Day 20 (Fri 7/17/09)

Through the Rockies & Bike Accident

Yesterday Tomorrow

(This is cool if you like lots of data! It may take a few seconds to load but you can hit play and time compress our ride. )

DAILY REPORT: The weather report called for another ideal biking day. Temps in the mid 80's again. Slight head wind increasing through out the day. Less than 20% chance of a thundershower.

So I finished up the journal from Day 19 in the morning, we had breakfast from the back of the trailer -- pop tarts and yogurt :) And we were on our way.

Right out of Buena Vista on Rt 24 is Trout Pass which is 9,400 ft and aprox 13 miles long. Normally we like to have a a half an hour warm up as we ride; but not today. It turns out that Rt 24/Rt285 has little to no shoulder and was fairly busy with RVs, vehicles w/ loads, etc. All in all not the best way to start our morning out.

After the pass, we took Rt 24 towards Colorado Springs and the traffic significantly

dropped off. However the cross wind picked up which made riding challenging w/ little to no shoulder. We would have to be very careful not to be "pushed' off the shoulder by the wind.

During our pace-line transition (the lead rider falls back to the back of the pace line) we had an accident. John was the lead bike in the pace line and had completed his "pull" and was falling back. While he was doing this a car was approaching so he moved closer to the right and while doing so a strong gust of wind pushed him into James. As it turns out at that particular time there was a guard rail next to us. This then pushed James into the guardrail however James was able to gain control and not fall but John lost control and fell into the guard rail. Thankfully he was OK, He did sustain cuts to both knees, his right shoulder, and several bruises across his chest where he hit the rail. His bike brake hoods were deformed and his front wheel was slightly out of align. A number of cars stopped to render assistance but he was more shook up than anything else. We ultimately got hold of Skip and he showed up and we placed on the bikes in the trailer and called it a day.

We decided it was best to just head into Colorado Springs and check into our room at Peterson AFB, get cleaned up and then show up at the Boys and Girls Club at the Youth Center for our 1730 presentation. As it turns out Skip's sister-in-law had paid for room and we were in a two bedroom TLF (Temp Lodging Facility) - very nice with kitchen, washer dryer, etc. Thanks!!

We got unloaded, cleaned up, verified John didn't have any serious injuries and then went over to the youth center. There we met Victoria Reid the youth center program director. We gave our presentation and the kids were very interested in our ride across the country and asked lots of great questions. Afterwards we went outside and took several group pictures. Several of the youth asked if we cold help them fix their bikes. Before long a number of bikes showed up w/ flat tires, brake problems, seat adjustments, etc. The kids were very appreciative of the repairs so that they could start using their bikes again. It was a very successful event. Thanks for having us and your great hospitality!!

Tomorrow is a rest day - that will give us a chance to take John's bike into the shop for some repairs, grocery shopping, laundry, etc.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The view of Mount Princeton is quite a site at 14,197 ft	Taking a break after climbing Trout Pass.
This is one of the few remaining 1976 bicentennial TransAmerica route signs.	Having some fun conversations with the Boys and Girls Club youth at Peterson AFB.
Changing a flat tire and fixing a number of other small issues.	A happy customer after having her flat tires filled and seat adjusted.