Scottsbluff, NE to Superior, CO

Mark and I arrived here at Martha's sister's family house in Superior, CO yesterday afternoon at about 2PM. Superior is just outside of Boulder and was a mining town established in the llate 1800s. It was a coal mining and ranching town known for its "superior" quality of coal. Although the coal may have been superior, it didn't hold out very long and the mine was closed in the 1940s. Remaining mostly a ranching community of about 800 people, over the past ten years the population has swelled to about 12,000! A planned community, it has all the stores as well as a hospital and so on. It is very nice.

We had a nice supper the night before in the Whiskey Creek Grill adjacent to the Candlelight Inn. Our ride started at 715Am due South on Hwy 71 through Gering and on to Kimball. On the ride out of Gering the flatlands gave way to rocky hills with some form of fir or spruce trees. Once over the mountains we descended on to the open plains and a stiff headwind. After about 55 miles we had breakfast at the Longhorn Restaurant (recommended by an older lady on the sidewalk) in Kimball. Definitely a local place, at 8AM there were eight farmer/rancher types having breakfast at a table together. Looked like they did it regularly. The sausage omelet is well-recommended, as is the grilled cheese with French fries.

Our next stop was to be about 40 miles south in Stoneham, CO at the intersection of 71 and 14. Unfortunately, Stoneham was only a crossroads: no fuel, no service. We turned west on Route 14 with a strong quartering wind coming in from the South. We stretched out our positions to allow room for the frequent gusts and ran through the Pawnee National Grassland. Check it out on the Web. Very pretty!

About 40 miles up the road was to be a gas station somewhere around Briggsdale according to the GPS. So as to not have to fiddle with it, Mark put the petcock on reserve. With 130 miles on the odometer we passed the closed gas station and I began to get nervous. My bike is good for 200 miles but we hadn't really tested how far the Triumph would go. Having a siphon on board, I knew I could always share my fuel if Mark needed it. We low-shifted and settled in at 55 mph in 5th gear, trying to eak out as many miles as we could without having to revert to siphoning from my bike.

At 153 miles we arrived at Ault and fueled up at the Casey's General Store ( a nice chain of gas stations and convenience stores). Mark's Triumph took 3.5 gallons; it has a 4.4 gallon tank so he was good for another 30 or so miles of conservative riding.

From Ault we continued west on Route 14 on to Fort Collins. It was south from Fort Collins along route 287 which varies from suburban sprawl strip mall stop and go to open 4-laner through more rural sections. In Longmont Mark spotted the Sol Skate Shop and we were able to get him some new skate shoes. He slept with them on last night!

Another uneventful 30-some-odd miles later we arrived at the Morales' home. Eve and her boyfriend Dave (from Panama and our companion on the overnight to the San Blas Islands several years ago) were home and waiting for us; Marcela and Lars were at work.

Lars and Marcela have a very nice home backing up to open land. There's a walking trail through the open land just in back of the house. They arrived home between 4 and 5; Mark and I had unloaded the bikes, gave the bikes a much needed bath and we each had a deserving shower.

Marcela made bistek picado, rice and tajaeas (plantain). Daren and his girlfriend Dominique joined us for supper and were then going out with friends. Marcela, Lars, Eve, Dave, Mark and I hung out and caught up.

Well, that's it for now from Superior, Co. Thinking of all of you and I'll try to Blog again tonight or tomorrow.

Lewis and Clark