Colorado Border to Elkhart
17.5 miles

We left Hutchinson at about 9am and headed down to Elkhart. Rex, a teacher that works at the same school as my mom, and his twelve year old son came with us. We got to Elkhart at about 3:30pm (I slept most of the trip), unpacked our baggage, and set up the tent. Then we left for the Colorado border, about 20 miles away. It was raining and cold when we got there, but luckily I had packed a jacket. After the required border picture, we were off. After we got going and warmed up, the temperature wasn’t an issue, and the rain really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Even though they had a head start, we were riding fast enough that we were able to catch up with Rex and his son. Then, my chain came off the front gear. While we were fixing that, they passed us. After we got going again, we came to a really great hill and got all the way up to 30mph, the fastest I’ve ever gone on a bike. In the process, we passed Rex and his son (hooray, in the lead again!). But, then the rain stopped and it started to get warm, so we stopped to take off our jackets and drink some water. They passed us again. By this time, we were pretty close to Elkhart, but we managed to get a little bit ahead of them before we got to the end. It wasn’t at all a race, but it’s still fun to be first. :-)

Not much happened in the evening, mostly just a meeting.

Tomorrow is when it really gets interesting, 71 miles. MrPilot suggested that I end these entries leaving y’all in suspense, so here’s the cliff-hanger: will I make it all the way tomorrow and still be alive? I can’t wait to find out either!

Day 0 in pictures.