The Sunflower State

I'll try to keep this as short as possible cause we are really behind time and need to get on the road again quick! Since the last post we have crossed the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and most of the great plains of Kansas. Suprisingly the Rockies were a lot easier than we expected. The worst thing about them was not the hills but the storms! There were two high passes that we had to cross and in between them was over 100 miles of flat valley. The first of the passes, Wolf Creek Pass, was the highest and steepest. After Durango we started going up quite a bit but not too steeply. We got to the town of Pagosa Springs by the evening about 20 miles short of Wolf Creek. We had lunch there and by the time we were ready to leave it was starting to rain and there was a huge thunder storm approching. Just as we were starting to get wet, a really nice family (Bill and Angela Kinston) who we had breifly been talking to earlier in a sandwich shop, offered us a place to stay for the night. Of course we accepted and loaded the bikes and ourselves into the back of their pickup truck and they drove us to their house a few miles off the main road. We really cant describe how well Bill and Angela treated us. Bill even took out his quad bike (or ATV as they call it over here) and let us drive it around their 30 acres of forest land in the mountains. Way more fun than cycling! That night they gave us ice cream and popcorn while we watched a movie with them. The next morning after a great breakfast Bill dropped us back into town where he picked us up and we set off for the big hills. We couldnt believe how nice they were to just take us into their home like that! Definately one of the best nights of the trip so far.


Forest Fire in the mountains


Bill and Angela Kinston in Pagosa Springs

Wolf Creek Pass from about a third of the way up looking down

Another storm on the way
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Compared to the Sierra Nevadas, Wolf Creek pass didnt seem all that bad. It was higher and steeper but we didnt find it all that tough. At the top we were around 10500 feet above sea level! I think we are just more fit now than we were a few weeks ago. Anyway we went over the pass and down the other side. Took a two days to cross the valley with bad weather, then over La Vita pass on the other side and that was the Rockies done! Another day or two of cycling through Colorado and we were into Kansas. The west Kansas is so flat you can see for miles around. Our last morning in Colorado as we were taking our tent down we noticed quite a few other touring cyclists passing by on the road. This was unusual as we had really seen any other touring cyclists in America so far. We stopped in a diner for lunch we got talking to two of them and they told us we were on the Trans America Cycle Trail. We had never heard of it but it is a well know cycle trail across America that goes from Virginia to California and we had just stumbled onto it by accident! So most of the way through Kansas we kept meeting other cyclists travelling from east to west who would have stories from their trip and info on what was ahead. All the towns on the trail let cyclists camp for free in their cuty parks and use the showers in the swimming pool for free also! Its amazing!

Jeff and Conor (two other cyclists we had lunch with)

Kansas has definately been one of our favourite states so far! One night as we were arriving into the small town of Tribune we noticed a car driving behind us very slowly. It was dark and we were about 3 miles from the town. The headlights of the car were shining on us and the road ahead of us. Not really sure what was going on or who this person was we pedalled fast as we could to get to the town. When we were nearly in the twon the car finally overtook us. It was was the town Sherrif! He was escorting us into the town! As we were passing through the small town of Dighton they were having their county fair. There was a big party in the park so we rode in on our bikes and pitched the tent their for the night. The local people of Dighton were so friendly to us and we were instantly invited to join them. The next morning we even did an interview and got a picture for the local news reporter so we are going to feature in the next issue of the Dighton Herald! They are going to post a copy back to Ireland for us! She came to our tent at about 9 in the morning when we were not feeling too well after the long night partying so im not looking forward to seeing the picture she took of us! Darletta made us pork and beef sandwiches for breakfast which brought us back to life! The night before a guy called Chadrup gave us directions to his house and told us he would take us shooting if we dropped by the next day. That was an opportunity we were not going to miss! Chadrup is a gun dealer and has a huge collection of guns. He loaded them up into his pickup truck and drove us off to his friends farm where we took aim at rocks and trees and stuff. I cant remember the exact names of the guns but we fired a standard pistol that the cops carry, a magnum revolver, a 12 guage shot gun, some russian made semi automatic assault rifle, some other rifle with a big scope on it and a big massive sniper rifle that could pierce 3 inches of steel armour from a mile away! It was so cool. Coencidentilly that day was also Daithis birthday! Guns were way better than cake! That night we stayed with Chadrups family. Had dinner with them and slept in their house. Again another really nice family. It feels like we know Dighton really well now and if we ever went backwe would have loads of friends there!

These guys won a few prizes in the BBQ cook off

Me with the magnum

The Russian Assault Rifle it even had a Bayonette on the top for stabbing!

Its impossible to miss with that one!

Now thats a gun!

The next night we ended in a tiny little town called Bazine. We had heard from other cyclists that there was a lady in Bazine who ran a little B&B in her home just for cyclists only! It was called Elaines Bicycle Oasis. We decided to stay the night there. We met another two cyclists there who were also staying the night, Dave and Catie from Portland. Elaine cooked us huge meal. A lot of the vegtables her husband Dan grows himself on their farm. It was a feast and exactly what we needed. Dave and Catie were the first cyclists we had met that were going in the same direction as us so the next morning, after another feast of a breakfast from Elaine, the four of us travelled together. It was so great to have more company on the road and we got on really well with Dave and Catie. Only problem was that we have to go to New York which was north and they had to go towards Virginia which was south so we couldnt stay together too long. We spent the next two days cycling with Catie and Dave heading due east so neither of us would be going out of our way. The cycling time really went by fast having someone differnt to talk to and Dave and Catie were a lot of fun. We stayed with them for two days and nights but eventually we had to part company this morning. They are hopefully coming to cycle around Ireland and Europe in 2010 so we will definately meet again!

Dinner in Elaines Bicycle Oasis with Dave and Catie

The sign outside her house

One last photo with Catie and Dave before we go our separate ways

Off they go!

So right now we are still in Kansas. Im in a library in some little town who name I cant remember. We stayed way too long in Kansas but we met so many really cool people that it was definately worth it. We are quite far behind schedual now so we really need to make up time. We are going to cycle through the night tonight and hopefully make it to the State of Missouri by morning tomorrow where we will get a motel for the day.