Day 55, Eads to Fowler, Colorado.

This is the down pour that took place minutes after we checked into the Blue Sky Motel.

Fowler, Colorado. Our refuge from the storm.

The train station in Fowler.

Ordway has a really nice high school.

Sugar City, once a thriving sugar town.


This is probably the caboose to the long train we saw.

This cafe in Sugar City was where we ate lunch.

I took a break in the middle of no where. My bike waited for me. Lisa didn't.

This train was between eleven and thirteen miles long. Really, honest Indian. It was abandoned and left there to rot.

One of the hundreds of art work we saw on the train.

This cow was out on the side of the road. Either he got out, or he just roams where ever he goes.

I almost ran over this snake. I came with in inches from it. I'm glad he didn't try to bite me, cause he could have with no problem. I don't know what kind it is, but I wasn't taking any chances.

This is Greg from Arkansas, he is riding for the Alzheimer's Foundation.


This is said to be the nation's smallest jail house. At least that's what the sign said.

I thought this house was kind of neat. The guy must have said,"You know what? I'm moving to Hawaii."

His neighbor probably said the same thing.

Here's the sign that said "The Nation's Smallest Jail".

These combine drivers must have taken the 4th of July weekend off.

Okay train, I'm waiting.

Desolation, this picture tells it's own story.

A closer look at life on the plains.

Meet Ray Ward. The manager of the Blue Sky Motel, and the Mayor of the town of Fowler.

Down town Ordway. With the only hotel full, and no bathroom in the park, we fled this town.

The longest train I have ever seen.



I thought that was a town off in the distance. It was, but only had a population of 84.

Leaving Eads, our earliest start yet.


Day 55, Eads to Fowler, Colorado. “Saved Again”. 81.02 miles. Total= 2351.1 miles.

We got started early today. We had a 60 plus mile day planned, and we wanted to take advantage of the cool temperature, and the tail wind that was still in our favor. Since nothing was open, we ate what we had in our room, and was on the road by 6:45AM. With the tail wind aiding us, we were able to maintain an average speed of about 14 miles an hour. The roads were flat, we had cloud cover, and we were well rested from our day off. A few miles out of town, we heard a horse whinnying. I looked to my right, and there was a pony running along side us just on the other side of a fence. He was really moving along. I shouted out to Lisa so she could see him, he was actually running faster than we were moving and passed us. After a quarter of a mile, he gave up, and started back the other way. That was so cool, it was like he wanted to come with us.
Shortly after that, a deer ran across the road in front of us, and ran along the fence in the same direction we were going. It was hopping, like an antelope. At first I wasn’t sure what it was, but figured it was a deer because of its size………………………….. We met an east bounder by the name of Greg. He was alone, and stopped to talk story. Greg was from Arkansas and started if San Francisco, going to Yorktown. He and a few of his buddies were riding for the Alzheimer’s Foundation. Good luck Greg, and thanks for the bear spray. I hope the pepper spray helps you out in Kentucky……………………… As we left the town of Haswell, a small town with a population of 84, we stopped at the park where they boast the nation’s smallest jail. I guess it was the only attraction there, but unless you had absolutely nothing better to do, it wasn’t worth the stop. I did take a picture though.
About a half later, we reached the town of Arlington. It had a population of about three we didn‘t even stop. As we passed through, we noticed an abandoned train. I couldn’t believe how long the thing was. Somewhere Lisa read that it was eleven miles long. I think it was longer, maybe thirteen miles. It went from Arlington all the way to Sugar City and beyond. Sugar City was where we had lunch at a nice little café. There were only a couple of folks in there, and we talked with them as we ate. Nice folks every where we went. Sugar City we found out used to be a big sugar manufacturing town with two big mills. They made sugar from beets. I think that’s what the train was there for.
Ordway was only 6 miles further, a piece of cake. I was tempted to go sight seeing just to kill some time. Good thing I didn’t. The only hotel in Ordway was full, and the park where we would have camped had no bathroom. Not good for Lisa. She gets really grumpy if there’s no bathroom. So we decided to push on to the town of Fowler, sixteen miles down the road. As we were headed to Fowler, the sky ahead of us started to darken. It didn’t look good. We knew what it was like to ride in a storm, so we picked up our pace to try to out run it. I saw a flash of lightning, and thought “OH OH!”, but luckily for us, Fowler was two miles off route to the south. This took us out of the path of the storm.
We found the Blue Sky Motel. No one was in the office, so Lisa called the manager who was on their way back from Pueblo. He would be here in ten minutes. When he got here, he told us that there was a hail storm just up the road toward Pueblo where we will be heading tomorrow, shortly after checking in. The rain started pouring down with a vengeance, and lightning and thunder shook the ground. It was hell on earth. Can you imagine if we were out on the road just thirty more minutes? It would have been real bad. I believe again that The Lord held the storm back until we were safe. I believe all the prayers of our families and friends are partly responsible for our well being. And I thank The Lord for His Protection.
Tomorrow is a short day because of the extra sixteen miles we covered today. Thank you for all your prayers, we miss you all. Ted.