Day 33: Cantaloupe County

July 8, 2022 in Rocky Ford, Colorado

There are a couple of notable moments about today's ride: first, I got to talk to my grandparents before I left! It was the highlight of my day. That's one huge advantage to being in the mountain time zone.

It was one of my town fact days, so I shared what I knew about Rocky Ford and the affordable housing landscape during route meeting! My favorite fact is that their main industry is cantaloupe-growing.

Also, I was sweep again, meaning I went last with my ride partner Razzi. We also picked up another ride partner because her tire exploded and she needed some time to fix it.

Our sweepstakes challenge today was the first team to spy cantaloupe in the wild wins, and any team that got to the town before the coffee shop closed (at 1) and got us coffees would also get their coffee paid for by us.

I also learned that the day after biking 100 miles is even harder than biking 100 miles. Even though it was only 64, every single mile was a fight, especially the 8 miles of hilly gravel in full sunlight in the last twenty miles of our ride.

Most importantly, after many, many days of mooing at cows on the side of the road, I finally got mooed at! It was everything I hoped for.

Once we arrived in Rocky Ford the going got easier–– it's always a relief to see civilization after hours of highway 50. We got to keep our bikes in the Rocky Ford Fire Department ambulance bay, which was really neat to see!

I spent my free time in the afternoon helping one of my teammates dye her hair blue in the yard, and the subsequent rinsing and clean-up in the fire department. Despite it being kind of a poor idea, her hair came out awesome.

Also, Nicole, a former Bike-and-Builder who is currently driving our support vehicle, got me the iced coffee from my sweepstakes!

Our hosts provided dinner, and it was easily the best of the trip, with an enormous taco bar and a dessert bar to match! I stuffed my face. And the Rocky Ford cantaloupe was the best I've ever tasted.

After dinner, my friends and I made drawings of ourselves for the church wall, as per the pastor's request, and watched a comedy routine by John Mulaney.

A group also got to go to the new Thor movie in town for free, but I only stayed for about 40 minutes because it was the worst movie I've ever seen. No exaggeration. It does mean I have more time to write this blog and sleep though, which is fantastic!

Tomorrow is a 57-mile day, and I'm planning to ride with my buddy Nathan. The team is also planning an excursion to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs in the afternoon! It's going to be so beautiful. I can't wait!