Day 31, June 27

Pueblo Lake State Park to Ordway, CO.
62 miles

I was originally planning on going another 5 miles down the road, to Sugar City, but a combination of factors led me to stop at Ordley.

In the morning it took about 12 miles to reach the outskirts of Pueblo. Upon seeing a laundromat I realized a relatively large city was a chance to catch up on some things and decided to stop there first.

Two other cross country cyclists were headed in the door at the same time and we ended up heading to a Mexican restaurant a few blocks away for breakfast while our laundry ran. Both had just completed their BS degrees in Indiana and were taking the summer off to complete an east to west cross country ride. One was a physics major and the other a materials science major,  which gave us a lot to talk about.

After that I headed off to a local bike shop for a new rear tire and to get my rear index shifting fixed.  I also ended up with a new chain, as mine was a bit stretched.  They were able to dramatically improve the shifting but were ultimately unable to get the index mode working.

Leaving Pueblo, I headed off into the endless sea of grass of eastern Colorado. I didn't take any pictures as it was a very unexciting landscape. Sorry, I will try to find something other than nice scenery to focus my camera on now that the landscape has changed.

The small, decaying towns of Boone, Olney Springs and Crowley passed by quickly since I was flying through the miles due to the lack of hills and a nice tail wind.

I ended up stopping for the night in the town of Ordley, both because it was getting late and because there was access to a restroom in the city park (something the park in Sugar City lacked).

One of my only pictures for the day was of the entrance to Ordley.

I ended up sharing the park with an older cyclist who was doing the cross country route supported by his mother and sister,  who were carrying all his gear in a sag wagon.

Since I did not have a cell phone signal I spent part of my evening taking care of another maintenance task rather than updating my blog.  The zipper seams on both of my rear panniers have been steadily decaying over the last 2 weeks and I finally took the time to attempt repairs. This is what i get for using a 30 year old set of panniers. The material was too weak to stitch and I ended up using some duct tape for support on both the inside and outside.   I am clearly not a seamstress but this looks like it may survive the rest of the trip.

Before - threatening to rip open and dump its contents on the road

After - frankenbag