The Route So Far - Google Maps


View X-America by Bicycle in a larger map

Why?

We are doing this ride to raise money for Research Autism. We are aiming to raise £20,000.
We are supporting Research Autism because my cousin Jamie is severely affected by the disease, and I have seen its effects not only on him but on the whole family." He is 13yrs old, but cannot yet talk.
Just take a moment to imagine not being able to talk.
Imagine understanding everything going on around you, but not being able to comment.
Imagine having to be dressed every morning in clothes you don't choose, and then hurting your parents as you try to tell them you wanted the blue shirt today.
Imagine being swamped by having to hear everything that everyone is saying around you, and not being able to listen to just one thing at once. Jamie loves being in a swimming pool, just floating, legs held motionless by the weight of the water, while he keeps his ears underwater to just relax, hearing nothing.
He understands everything - he appears to have a photographic memory - but can’t get his thoughts out.
Frustration leads to despair, and anger, which is just one of the many things that his family has to deal with.
He has extremely specific eating requirements and requires round the clock supervision. Jamie is at the severe end of the autistic spectrum, but given that one in 100 people suffer from the disease (with varying severity), and that everyone has some autistic traits, it is shocking that so little is known about it'.
Click here to support our cause and donate to Research Autism.
Read the "Meet Jamie" post - the only post in February, for more information about Jamie, and a poem - painstakingly slow for Jamie to type, but ultimately incredible.

Photo Video - New York to St Louis

May 31, 2010

Pueblo, CO

 


A rare photo of the two of us - some no hands skill required...

Day 35 Ordway to Pueblo, 55 miles, 1 burger, Alex's tire acting up. Total 3609kms, 82 burgers (29 days riding - average 76.7 miles per day)

As usual with days when we have a long time to do not very much, we did this 55 miles very slowly. We left the motel at 8 having eaten, and slowly moved our way into the wind and the heat (it was more than 30 degrees by 9).

We met two other cyclist's, who seemed extremely similar to us - they were going from San Francisco to Washington, in two months - having just finished college. They had come over the Rocky's the same way we are going, and it was great to hear from them what it was like. I am really looking forward to it, despite the 6000ft climb we are doing tomorrow morning. They said that they came through snow-storms, and boiling heat and that the scenery was amazing but that it really is "the loneliest road in america" there are some stretches with no services for 70 miles! Have a look at their blog - www.baa3000.blogspot.com - They cycled 170 miles in the day we saw them - in celebration of finally hitting the flats and making good use of the serious head winds we faced.

We carried on - having to stop every half hour or so to pump up Alex's tire which was constantly getting flats. We checked the tyre for thorns and spikes and found none - but no matter how many tubes we put in there, they kept going down. We decided just to keep pumping and limp in. Thank you so much to Tom for the pump he gave us - we had to throw out our pumps in St Louis, as neither had survived the first third of our trip (don't buy a Topeak Mini morph pump).

We got to Pueblo just after 1.30, and went straight to a mexican restaurant. The mexican restaurants in Pueblo are special. We didn't want to go straight to the much needed bike shop, as we knew neither of us were thinking straight - too much heat and not enough food.

After our taco's and burrito's, we went to The Great Divide bike shop - who helped us a lot - they taught us how to fix gear cables, and we bought a spare in case Alex's gives out too. They also managed to fix Alex's tire, and he has brought a special heavy puncture resistant tube because the tires are beginning to wear out after being ridden on for more the 2500 miles. This means it is likely that we will get more punctures. If you would like to add to the donation of 5 pounds a puncture the Morton's have sponsored, send me an email. We also bought extra spare spokes - we don't think that there will be very many places to get them in the next 1000 miles.

Our Couchsurfing efforts didn't come through, there was a lot of confusion and we ended up checking into a motel that gave us a good rate. We went all out at supper and got a whole load of beer and beef to celebrate being done with nothingness!

Kansas was hot and windy and mostly flat (although do not tell someone from Kansas it is flat - they celebrate every molehill - we often got told about the "serious" hill's we would come to in western kansas - lies). The nice thing was that Kansas was also very green. There are consistent storms from the mountains, and this has been a rainy year. It is flat and monotonous, but would have been a whole lot worse had it been dusty and dirty and brown.

Eastern Colorado was much like Kansas, just slightly more desert like - the soils were sandier, which meant vegetation was courser - spindly and hard - drought-resistant. It was a remarkable change, one of many along the way. I think it is because Eastern Colorado is in the rainshadow of the rocky's: getting only 25 inches of rain a year, compared to the 40 inches a year in western kansas, and the 60 inches a year in Kansas city. (To put it in perspective London and Nairobi both average 40 inches a year).
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