Day 34: Garden of the Gods

July 9, 2022 in Pueblo, Colorado

Today began slow–– I woke up very comfortable on a soft carpet floor, and moved at a pace that can only be compared to an arthritic slug whilst getting ready.

Despite this, I did manage to have my bag in the truck before our 5am deadline. I did kind of miss the window to help with my chore, though. That in and of itself is not particularly disappointing, but I did feel bad that others had to pick up my slack.

The day only got better from there, though, and the host made us the best breakfast of our entire trip! We had these delicious potato, egg, green pepper, and jalapeno burritos, and it might have been the only time in the entire trip where I left completely full and happy.

I rode with my friends Nathan and Flavie, and the first 20 miles of our ride were lovely. The weather was perfect––sunny and ever so slightly chilly, and we were chatting up a storm.

Around mile 23 though, we had a bike accident. Flavie caught the lip of the road and went down hard, badly cutting up her hands, face, knees, and one arm. Nathan and I both managed to stay on our bikes somehow, and were able to flag down cars and help her off the road.

In hindsight, the degree to which Nathan and I were in sync was pretty incredible. We both did very well in crisis mode, and were able to focus all our attention on Flavie once we all got off the road.

We cleaned and patched up all her cuts, but she was in a lot of pain so we decided to have her ride in the van. In the van, she started having muscle spasms in one of her elbows. The truck took her to urgent care, and we learned that she had fractured her elbow bone.

Of course, this was terrible news and we are all very upset about it, but there is an upside. Because she has a buckle fracture, she will be able to bike again in as early as two weeks! And we will all be able to ease her recovery in the meantime.

Once Flavie was taken care of, Nathan and I got back on the road and finished the next 12 or so miles to lunch. Lucky for us, last night's host gave us tons of sandwich ingredients, so there were no weird concoctions like Wills' "every sauce sandwich" (which is exactly what it sounds like).

The rest of our ride was much more fun–– we talked about everything from siblings to college majors, and got the 58 mile ride done around 1pm.

From there, I took a very cold shower, changed, and went off to a local coffee shop with about a third of my team.

I got a delicious coffee, some BLT toast, and a couple of presents for my mom. I think this coffee shop is the only one on the trip that has been comparable to the shop in Richmond where I got that rose thing.

The group meandered back to our host around 3, and piled into the van for the hour-long drive to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. Most people slept the whole way, but since I was in the front I just hung out and talked.

The drive itself was spectacular, but the views when we got there were simply unmatched. We started our evening at the Visitors Center, where I got a tee shirt for my brother, a patch for my boyfriend, and a tote bag for myself. I am very pleased with my purchases.

After we had all checked out, we drove to the main parking lot. From there, we went on about a 2 mile hike around the rocks, stopping to take pictures and gasp at the sights. Even Flavie came! It was simply indescribable, so some pictures will have to do.

After the initial hike, some people went onwards and my friend and I took a long nap in the van, which was exactly what I needed. I also slept on the ride home, but woke up in time to Doordash some pasta for a late dinner, which I devoured.

I spent my time before bed reflecting on the day, and got ready to get a little sleep before my build day!