Fowler ---> Colorado Springs; 68 miles (+ a surprise car ride because of thunder), 1,892 ft
We're in the mountains folks. It is so exciting. Today as we biked out of Fowler, I could literally see the ecology changing before my very eyes. The plains transitioned to desert, and the flatness transitioned to not flatness.
The mountains are beautiful but intimidating. Today, as we sat around our Warm Showers host's table, I learned that we will be biking Vail pass. Vail pass is the 10,662 ft high mountain pass that we will take to get over the Rockies. It's significant to me because every February break before college, my mom's work would have their work retreat in Vail (Vail is also a destination ski town). All the parents on the work retreat would bring their kids to ski, so I have skied at Vail many winters. Biking over Vail pass is not something I ever thought I would do, but I am very excited to attempt it.
The biking today was lovely but long. And we saw such wild things along the way!
A prickly pear (Opuntia polyacantha):
A plant which goes by many common names including, and wish we at first thought were tiny watermelons growing on the side of the road: buffalo gourd/calabazilla/chilicote/fetid wild pumpkin/Missouri gourd/prairie gourd/stinking gourd, etc (Cucurbita foetidissima):
So many prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), and Franklin and I both spotted a barn owl (Tyto alba) on the side of the road (alive), just standing there looking a little lost!
We also spotted our most wild spot of the day, which was a fellow touring cyclist!! Caleb, started biking in Chicago and will finish biking in Chicago, and they are doing a huge loop around the midwest and southern US! We tried out riding their single speed bike (wild), and we also snapped a pic all together! This has been our first touring cyclist we've met and chatted with on the road so it was very exciting! Best of luck wiht your travels Caleb :)
At this point in our trip, it feels like you (the blog readers) know us (the bloggers) pretty well. But what you may not know is which member of the Spokes team you would be. And I would like to change that. So, without further ado, the Official MIT Spokes personality quiz: https://www.buzzfeed.com/simlass/which-mit-spokes-member-are-you-aa7nmpr4l1
Please let us who you get by commenting on this very blog post. Or keep it a secret. Whatever you want.
That is all for this edition. A short post. A long day. Exciting blogs coming. A few pictures I want to share with you.
New tattoo inspiration.
Restful.
Couple of dinosaurs.
Talk to ya l8r.
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