Pueblo, CO – This town was a pleasant surprise. But all in all, a typical JOH day in July: lotsa heat, lotsa food. The ride also included the recently established “Pushup Challenge.” In an effort to maintain some tone in the upper body (rather than pure leg domination), many of us have begun a ritual of doing 20 – 25 pushups at each crew stop along our route (typically set up every 10 miles). This prevents any post-ride excuses of being “too tired” and also serves as a public display of us acting like tools on the highways of America.
La Junta, CO – Singlehandedly the most leisurely day on the bike to date! We did 70 miles by 9:45 am, so we were also ridiculously productive! About 5 miles or so outside of lodging, many of the cyclists took part in the “Hot Sauce” challenge (the challenge thing will become a theme), in which small cup portions of spicy liquids were consumed following an enthusiastic cheers of “ La Junnnnnnta!” I am a wuss and thus abstained. After holding the first meeting of the “Won Ton Club” during the day (an enthusiastic small group of Chinese food seekers), we spent the night celebrating Andrew Moffetts 21st birthday at a local bowling alley in an effort to accommodate the whole team. He kept it classier than most people I’ve seen on their transition to legality and everyone had fun, despite being in arguably the most bug-filled town in the union. Final advice: if you ever come into contact with a beverage by the name of “Chelada”… head straight for the hills.
Lamar , CO –Today we headed to our last town in Colorado. Sad to be on the brink of leaving our favorite state, we spiced up the ride with some roadside challenges. Shocking, I know. I took part in the 2-liter Pepsi relay challenge… fitting for an admitted soda addict like myself. Somehow, it did not do the harm to my system it undeniably should have. Following arrival, everyone claimed their spot on the wrestling mats of the local high school gymnasium (where some of us former wrestlers eagerly began facing off), showered up and scarfed down lunch. Most of the team spent the afternoon at the local pool, which included a pretty sizable water slide. In true JOH fashion, we made a competition out of it! David Stinnette ended up nabbing the title of fastest slider with an impressive time of 9.77 seconds.
After much of the team took part in the customary late afternoon nap, we all headed off to dinner at Mary Minor’s house. Mary’s family and friends were gracious enough to provide us with a bona fide buffet of homemade Mexican food and I continued my summer of expanding my food horizons (chocolate and peanut butter are still a no-go… sorry haters). Well fed and coming to terms with the realization that our journey is now over halfway done, we are ready to get a good night sleep before heading into our sixth state in the morning – Kansas.
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