Thursday, June 19, 2003

Colorado Springs, Colorado

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Today was another fine day in the life of the boys as they travel across the country.  We started our day in Georgetown, Co and ended in Colorado Springs.   Today's ride was dedicated to those ingenious minds at the Marketing Department at Ohio Willow Wood.  Yes the folks that brought all of those creative ads about the fine products available through Ohio Willow Wood get our salute for the day.  And we must say, Meredy's participation in the creation of the 2003 AAA Tour de Gimp is by far her finest effort.  Of course we may be a bit prejudiced.  Here are the fine folks in Marketing:

Marketing

Mark Ford

 Pierre Louis Ours, Julia Ours, Larry Corley, Alicia Davis

 Meredy Fullen

Tami Beatty, Jennifer Dowell, Larry Griffith, Janette Jones-Ball, April Manson, Kathy Kennedy, Pat Thomas, Cheryl White

Here Cheryl, Gene, Judy and Trish pose and collect thoughts on how best to corral the unruly boys as they rode today.  Gene rode with us and provided a much needed boost to our (how shall we say) sagging posteriors.

We rode over some high passes and mountains through Colorado today.  At one pass, we reached over eleven thousand feet (which is higher than the Empire State Building).  The rides down were an incredible rush and extremely cold.  Fortunately Mark had the forethought to bring a blowtorch among the many tools he carries so that we could pry our frozen hands from the handlebars.

Here Keith does doughnuts on the asphalt in anticipation of one of our downhill glides.  Jeanne... Keith continues to chew tobacco and spit into the wind while riding.  For that reason, Keith has been banished to the rear of the pack. 

Here the gang poses by one of the passes we hit in the mountains.  We crossed the Continental Divide several times today.  The mountains, the scenery, the altitude and the cold all made it a memorable day.  Also a tip of the hat to Judy, who is now an official support rider for the AAA boys.  Thanks Judy.

One of our downhill runs.  Note Mark and Jim.  They are way in front.  Also note Bruce.  He was way behind.  But we all finished the runs without mishap.

Here the boys, including Keith and Gene, contemplate riding on the roads after a downhill run.  The wide shoulders and cool temps made for a great ride today.  Later in the day, the storm clouds blessed us with rain and hail.  Some of the hardy riders continued riding through the extreme weather.  Other riders (who shall remain nameless) wisely chose to remain in the warm, dry support vehicles.  Thankfully, they had their wits about them so that they could provide first aid for the hypothermic lads. 

See Jim?  See Keith?  Are they smiling?  No not really.  There faces were frozen into a grimace of riding 35 miles per hour downhill in 30 degree weather.

Another example of a good ride gone bad.  We found this poor unfortunate rider after one of our downhill runs.  He had apparently attempted to do the same downhill run earlier today.  The attempt left the poor lad exhausted and frozen to the pavement.  Kids don't try this at home.

Another view of the poor lad.  We scavenged what we could in the way of bicycling supplies, said a short prayer and left for a day of fun.

More incredible scenery on our ride today.  The weather was threatening and by mid morning we had a bit of rain.  But all in all, it was a great way to see the mountains.  After our mountain runs we stopped for lunch at Doc Holiday's in Hartsel.  Chef Joe served up some really fine elk and buffalo burgers.  A tip of our hat to Joe's cuisine.   We also met two very fine people, Christina and Jim from Pennsylvania who were kind enough to donate to our cause.  The generosity of the people we meet on the road has been overwhelming.

Tomorrow we will attend a visitation at the HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Colorado Springs.  We close by saying a big howdy to the Delong gang of Pedro.  Bruce also sends a big hello to all his co-workers and friends at the Division of Children's Services (or whatever the official name is, but you guys know how you are).  A Salute to you all. 

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