The team woke up bright and early to tackle a longer day ahead. Today marks the last couple of miles we ride in Nebraska, leaving the gradual hills, wide shoulders, beautiful views, and at times, some stinky fields behind. We are ready to say hello to our 10th state of the ride, Colorado! A state that many people on our team are excited to bike through as we head more into the West and start approaching the mountains.
quote of the day
“I wonder if Kohls has the tires I need”
ride overview
Mileage: 93.2 Miles
Elevation: 2,996 ft.
Points of Interest: Stratton Country Market, Lamp Post 613, Colorado Welcome Sign, Kansas Welcome Sign, Benkelman (NE)
Ride Dedication: Lucie Gleason
tales of the trail
An early wake-up called our name this morning once again, with a 90-miler day ahead. Today, the team was tasked with “collecting the rainbow” along the ride, with each group having to find different rainbow-colored items from the side of the road, each worth a certain number of points. Some groups found orange hats, purples towels, and other items that were found were not as fancy, such as a coca-cola box for the color red, and a chunk of pavement with rocks and gravel stuck inside. Our team also crossed into a new time zone once again! We have officially entered the Mountain Time Zone, and got an extra hour for the day, whoop whoop!
One of our rest stops of the day was at Stratton Country Market, where we met Kay! She fooled us at first, thinking that we needed to pay $5 to use the restroom, but it was just an ol’ joke. That turned into a running joke for the rest of the day, where everyone would say $5 for this, $5 for that. We were able to talk to her about her experience with a tumor and were so grateful to get the chance to meet her and hear her story (watch out for future portraits)! Afterward, the team stopped at a - you guessed it, coffee shop! We stopped at Lamp Post 613 to get some coffee and snacks to fuel up before the border crossing into Colorado!
Some teams went off route (only slightly), near Haigler, NE, to head into the state of Kansas! We got to see the Kansas welcome sign, admire the stark difference between Nebraska and Kansas at their border (not much of a difference), and headed back on route to cross into Colorado! Colorado gave us a welcome sign that was on brand with today’s challenge, stating “Welcome to Colorful Colorado!” We took this time to take some team photos and say our final farewells to Nebraska. Once we entered Colorado, the shoulders immediately became narrower on the roads, and groups were not able to be in “yap formation” anymore, but instead fallen in (in a straight line) for the rest of the ride. Immediately, we felt a slight change of scenery with more mountainous formations to the left and right of us, thought not massive, it gave us a glimpse into the days ahead.
Once we got to our stayover, the team hit the jacuzzi, sauna, and steam room, paired with cold showers as a way to rejuvenate our bodies after a long day of riding. Our hosts amiably served us lasagne for dinner (which was delicious), and helped us out with laundry! Thank you to the WRAC of Wray (Rec Center) for hosting our team, the staff was very welcoming and the dinner was delicious!
cyclist’s corner
Today’s Rider: Sofia Sivilotti
How are you feeling today?
I'm feeling great. We did a portrait during the rest stop about one of the women that was working at the little market that we stopped in, and she told us her story about having a brain tumor, which was very moving, to finally, kind of do a portrait while we were on the ride, and actually a mid ride portrait, which was a lot of fun. And we crossed into Colorado for the first time. It's my first time being in Colorado. And also we biked a little extra to see the Kansas border, which was an absolute blast. There were some crosswinds kind of the whole day, but we had a good stretch at the end, a nice pull at the end, And it was kind of fun.
Do you have any go-to gas station/rest stop snacks?
I have been loving the coffee shop stops that we've been making for rest stops. My go to is an iced latte because it's been so cold, and a scone, if their scones look good.
What is your rest stop routine?
If it's a fast rest stop, rolling up, getting some snacks, getting some fueling, going to the bathroom and then sunscreen, shammy buttering , filling my bottles, getting back on the bike and rolling out, sometimes putting half a packet of LMNT in my bottle.
How do you stay motivated on long/tough days on the bike?
We've been going through a lot of very pretty and scenic areas, so I've just been looking at the scenery and kind of just talking to people that I'm riding with. I love to chat on the bike, and that makes the days fly by. A few days ago, Stephanie was giving us a recap of her book, and it made an hour feel like it was only five minutes, and I wanted to hear more.
For the remaining portion of the ride, where are you looking forward to visiting the most?
I can't wait to see the national parks. I think they're going to be beautiful, and I'm excited to get some more elevation.
Anything else you want to talk about?
I just want to say how kind of pleasantly surprised I've been by everyone's generosity. Everywhere that we've gone, it's been at rest stops, at churches that we stop, and even at random towns, everyone's been very kind and it's been very heartwarming.