Day 11: Fri. Aug. 9

I woke up around 6 and grabbed some hotel breakfast. I knew that today would be the start of my hill rides. My body was tired from the long day yesterday but I had to keep going.
I left the hotel around 8:15 and headed out on 61north then onto 77 north.
Today the rain seemed eminent. The clouds were dark so I checked my weather map often.
The clouds were nice though… it was not to hot to ride.
I made it to Chaffee at about 11 and stopped at the gas station for a rest. The hills where starting to wear me down already. After 20 minutes or so I jumped back on my bike and headed out again. But, as I looked west I saw wall of rain headed across the corn fields… I turned around and went back. There was an eating area at the gas station so I decided to just wait it out.

As soon as I pulled up under the canopy, it started to rain. I got a cup of coffee and started working on my next few days of ride planning. I talked to one of the managers for a bit and she said to stay as long as nesesary… That ended up being around 2 hrs. or more.
I kept watching the radar and it looked like it would pass and clear up which it started to do around 1pm. Jumped back on the bike and headed out. I was only half way to my destination.
The sun started to pop out and that made it get hot and humid. But after a long break I was feeling much better.
There wasn’t much to see today except a few lonely ghost towns and farm fields.

I made it to Jackson around 3:30.
I rode past a small diner and pulled in for a snack. I had a great time chatting about my trip with a local couple for about half an hour. He use to do a lot of biking but no longer could. He shared a few stories about his adventures.

After a while they left and I jumped back on the bike in search of a place to stay. There were only two hotel I could find so I spoke with the manager about my ride and was able to get a reduced rate for the night.
I settled in for the long evening and enjoyed the complimentary dinner in the lobby cafe.
I was able to talk to a few people about my trip and to one guy about my Tough Mudder experience… I was wearing my shirt… He was thinking about doing soon.
After dinner I did my laundry for the first time this week… it was in real need.
I went to bed around 10:30.