Day 28:The wind howled across the plains, the suspended traffic lights oscillated, while the flagpole clanged every five seconds. It was reminiscent of a scene from a spaghetti western. The purple, fluorescent, strip-lights on the town’s motel flickered randomly. This was Middle America (Kansas) and it is a world of difference from that portrayed via the film and TV industry. Tribune was a pleasant town, with lots of community-based activities; it also looked liked the people worked hard for their money. One surprisingly pleasant aspect of being here is that the cost of living is a fraction of what you’d find in the UK. That said there’s more poverty and a greater proportion of poorer living conditions than at home. Towns with beautifully manicured lush green lawns have been few and far between and swimming pools in gardens non-existent. There’s been a sense that the area in Eastern Colorado, it could apply equally to parts of Utah & Nevada, is struggling, there are whole towns where almost every business is closed; mostly the only modern well-maintained buildings are US Postal, libraries or administration buildings. The people are great, welcoming and pleasant and there’s no edge in the towns at all; it’s been the same in nearly every town. One area where the US puts the UK to shame is in sport facilities. Even the smallest of US towns have sports playing fields that would be the envy of most places in the UK; most of the facilities are linked to schools and when you consider how the playing fields at home have been eroded it just makes it worse. Day 27:Another 60 miles across the high plains of Colorado has taken us to Eads, tomorrow morning we will cross the state line into Kansas. After a night in a cheap motel it’s back to the familiar surroundings of the RVs. The cycle from Ordway was very quiet, you could cover miles without seeing another living person. On Monday, going into Pueblo, I saw a bear in the forest; today the cyclists saw a tortoise crossing the road near Arlington. Arlington also excited our resident cameraman with a well-stocked toilet (that welcomed cyclists) complete with a visitors' book. Haswell the busiest town on today’s stage (population 84) boasted the smallest prison in America, quite why they would need one is the biggest mystery. Eads' claim to fame is that in the late nineteenth century there was an Indian massacre nearby. It’s a small town but it really is in the middle of nowhere. Jane’s been a little better today which is a big relief to us all. Day 26:It was good to be on the road again despite Jane feeling unwell. Today's stage was kept to a manageable distance but still clocked in at over 50 miles. After leaving the Rockies behind we've set off across Eastern Colorado on route to Kansas. After spectacular views and wildlife it was always going to take some re-adjustment but the route Ordway was uninspiring. The town of Boone looked like it had all but shut down although the local hardware store owner advised the cyclists to avoid the occupant of the old post office "who entices old ladies and cyclists in for free breakfast and then rips them off". Sure enough he tried. The only employment in the locality seemed to be two "County Correctional Facilities". Arriving at the RV site tonight was the most depressing part of the four weeks. We were the only two vehicles, actually it looked like we'd be the first two RV's to pull in this century. Trash was littered over the site, the smell and amount of insect life was completely off-putting; dogs roamed free. Opposite a yard containing battered old vehicles a sign proclaimed "Stand Up Stand Up For Jesus". When a local cowboy decked out in black with black gloves stood and watched over the RV's we thought it was time to leave town quickly. So we are in a motel, our first bath and bed for four week. Most of Eastern Colorado seems to be economically disadvantaged, there are more businesses closed than open, the land is arid and dry. Apart from train spotters, there is a single track railroad (a train has just passed with 125 carriages and over a mile in length) other visitors will be disappointed. A local pointed out "this is Kansas (it isn't) no one passes through". Rest day 2:It seems at times that the ride is plagued by twin demons Jane's health and the freakish weather here in the States. Before Jane started her ride in San Francisco her health was causing us issues and periodically since it's come to prominence. Yesterday was a rest day and Jane was poorly all day, she's started today's ride but I'm unsure where she's getting her strength from. Her approach is that while she's riding the finish is getting closer and she can get home. She has said though if we were to reach the fund-raising target for the ride she'd pack in now! As for the weather another horrendous storm yesterday afternoon in Pueblo washed away 75 tonnes of gravel from the camp site. We head into Kansas at the weekend and I think we all feel a bit nervous about that section of the journey. We made a flying visit to Denver as well to drop our daughter Rebecca and her friend Jodie off at the airport for their return journey to the UK. Travelling back along the Interstate I was surprised to see a lot of smog over the town. I found it quite disturbing that in such a vast area of land that pollution of that scale still exists. As an aside I'll think again about complaining about the conditions of roads in the UK as the ones in Colorado we've seen have been in a fairly dilapidated state the main I25 winning the prize for the worst. Still Colorado has some stunning scenery to compensate. Day 25:Yesterday was the fastest stage of the ride as the cyclists attacked the road all the way to Pueblo. There was a need to finish early as Jane needed to travel to Denver as we were taking Rebecca and her friend Jodie to the airport as they are flying home. After the last few days it was a relief to have an incident free day. One of the support vehicles also needed repairing after hitting the falling rock and subsequent blow out. Parts of America are still being gripped by freakishly warm weather and there is a similar drought to that in the south east of England. Today is a much needed rest day after six days of the Rockies. We're pouring over maps this afternoon to figure a route across Kansas where we can meet up with some camping grounds as they are few and far between. The rides covered almost 1600 miles but there is still a long way to go; we just hope that the excitement of the last week is over. Day 24:Yesterday after climbing Monarch Pass we all decided to take a 20 minute journey on a cable car to get a view from the observation deck on the mountain peak. As we were ascending it proceeded to hail the size of marbles then an electrical storm broke out. For an hour the worst storm in a generation hit that area of the Rockies. Lightening struck the observation tower twice while we were in causing the steward to jump out of his skin, I gather the TV footage is something else. We had to descend via an off the road vehicle as the storm had frayed the cable. Today our support vehicle was hit by falling rock from last night's storms it cause a blow out and we exceedingly lucky to stay on the road and not into the Arkansas River. As I write this blog we are sitting out a seven hour electrical storm which together with the accident foreshortened the days cycling by two miles. We feel lucky to be alive but a little embattled by what's happening. We are hoping for a good day tomorrow the last in the Rockies. As for today's ride the cyclists rode like demons to beat the storm into Westcliffe so it was a very fast stage. Day 23:It's a relief to finish what was always going to be a key stage on the tour. Jane today climbed what will be the highest rise on the across America ride – Monarch Pass at 11,315 ft. The stage started in Gunnison and there was a 30 mile to Sargents before the actual climb started. Jane completed it in 1hr 35mins. It was a steep climb but far from impossible, the major factor for Jane was the altitude. Since we camped at 9,500ft on Wednesday she has not been particularly well which we've put down to a mild form of altitude sickness. Nothing though would stop her from attempted the climb and she did this in her own indomitable fashion, determinedly grinding out each straight. It was an awesome display of metal strength and one which we've come to expect from Jane. It wasn't the hardest day of the tour those days are reserved from Cason Pass and the extreme heat of Glen Canyon. We've two more days in the Rockies then we can say the mountains are behind us. For those people e-mailing us there is a delay in responding as the server is playing up. The climb wasn't the scariest part of the day that came later and it's not an exaggeration to say four people on the ride are lucky to still be here. More tomorrow. | 
