October 14, Kit Carson, Colorado

Today was a fairly uneventful day, which is kind of nice for a change. I got up early–5:00 AM–so I could get on the road by 7:00. I accomplished that goal with no problem at all. However, before I could get even 2 blocks I noticed that me rear tire was flat. All I can think of is that I must have picked up another thorn somewhere. It took me 40 minutes to change the tire, because the valve failed in the first tube that I used. I ended up putting in a tube that I KNOW has a slow leak and will require me to repressure the tire every few days or so. I need to get some new tubes!

Downtown America

I wanted to get an early start to avoid the head winds that I was lead to believe would kick in at about 10:00 AM. Because of the delay, I was only 25 miles into a 63 mile ride when 10:00 AM came around. Fortunately, the winds were a little more to the west than predicted and I had a fairly easy time of the ride.

Biking on Highway 287 was fun! Since I had a crosswind, tumbleweeds blew in front of me consistently. The dry grass landscape may get old, but right now I think it is great.

Riding on a highway with no real hills and no head winds is also easy. 63 miles would have been very difficult in Europe. As it was, I got into town at Kit Carson by 2:00 PM, which left the afternoon for me to do some work.

I looked for a local police department, but could not find one. I generally find that checking in with local law enforcement is a good idea, when you are in a small town. Instead, I met the man who owns the liquor store (Mike) and asked him about camping locally. He suggested the city park and took me over to the bank where the person who could give me permission worked. This fellow called the county just to make sure, and as a result, I will sleep better. The whole town can agree on something, but the county sheriff operates independently.

So, I am currently in the park getting ready to set up my tent. Tomorrow I will head to Lamar, which is only 56 miles away. I may take a day off in Lamar to get some work done; we will see.

Cheers

Scott