Sat. 8th June

62 miles Eads to Ordway

Eads is officially half way point, and I have been cycling for 5 weeks. Last night I caught up with Mark and Julie who I have been tailing ever since I arrived in the U.S. They stayed with the same hosts in Washington as I did. They are riding a tandem bike, but an unusual one, as Julie sits on a special seat on the front and Mark steers from the back. This is because Julie has joint problems and can no longer manage the trip on a normal bike. It is very hard work and they have had to push the bike up some of the larger hills.
      I continued to cycle through arid plains country today. The creeks are all dried up and the rainfall has been tailing off for the past three years. Yesterday I passed Sandy Creek where 200 Cheyenne Indians were massacred (mainly women, children and elderly). Buffalo no longer wander the plains.

     For the first 21 miles there was a steady uphill gradient Reaching over four and a half thousand feet. Then It was a roller coaster trip down a decline as the wind buffeted from the back and side. I had to concentrate to keep the bike straight, but peddle hardly at all. The ground scrub is diminishing but there are cactus and clouds of dust are blown into the sky.

      Tonight I am staying with Gillian (as are Mark and Julie). 
She has a 7 acre small holding which she runs in organic style. As a cyclist you stay for free but must help out, I have been moving water butts and clearing dry grass (which is a fire hazard). It is an oasis of a place. Despite the fact that fire destroyed everything 5 years ago, there are plants, bushes and young trees. There are goats, guinea fowl and geese- 2 families of geese both with goslings. 
Water is scarce and Gillian sprouts barley and feeds the green shoots to the animals. This is cheaper  and more nutritious than buying hay, which is not always available as there is no water to produce it. It is a great example of what can be done, and contrasts with some of the run down farms which I have cycled past.