. This was one of the best days of riding so far. The most memorable part of the ride was a fast descent toward a small river. As we rode down, we could see a steep ascent on the other side of the river that followed a canyon wall. Then the road took a sharp left and went right through the rock face. Here is a picture on the other side where we had our rest stop.



Our ride continued with a stop in Blanding, UT. As we cruised into town I noticed that they had a dinosaur museum. A group of us quickly ate our lunches with hopes that we would have time to visit the museum before we left for Monticello. The museum did not disappoint. They had a nice collection of fossils and exhibits and I even got a picture with an allosaurus. Sweeeeet!



Just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, we arrived in Monticello to an amazing mexican dinner. I felt kinda sick after my third serving, but it just felt so right. There was a restaurant across the street from the church where we were staying called MD Cookhouse. With so many medical students on the trip, it must have been a sign. Anuj and I stopped over only to find out that they did karaoke on Friday nights. Only problem was it was Tuesday. We just couldn't let an opportunity such as this one slip away so we convinced them to set up the karaoke for our group. Kel and I started things off with "Picture" by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow. I must say, we both put a lot of emotion into that song. Anuj and I took it back to the streets with a killer version of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise." We nailed every verse and even did the chorus in the high pitched tone just like the original. In the end, the crowd was entertained and speechless. For an encore, we attempted "Ms Jackson" by OutKast. Wow, I didn't remember the verses being so fast. Anyway, we hit all the verses and with a little practice, this could be our best song.

The next morning, we left Monticello for Dolores, Colorado. After 18 miles or so we crossed the state line. There was a restaurant there with a buffalo that I tried to wrestle.