After an evening in Pueblo, we met a cyclist who was also traveling across the country, but he was doing it the hardcore way. In other words, he was pedaling by himself, carrying everything he needed, and camping every night. The pasture allowed him to stay with us, and he was very appreciative of having a shower after many days without one. He seemed really interested in Bike and Build, so maybe we found a future Bike and Builder!
In the morning, the First Presbyterian church cooked us a delicious breakfast including banana walnut pancakes and fresh fruit. It was amazing. It was an especially exciting morning because we were finally on our way to Colorado Springs to build a house and to take a break from our bicycles! Kristin, our MVC for the day, got us pumped up with a dance song and some inspirational words.
Our ride for the day was 52 miles, which we found out had a portion of gravel road. This lead to two options: bike on the interstate for day 3 or take the gravel road. The group split pretty evenly. We started the ride around 7:30 am. It was a warm morning, and we started off on the city streets of Pueblo. Then, some of our group took a 20 mile route on the highway to meet up at lunch, while others took a 20 mile route on a back road. The highway route was very fast due to a wind pushing us. We averaged a pretty good speed and enjoyed the graded hills. The back road or gravel road had several fun tales. Here are a few highlights:
- There were an abnormal amount of bugs on this road. In fact, there were designated bug watchers, mainly Jon Kole. Jon was so nice to point out to the bikers in front of him when they had bugs landing on them so that they could keep them from biting them. However, everyone did not have this luxury and the amount of bug bites on the gravel road group was rather impressive.
- Several riders decided that they would rather fight the bugs without clothes and participated in a “naked mile.”
We met up again and we all biked through the town of Fountain, where we stopped for lunch. After lunch , we all biked up some pretty steep hills, where we realized we weren’t in Charleston, SC anymore since we could feel our new altitude. Right before a large hill, Jessica’s family sat alongside of the route and cheered for the riders as they went by, which was a nice treat.
We arrived at Colorado Springs between 12:30 and 3 pm. We were met by the Habitat affiliate, who let us in to the Sunrise United Methodist Church. The church is amazing. It is really large with lots of couches, which always makes our group smile! The Habitat affiliate even gave us some nice clean t-shirts, which made everyone a little happier. We were also met by a local news representative who interviewed us as we entered Colorado Springs. Matt and Chris decided they had not had enough exercise for the day and went for a jog after arriving at the church
AND! It was Thursday which means many exciting things including new yummy treats from the mail drop. Thank you to the parents and friends who sent the yummy cookies, baked goods, rice krispee treats, brownie bites, candy, toys, and other fun things. We also had a town hall meeting, which gets mixed reviews every week. This week was an especially long one since it managed to last 2 hours, mainly because we have so many options for fun activities this week and only one van. It looks like it is going to be an amazing week, and we are all so excited to have a nice long stay and time to explore!
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