Dear subjects,
To get my blog out on time, I am trying out a new form of blog. Currently writing day 25 on night 25. (finished during day 27 lunch)
Flat #1: t = 6.5 minutes, Nancy, front
Flat #2: t = 11 minutes, Matthew, rear
Flat #3: t = 11.5 minutes, Nancy, front. Got fed up and changed to beefier tires
Flat #4: t = ~30 minutes, Daniel, ???. They left as I was fixing flat #3 and I rolled up to them finishing up with #4
Intermission from the flat show!!
Got our asses and hands destroyed by ~20 miles of shitty road (you can't even call it gravel). Water refill from Puja under the highway overpass.
Time for the I-70. We ride in one group and pray for no flats. We prevailed (for the moment).
Ate lunch under the next overpass. Since we weren't planning to ride on the I-70 where the "Welcome to Colorado" sign was, we packed every person and bike into the van, drove a few miles to the sign, and took the pic. We see a state trooper on the other side of the highway—uh-oh. Puja and Sasha had been sharing the shotgun seat. We move Puja to the second row and Adam demotes himself to the floor. Did not get pulled over by the state trooper going back; all was well.
We roll off from our lunch stop onto some wonderful unpaved road. Tired of our butts getting pulverized and going at a snail's pace, we turn around and get on the I-70 again and pass the "Welcome to Colorado!" sign.
End intermission.
Flat #5: miles = ~30 from end, Matthew, front
Flat #6: miles = ~25 from end, Adam, rear?
Stopped at a Sinclair gas station in Loma for ice water. Sasha is fascinated by a strawberry cream juice box. We begin to roll out of the gas station—
Flat #7: miles = ~20 from end, Matthew, rear
Adam and Sasha go ahead and Matthew, Daniel, and I follow once we fixed Flat 7.
Really pretty and well paved riverfront trail into Grand Junction. So many bugs that they start sticking to our clothes.
Arrive at our Warmshowers, 6:30pm. Host is a city planner who helped plan the riverfront bike trail! Leave for 7:30pm social ride, theme "Christmas in July". Fun ride.
Talked to a bike store manager and a musician turned Bureau of Land Management guy. Did laps around a BMX park. Ended at a brewery where we got burgers from a food truck and our host bought the first round of juice boxes.