Tuesday 20^th April, Travellers Lodge Eads Colorado

17.00

The Trench Bar turned out to be a breeze-block shed with a corrugated tin roof. But it was a bar and they sold quite decent Mexican food. The only customers were a few old boys sitting around a table, drinking beer from the bottle. They had a free juke-box (Country and Western only), table football and two electronic dartboards. What more can a sophisticated pair of urbanites ask for ?

Well, what they did ask for, when they were leaving, were two plastic bowls and spoons. These were needed to eat the oatmeal we cooked in the microwave oven in our hotel room the next morning,. There was nowhere in town to get any breakfast and it was 30 miles before we would reach a service station. So it has come to this, we are reduced to carrying and cooking our own oats and scavenging for our tableware So much for the five star luxury accommodation promised in the brochure.

Today’s trip has been pretty mixed but it ended well.. It started out in the same damp mist as yesterday, then after the first hour, the sky suddenly darkened and we hit a freak ten minute storm which looked like it was going to be a lot worse. Once it passed, the flat landscape and the grey sky combined to give the impression of a distant thick fog in every direction. The almost total absence of traffic added to the eerie atmosphere. After 16 miles we left Kansas and were welcomed to “Colorful Colorado”. At that moment it looked anything but. However, fairly quickly, the sky lightened and the wind dropped to almost nothing and the rest of the trip went very smoothly. 58 miles in 5 hours cycling.

Once in Colorado, you notice a difference in the landscape almost straight away. The wheat and corn have given way to some sort of shrub that we cannot yet identify. It could be sage or just tumbleweed.

Another thing you notice is the quality of the road. Highway 96 in Kansas was fairly smooth but the moment we crossed the state line it turned into a much coarser surface which seems to have been laid in ten metre sections. There is a slight gap between each section, which you probably don’t notice in a car but sends a judder through you every few seconds when cycling. This is quite annoying after a few minutes. After an hour or so, you are really keen to meet a representative of the Colorado Highway Authority and shake him warmly by the throat. It stopped just outside Eads and hopefully we’ve seen the last of it.

About 16 miles outside the town there is a site commemorating the Sandy Creek Massacre, featured in the films Soldier Blue and Little Big Man.

We arrived here in Eads at lunchtime and found K&M’s Restaurant, which is an excellent diner (delicious pork chops and mashed potatoes), The Traveller’s Lodge motel and the Windmill Bar. all literally next door to each other. A motel with Wi-Fi, a decent diner and a bar, that's all I need at the end of each day. It’s not much to ask but surprisingly rare to get all three. In Eads there doesn’t seem to be much else apart from a gas station and store. There is very little housing . The population is only 750 or so. Apart from the grain silos, it’s main purpose seems to be a truck drivers (and cyclists) resting point.

I was sorry to leave Kansas. The plains are awesome in the true sense of the word. The roads that seem to go on forever, with very little traffic allow your mind to roam freely for hours on end. I liked the people too. Friendly, slightly laconic, with a nice wry sense of humour. They are the ones I’ve felt most affinity with on the trip so far.

At the state line, Bertie the tame buzzard, just dipped his wings once and turned back. We had agreed yesterday there would be no goodbyes. It was a sad moment but, If I am absolutely honest, the pleasure of Hiawatha was beginning to wear a bit thin. He had a slight lisp which was really beginning to grate. At one stage, I tried teaching him The Waste Land but his heart wasn’t in it. Still, I shall miss him and his intelligent conversation.

Mike seems to be over his desire to travel around busking. He is still not quite right though. He has spent all afternoon hunched over his computer , mumbling. At one point he asked me if Burke’s Peerage and Who’s Who were available on-line and, if not, could we buy them in America. What can this mean?