Mood:  energetic

This should be a great day.  The weather looks good.  The distance is shorter than normal, only 50 miles.  And at some point I will be in Colorado, the fifth state of this journey.

My plan for the day was to start out early again, and get close to Walden, my destination, before the winds get too brisk.  Since there were no towns or stops enroute, I bought a sandwich at the grocery after breakfast, and hit the road.

The whole terrain was changing.  There is still prairie but the mountains are not distant anymore, and the flatness is changing more into hills, much like the terrain changes to hills soiuth of Indianapolis.

The country is pretty, and the miles go quickly.  Whereas I almost always see one or more touring bicyclers heading west each day, today I came across a touring bicycle group.  They were part of a "supported" ride which means that the organizing group plans the route, secures places to camp at the end of the day, does all the cooking and carries all of the gear.  There were about 30 in the group.

I crossed paths with a lady, not part of the aforementioned group, who had started in St. Augustine, Florida, and was headed for Oregon.  Her cousin was driving along as support which meant, of course, that the rider was unencumbered by carrying gear.   She seemed to be making good time, and I asked her how far she liked to ride each day.  It depends, she replied, but she had donw three 100 mile days, a 90 miler and an 80 miler.  So much for my measly 50-60 miles per day. 

Colorado State Line!  Another milestone.

 As I neared Walden, I could see in my mirrors a touring bicycler approaching from behind.  It was Slade.  He had a few too many beers last night, and started several hours behind me, yet still caught up.  A really nice fellow in his mid 20's, he was in great shape.  We rode into town together.  It was 2 PM.

Walden was much nicer than I expected and bigger than I expected.  It's population is only 734, but it seemed vibrant.  It gave all the appearance of being a bustling, prosperous community.

Around 5:30 PM I decided to get dinner.  I started walking down the street towards the restaurant that I had chosen.  On the way I noticed another touring bicycler who just arrived in town.  I walked over to see if everything was okay, and we chatted for few minutes.  Then I took leave and walked across the street to the restaurant.

Those of you who have followed the foibles and hembling experiences of this journey know that God has taken this adventure to both teach me some lessons and encourage me to be more accepting of what He desires of me.  In return, I promised to be more outspoken about His involvement in my life.  There have been so many things that have happened that I believe are His work, and what happened next is one of them.

To set the stage, let me say that several months ago, a Fort Wayne friend of my mother had emailed me about a fellow whom I went to elementery school with, Doug Rood.  I remembered he and his family, but never touched base with him even though Mother's friend had given me some contact information.  So the story continues.  A couple and I reached the door to the restaurant at the exact same time.  I held the door for them, and they returned the compliment with the inside door.  As we were waiting to be seated, I said "Where are you folks from?".  The lady turned around and replied "Well, I am from Indianapolis."  "Another Hoosier", I rejoiced.  "I knew there was something about you I liked!  I'm originally form Fort Wayne."  Then she said "Then you might know my companion.  He is from Fort Wayne."  It was Doug Rood.

We dined together and talked about many things from past to present.  He and his companion are expert birders and the area surrounding Walden is the Arapahoe Wildlife Refuge and is loaded with birds.  I don't know why God brought Doug and I together.  Perhaps there was something that He wanted me to learn.  Or perhaps for Doug to learn.  Or both.  But I don't believe that coincidences like that are really coincidences.  It was an enjoyable meal with some wonderful dining companions.

Tomorrow things get harder.  Trail Ridge looms two days away, possibly the most difficult bicyling day of the trip.  Just to get to a jumping off spot, I had a 70 mile day tomorrow ,including going over Willow Creek Pass, at an elevation of over 9,600'.  I would need all my strength to do Trail Ridge so I hoped I would not use it all tomorrow.

Will McMahan