On the road again...

Aaron, Mrs. Irene Lambert, Les, and Mr. Russ Lambert

Day 16: Colorado Springs to Boone, CO

It is truly amazing to have had the opportunity to meet the people we have on this trip.  In Colorado we were able to stay with at least five different families (or at least houses), and all treated us with exceptional generosity.  Just like the Henke's (John and Judy), Mr. Russ Lambert and his wife Irene made us feel like we were their sons.  Truly, words cannot express just how generous and loving they were to us in providing us a place to stay, a shower, INCREDIBLE pancakes and coffee, a place to go to church, and even lunch for the road.  Sincerely, THANK YOU to the Henke's and the Lambert's for their incredible love and hospitality.  You have made a couple weary travelers feel very loved!

After church and another opportunity for a short rest, we were off to the roads again, refreshed and ready for another week of riding.  The Lambert's fixed us some sandwiches, crackers and trail mix to go, so we were good for majority of our Sunday ride.  Our plan was to go down to Pueblo, CO and relax for a bit, then hit a Safeway (these stores have become our best friends), and then cruise another 15-20 miles to Boone, CO (which we found to literally be the "boonies" and this is probably where the expression came from!).

Les stops to smell the roses, just as Mr. Lambert told us to do!

But of course, no tour would be complete without a flat tire along the way.  These things happen and we have found that the best thing to do, especially when you have head wind and are already annoyed with your ride, is to laugh it off.  Les and I joked about a number of different things and before we knew it we were on the road again.  The culprit this time: a shard of wire.  If you have ever ridden on an interstate or have done any kind of long distance cycling, then you may have discovered a little wire that made it through your tire and through your tube.  They are quite strange to find, because why in the world would their be little wires in the road?  Well, these actually come from shredded semi-truck tires which carry little pieces of wire to ensure their sturdiness.  Ironically, however, many tire shreds can be found all over the place and many times they target the poor scrawny tires of cyclists.

The ultimate "ahh man!" moment

I laughed later, I promise!

Geared up to rob a train...i guess

After a nice rest in Pueblo we headed up the road.  We took our time and weren't in any hurry (hence the photo above--we just had to do it since so far in this blog I have been called a train-robber). 

A little more stealth camping

Not to our surprise, there was nothing in Boone.  That is an overstatement--there were two houses and a murky river running through it.  Needless to say, les and I found a place just past town to set up our tent.  It was right behind a tree but well covered from any cars, not, however, from the view of the 5 trains that passed us that night.  Man, it was like they were blowing their horns through this ghost town just because they saw a tent set up nearby.  Maybe it is in the conductor handbook to blow your horn when your see a couple campers, but truly, it was ridiculous.  If they knew we looked like terrifying train robbers, equipped with 44mm banana-guns, they would probably think otherwise.  But that's what we get for camping right next to the tracks I guess (though in this 4+ populated town we didn't have very many other options).  Also, the wind was fierce, so setting up our tent proved to be a challenge, but you know, it was actually kind of fun.  We staked our homemade home down in the midst of powerful wind and pulled off having dinner inside too!  All was well.

Here's the wind pushing on the top of our tent.  Also, note the ridiculously great amount of room we have! (kidding, obviously)

Hope to post again tomorrow about today's ride into Eads, but bear with us.  We were lucky to find a library in Eads that is streaming wifi from its concrete walls and into the surrounding neighborhoods.  Maybe in Kansas we won't be quite as lucky {*blessed* les edit}.

Until then!

So why the heck was that bike worth $72,ooo ??? The answer may not surprise you, but it may possess a certain kind of intrigue that might make you want to change the world...too. The cycling shop owner in Colorado Springs, CO commuted everywhere around town for 25 years (eventually it would be a commute to the cycling shop). His bike, an old, 70's schwinn, was nothing to shoot sticks over, but over a quarter of a century he saved $72,ooo by NOT buying gas. Not only that, but he saved hundreds of pounds of carbon monoxide from entering the city's atmosphere. It only took one man to accomplish all this. What can you do???