Day 26 (7/18): Limon, CO --> Eads, CO (140 miles)

(i messed up the "days" if anyone noticed...so i think it's back on track now...good thing i can count in a logical manner, eh?)

Days miles: 140 miles

I rolled out of Limon early and was planning on gettin thru the 75 miles I needed to put me back on the TransAm trail. I did just that with a little help from a tailwind that came and went, and some rolling Eastern Colorado terrrain. I rolled into Ordway aroun high noon and consumed as much cool beverages and food as possible....the local yodels were rumoring about that the thermometors on their porches were reading 104 degrees...and that was in the shade...yikes!

I figured I'd wait til the library was open before heading out again and soon found out that their computers weren't working too hot and so I had to roll on down the road.

It was hot and there was more headwinds pointed towards me....except this time the wind carried a bit of a sting with it....not only was it difficult to bike against...but when the wind made contact with my skin it burned....even breathing in had a bit of a painful flavor to it....it was as if the wind, itself, were on fire.

I tried to block out the extra discomfort by focusing on the terrain around me and counting how many grouping of clouds there were in nthe sky...not many...maybe 3 clumps...one was a thunderstorm somewhere off behidn me, thankgoodness....

My legs were feeling a bit weary as the day wore on and soon I rolled into a town called Eads (I was gonna call it a day in a town 24 miles earlier called Haswell, but there was only a water spicket...and, apparently, the nation's smallest jail....so I decided to get to Eads which promised to have more food options).

Right when I rolled over the double set of railroad tracks my day took a spiral towards the ground....suddenly my rear wheel felt as if it was tryin to roll against a good bit of resitance...I got off the bike to find that that was exactly what was going on....

Upon further assessment I found that the base of the seat post rack had was 3/4 cracked off...whcih meant that this was not a good situation seeing all my gear was being supported on this device....

I cursed a lot....kicked some dust and stones..cursed some more...and then asked around the town if there were any welders...I was given the same response each time...yes, there were welders, but since the rack was aluminum there was nothing they could do.

I bought a pizza and stumbled back to my tent wondering what my options were, and/or weren't....1. I could hitchhike until I got to a bike shop...which woudl be in Missouri....2. I could live the rest of my days in Eads 3. (well, there wasn't really a third option)

I pitched a tent, ate pizza and watched a distant storm and slowly dozed off to a shallow sleep....as I lay ontop of the sleepin bag I wondered if I could somehow strap all of my gear up onto my handlebars....the thought lingered for a bit until I fell asleep....