Hello GoldenCup-2021 Mission Control Team,
Today (Tuesday) was a beautiful day to ride from Canon City, CO, to Sugar City, CO, with very comfortable temperatures and a slight headwind. I arrived safely in Sugar City at 7:15 PM after riding 118.69 miles, according to Strava.
This included a quick detour to meet Troy Deaton and get a tour of his business, Westwind Wood Products, which makes hardwood cabinet doors and ships them across the U.S. He was following the ride on social media and reached out to see if we could meet since his business is very close to the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. His daughter, Wren, is being mentored by a young lady in our church at North Manchester due to her hearing disability. It was great to meet Troy and be reminded that we indeed live in a small world.
I’d like to share another neat thing that happened today that I believe is not a coincidence. My wife and expert SAG driver, Rebecca, came across a cyclist team in Canon City who needed a ride to Pueblo due to one of them having a bike wreck and hurting their knee. Rebecca gladly transported John and Kristin and their bikes to Pueblo. The interesting part of the story is that we met John and Kristin last week when we were invited to eat breakfast at a “bicycle house” in Saratoga, WY, by other new friends, Tim and Rebekah. If Kristin had not already met us last week, she may not have been comfortable talking to Rebecca today in Canon City about getting a ride to Pueblo.
When arriving tonight in Sugar City, we were met by Robert (Robbie) Tooker and his wife, Nina. I had called the Town Hall number a few months ago to see if we could park our little RV at the Sugar City Park, and Robbie called me back and welcomed us to Sugar City. Since that call a few months ago, he was inspired to get approval from the Town Board to create a new cycling camp, and has already completed much of it, including campsites with charcoal grills, a water hydrant, and porta-pot. It was great to meet Robbie and Nina and learn some of the history of Sugar City.
Tomorrow the plan is to ride to Tribune, KS, which is about 112 miles away.
Thanks again for all your support to help bring clean water to seven communities in Malawi!
Inspired and thankful,
Michael
