DAY ELEVEN - THREE STATES, ONE DAY

Today was a very trying day. It did not start off right for sure. Let’s see, where to begin. I stayed at the Ward Bond Memorial City Park last night. It is conveniently located next to a very often used train track. And a couple very loud dogs just up the street. Once I tuned them out I went to sleep in my tent under one of the pavilions. It’s a nice park next to a pool that was closed. There was restrooms but no shower house. So, I took another spicket bath.

About midnite I heard the awfullest sound…the sprinkler system was going off! Actually, only half of it on one end of the pavilion. I hurriedly grabbed everything I had laying outside the tent and brought them in, except, my riding clothes which I had washed out and were trying to dry.

Once, back in the tent I got to thinking about when the other sprinklers would be coming on. My tent was on the far side so I figured it would get hit when they did. So, I up and moved it….not once, but about four times. The first half sprinklers rain for about an hour, then the second set came on and could still throw a little be of water on the tent. But I figured it would be dry by morning.

I was in the Mountain Time Zone now and was having a hard time figuring out how to set my alarm for an early start. I eventually set two alarms but didn’t know it. The first one went off a little bit too early then the second one went off too late. I remember seeing the sun shine in thru my tent window and thinking I had really blown it. So, I hurriedly got up and started throwing things on the bike. I was upset I had overslept.

When I was packing away the tent I noticed the foot print had a small hole in it. Then I saw a cocklebur under it. I was told Nebraska and Kansas was notorious for them. I had also noticed that my air mattress had seemed a little flatter last night and I suspect that it poked thru and got it as well.

I got everything loaded on the bike and slipped it off the stand and noticed something wrong. That’s just great…a flat front tire! The cockleburs had struck again. I pulled the wheel and check the tube at the hydrant with water and found the leak. Then I checked the tire and, sure enough, there was the thorn. Last night I had thought I had a rock under my shoe and tried to flick it out with my finger and got a big cockle thorn in my finger for my efforts.

I got the thorn mostly out but slipped a dollar bill in the tire to use as a boot just in case. I put a new tube in. I mounted the tire but could only get about 50 lbs of air in. These tires need 85 lbs. to carry the load. I saw an elevator next do so rode down and two guys helped me air them up with their compressor. Finally, down the road I went.

In about three miles I was out of Nebraska for good and into Kansas. I took a route that would hit Route 36 and that should take me almost all the way to Denver. Boy, there are some hills in Kansas! And, I got to walk up some of them too. I intersected Route 36 at Bird City. The next big town West was St. Francis and I stopped at a Sinclair to get some ice and water from their fountain machine. I filled three bottles plus drank a couple cups of sweet tea. After, I got down the road a ways I stopped and took a swig. Man! It was terribly bitter! Two out of the three bottles were so bad I couldn’t hardly drink them. But, they were the only ones with ice too.

After, I got out of Kansas I finally was in Colorado! It was vast, large and lonely out there. I stopped to talk with Pat on the phone and a couple on a three-wheeled motorcycle pulling a trailer stopped to see if I was ok. I said yes but could use some cold water if they had any. They gave me two bottles and wanted to make sure I was fine. I thanked them and they left.

By cutting out going to Wray CO. I saved about 5-6 miles off my original route plan. Plus, it was a little flatter, plus I had a tailwind when I headed West.

When I was almost at Joes Rest Area I saw the Liberty Baptist Church. I stopped to see about getting some water when the Pastor’s wife drove up. She showed me the water but was in a hurry to leave again. I thanked her and headed on down to the rest area about a mile away. When I turned in to the drive there was the Grassroots Senior Center. I stopped to check it out. A lady named Lori showed me around. I asked about Wifi and she said she didn’t know if it would work or not but I tried, and it did!

I did a quick clean up sink wash in the bathroom and started working on the blog. They close at 6:00 but have a staff meeting and others that would be coming in to play poker later. The pastor, Jack Stout, from the Liberty Baptist Church was in the staff meeting and Lori asked him about me staying at his church. He said yes I could stay in the basement and take a shower at the parsonage!! Lori even brought me a plate of food while I’m working on the blog. The church has Wifi too so maybe I can add some pics later unless I get too tired.

So, things did eventually get better today though the start was rough. Thanks for all your prayers.

Tomorrows destination – the Diedrich Dairy Farm outside of Byers.
Miles today - 86