Day 12
   
   5/9/01
   Mile 1257
   Ft. Morgan, CO
   
   I walked across the street from the city park this morning and loaded
   up on pancakes and eggs at the local cafe.  They were quite friendly, and
   when I told them about the run-in I'd had with their police officer,
   they rolled their eyes and gave me a yeah-we've-heard-this-before
   look.  The officer was apparently well-known as being "overzealous", as they
   called it. He'd even stopped two guys walking into town.
   
   As I sat eating breakfast I realized that I had crossed, roughly, the
   one-quarter mark in terms of distance to Alaska.  Coincidentally, at
   the same time I was at the one-quarter mark in the elevation of Denali,
   for I was now at a bit over 5000 feet.
   
   After about an hour's pedaling, I got my first glimpse of the
   rockies, barely visible on the horizon.  They were completely snow-covered 
   due to the large accumulation last week.
   
   I headed due north to the town of Last Chance, continuing the uphill
   climb under fair skies.  I felt bit better than I had yesterday, but
   still the fatigue of a daily "century" ride for nearly two weeks
   without a day off was beginning to wear on me.  Rest can come later, however;
   I'm determined to keep putting miles "in the bank" while the sun shines,
   because I will no doubt need them when I'm pinned down by bad weather.
   
   At Last Chance, which is about the size of my back yard, I stopped at
   the Dairy King for a quick bite.  Later, a man stopped asking how far
   it was to get gasoline, and was told 36 miles.  Now doesn't the town's
   name sound like it would be a place to fill up?  That's what he
   thought, too.  I have to say I've been laughing at the skyrocketing gas
   prices - that can only be good news for me, since it keeps traffic off the
   roads, and RVs in particular.
   
   Continuing north, I went past ever more fields, mind-boggling in size,
   that stretched to the horizon.  Occasional clover patches provided a
   splash of purple to the otherwise standard-issue green or brown.
   
   About 2pm, the skies began forming dark clouds, and by 3pm, it was
   cause for mild concern, with streaks of rain to the ground in the
   distance.  Here we go again, trying to outflank the rain while on a bike.  I
   powered up some and pushed against the headwind for while.  Not
   helping any was the pig farm upwind, which made hard breathing less than 
   pleasant.  Luckily all I got was a few drops - these rains are ones that
   typically form while coming off the mountains to the west in the early
   afternoon, and usually spend themselves out by 5 or 6pm.  That's one reason I
   stayed a considerable distance to the east on my route; the other reason was
   to avoid Denver traffic, the 7th worst in the nation.
   
   I rolled into Ft. Morgan, and saw winged cherubims blowing golden
   trumpets above the Pizza Hut, so I took it as a sign from on high.
   But sometimes, people aren't ready to hear the question you're asking:
   
   Clerk:  So do you want that on thin crust, pan style, or hand tossed?
   Me:  Whatever has the most calories.
   Clerk:  OK, that would be thin crust.
   Me:  No, I said the MOST calories.
   Clerk:  Most? (clearly she had never heard of a question like that)
   Ummm, that would be pan, then.
   Me:  OK, good.  Say, do you know any place to camp around here?
   Clerk:  Ummm, no, but let me ask some people and I'll let you know.
   
   [I go to the restroom and return a bit later]
   
   Clerk:  I didn't know if you could camp in the park, so I just called
   the police department and asked.  They said they'd send someone out to
   talk to you about it.
   Me (incredulous look):  They're sending an officer over here?  Why?
   Clerk:  Well, they don't have much to do here.
   
   Sigh.  Here we go again.....

Yesterday - Today's Photos - Tomorrow