Buccs/Bucks on Bikes: Tuesday, July 6 – Day 23 – 72.9 Miles

We woke this morning in our hotel in Saratoga and had the support van transport us back to yesterday’s stopping point, Riverside. It quickly became obvious that it was going to be another windy day….and not in the direction that we wished for. Today, the wind was in our face, instead of yesterday’s crosswind. When we got to Kim and the kids in the support van, 28 miles into the day, we were only averaging 13 mph. It’s not that the day was physically terrible, it is more mentally taxing. To get the idea of what it is like, sit in your recliner and have 3 or 4 people sit at all angles around you (except at your back) and have them blow hair dryers (minus the heat) into your face for 6 hours. You can’t hear anything on the bike except for the non-stop, deafening sound of the wind in your ears. It just doesn’t stop. When you are riding at home, you do a loop ride, so for part of the ride you get favorable winds. Not so in point to point rides. I just peeled my contacts out of my eyes a few minutes ago and I believe my eyes are about to start making tears again. My favorite part of the day was when we came upon other bike travelers sitting on the shoulder, going in the opposite direction. We were about 30 miles into the ride at this time. One of the riders, whom I will call Captain Obvious, called out to us to warn us about the “vicious headwind”. I am glad he warned us, we would have really struggled without the heads up.

We stopped at the border as we headed into our 5th state, Colorado. We did not get a chance to get a Wyoming sign as we entered their state. It was in Yellowstone and all they had was a little marker. So, after we got our Colorado sign, we ran across the road and got the Wyoming sign. It was worded a little wrong, so the kids made a small change to it so that it fit our needs.

Kim and the kids did the support thing for us again today. The kids are really holding up well. I keep thinking that I will show up to the van and see them going nuts because they are cooped up, but they are finding things to do. Today, Nathan took off his shirt and painted his boobs with a pink highlighter. No problems here.

We had planned to tent at a campground tonight outside of Rand, Colorado. When we showed up, the mosquitoes were relentless. We waited in the van until Kim found someone to talk to about the sites. When she came back, Kim informed us that she managed to get a cabin out of the guy for 40 bucks. Kim rocks. We don’t have any running water, but we got showers and are sitting around in silence, reading and listening to music. It is the kind of relaxing that you can’t get at home because something is always distracting you at home. There is nothing that can distract you here. You are forced to relax. I don’t get to see Kim relax like this very often. I think we are going to watch a dvd on the computer later.

We will be moving further south tomorrow except for Kyle’s least favorite part of the day, where we head due WEST for 19.5 miles. He is a little put off by the fact that we are going AWAY from the Atlantic Ocean. Our plans are to camp at a USFS campground close to Heeney, on Green Mountain Reservoir.