Day 15 – Tumble weed and TORNADOS !

Total miles – 2384

Things that I have nearly killed today –
A family of ducks.
A lone duck.
A rat type thing.
A reptile type thing (may have already been dead)
Half a dozen birds.
A cat.
A tumbleweed.

Things that have nearly killed me today –
Rain.
Lots of pick up drivers.
A tumbleweed.

Got breakfast at the diner around the corner from the motel and then loaded up the scooter,bought a new 10 litre or 2 gallon Jerry can and then prepared to set off. Before I left I thought I would check the oil. I havent noticed any leaks since I had some work done in Chicago so I thought the level would still be high. When I pulled the dipstick out it was pretty much bone dry ! Now either all the oil had leaked out and the bike was somehow still running,the dipstick is about as accurate as the fuel gauge (not very) or my scooter is burning oil. If the latter was the case then you would expect some kind of acrid burnt oil smell when the engine was running which there isnt. It will be interesting to see how much oil comes out when I get it changed in Boulder tomorrow.

Last night there were big storms and I kept getting woken up by flashes of lighting lighting up the whole room.

The car park last night –

and the forecast for today looked pretty similar,so once again I donned the waterproofs,zipped the liner back into my jacket and hoped for the best. My rear tyre is now pretty much bald down the middle,kind of like myself so I was more paranoid than normal when taking corners in the rain. Luckily for me there weren’t many corners in store for me today.

Today is memorial day in America,a national holiday or as we call it in England a ‘bank holiday’. This meant that there were fewer gas stations open than normal so my new larger Jerry can saved me from being stranded at the side of the road a couple of times. Well done sensible brain.

After about half an hour on the road I eventually crossed the border into Colorado.

Today’s colour was grey –

I headed through the countryside on the 2 lane high way,dodging the massive pot holes and swerving around the road to keep myself entertained.

The first 50 miles or so of Colorado looked pretty similar to England,grey,wet and green but as I moved deeper into the state things got a little more interesting.

I was on this long, straight, windy  road for about 120 miles.

There some fairly big hills to climb and the weight of the extra fuel,the wind and the altitude meant I was dropping down to about 40mph at some points and my maximum speed was rarely over 50. Luckily the roads were empty today as must normal people were getting drunk,having bbqs or a mixture of the two.

After a couple of hours riding the rain got much much heavier. This was the kind of rain that hurts when it hits you and reduces your visibility down to about 20 meters . Luckily I was already riding well under the speed limit (not by choice) so I was able to navigate my way though the deluge until it finally cleared.

A few miles down the road I noticed some odd looking clouds on the horizon and it wasnt until I cleared my visor that I realised that they were not clouds but they were in fact the snow capped rocky mountains. As the clouds semi parted and revealed patches of bright blue sky I suddenly understood what everyone had been talking about when they spoke about the beauty of Colorado. This place is breathtaking.

Rocky mountains in the distance –

Blue sky ! –

I trundled along until I eventually pulled up to my hotel about 4 hours after I left this morning. After checking in I headed out for a walk to find a bar and got talking to the bar tender. He was an interesting guy who has travelled the country a lot more than most and he gave me some tips about things worth seeing along the way (hello if you are reading,sorry I cant remember your name). I drank three bottles of ‘hard’ cider and then headed back to the hotel for some food.

Fake Franc was quiet today,we are both feeling a little bit lonely out here on the road on our own. Its difficult spending a large proportion of the day trapped inside a helmet especially when you have as much going on in your head as I do. The messages I get every day from a select few help but I am missing everyone back home ,especially a couple of people as well as real Franco.

Now I am off for another tiny bath,to finish off my takeaway and then Im going to bed.

Tomorrow I head down to Boulder to get my tyres and oil changed,to visit the worlds biggest ball of yarn before starting my trek through the rocky mountains and stopping for the night it Granby.

Going up hill is going to be a struggle but going back down again should be dangerously fun.

NIGHT !

Oh yeah and there weren’t any tornados.

Also if you would like to follow where I am staying each night you can do so here –

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?authuser=0&authuser=0&hl=en&hl=en&mid=zxjhZ2KpKT4c.kXBUNAKPTecM