July 4, 2001. Tribune, KS to Eads, CO.
(58 mi.) Mile 2203
Independence Day
Looking back toward Kansas from the Colorado border
"Welcome to Colorado."
That's what the sign at the state border should have said 15 miles into our ride
today, but it didn't. There was only a sign saying, "Leaving
Kansas, Please
Come Again". No doubt the Kansas sign, if it could have, would have waved
and asked if we needed anything.
We still shared the
road with convoys of harvesters finishing up the wheat harvest.
There was little else to indicate the
change from Kansas to Colorado, though gradually the vast landscape changed from
wheat stubble to bunch grass, sagebrush, rabbit bush, and yucca. The best part
was that it smelled like sage, reminding us of home. I bet Mike that the first
one to see a pronghorn antelope would be treated to a milkshake from the other.
We rode many miles without sight of a
single structure, tree, or shade. Thanks to a tailwind, it only took us about 4 hours to make our
mileage, including stops to drink and get off the saddle. We pulled into Eads
(population 780) at about 10:30 am and headed straight to
the first place with a milkshake, even though neither of us had spotted an
antelope. The temperature was climbing into the mid-90s again by this time.
While we were enjoying the break and
debating whether or not we should try to push on, a family of four pulled up on two tandem
bicycles with trailers.
Jen, Kara,
Lauren, and Dale
It was the Grant-Perzanowski
family from Vermont bicycling across the country. Kara, age 13, tandems
with her mom, and Lauren, 14 1/2, tandems with her dad. They started in May on
the Oregon coast and are bicycling back to Vermont. The girls keep journals
and have embraced family teamwork and the challenges of this trip. We were
impressed with their adventurous spirits. After enjoying their company awhile,
we all agreed it was far more appealing to call it quits for the day (after
all, it was a holiday), set up camp at the city
park, use the city pool, and
enjoy Eads' 4th of July fireworks display. Pushing on would have put us in
communities without celebrations.
So, we set up our
tents, took showers, and relaxed. Around 6 pm, Lauren and Kara noticed two
bicycle tourists riding past on the highway and recognized them as Jill and
Jen, two young women also riding across the country, who had become their
friends earlier in the trip. We flagged them down and they joined us
too.
Camping in the Eads City Park with the
Grant-Perzanowski
family (in the background)
The truck stop was the
only place in town open for dinner, so our party of eight bicyclists went out
to eat together. Afterwards, we watched the fireworks across the street at the
county fairgrounds. Eads is proud of its firework display with good reason.
While looking up at the night sky over America's heartland, in the middle of our
journey across America by bicycle, I knew I would never forget this unique 4th of July.
