Day 21 It was nice to not be rushed this morning since I was only going to ride 56 miles to Lamar, CO. I awoke at 6:30am and was able to lie in my tent and take care of e-mail messages. I emerged from my tent to greet my awesome neighbors and head off to the K.O.A. shower then Rec Room for a FREE Sunday morning breakfast. It was great! They were accepting donations for Kids with Cancer so it was awesome to be able to bless them a bit with a donation.
I got back to camp and packed everything up. I got a picture of Gary, Megan and kids along with Jason and Kirsten and then pedaled off toward Lamar. About 10 miles outside of La Junta on Highway 50 there was a Rest Stop where FREE coffee and cold drinks were being served. I stopped in and met some awesome folks who do this each Memorial Day. They blessed me with lots of pink lemonade and ice!
Days earlier I had no need of ice but now that I was out of the mountains it was beginning to warm up. I filled my camelbak with ice and continued on.
I rode through Las Animas, CO and then Hasty, CO. In between all these small towns is nothing but flat land. You ride along with nothing and then all of sudden off in the distance you see something and then a bit later, small town. It's great to ride through them and see the folks that live there. As I do I begin to wonder, what is it that they do to exist in this small town? I usually take advantage of their small convenience store for some more fluids. In Hasty, CO I got to meet and chat with several folks from Hasty who were more than interested in where I was riding and why. The lady kept saying, "Well bless you." The sweet lady inside let me go to the back of the store to plug in my phone which was about dead. When I came back out to leave I told the ladies outside I hope they had a blessed day. They appreciated that.
The wind and heat made my sweet, short ride to Lamar more than I anticipated. I am glad that I had the time to stop from time to time to rest and refresh. I think it was more refreshing mentally than physically. I don't think I was on my game today but I kept pressing on. Finally as I approached Lamar the wind began to push me. I was really glad for this as I passed a Stockyard, what a smell!
I found the Lamar Sportsman Campground just west of the town of Lamar. The folks that run the place are awesome. They got me a great campsite that had a shelter, picnic table, water and power. Before leaving the office they gave me a temperature update, it was 96 degrees! It's a dry heat so I didn't know that it was that hot, just hot. Before heading to my site I soaked my legs in their super cold pool. I couldn't get all the way in. After the super cold pool soaking I decided to take advantage of their showers and take a cool shower. How refreshing! I then headed to my campsite. It was too hot to do much so I sat in the shade and did some e-mail. After I bit I went to the Campground Office to sit in the AC and do some more e-mail. The awesome lady in the office gave me a cold bottle of water. So good!
I returned to my site and set up my tent. I then cooked up some Campbell's Steak and Potato soup. Great! Protein and carbs. I finished off my dinner with some Indulgent Trail Mix. I plugged my phone in and began to charge it up and do some more e-mail. Without all the encouraging phone calls from Celeste and others as well as all the e-mail notes from brothers and sisters in the Lord I do not know if I could go on day after day after day. Those notes of encouragement and the prayers of the saints keep me going so keep it up!
Tomorrow I have quite a ride from Lamar, CO to Garden City, KS, over 100 miles. I am looking forward to time with Bob and Brenda Bates.
As always, prayers appreciated!
bob g
STATS - Mileage Today 56, Pace 14, Riding Time 4:07
Total GTD cumulative miles: 1,333
