TransBallard: Day 53

08 July 2012 Frisco CO 0 miles (TransAm 2,411) Gina is in street clothes today, bumming around Frisco, catching up and hanging out with Colorado friends and family. No miles to be made on the TransAm route, no alarm clocks going off at 5:30 am. Instead, a day to enjoy the Rockies and the King …

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TransBallard: Day 52

07 July 2012 Hartsel to Frisco CO 54 miles (TransAm 2,411) Hoosier Pass. Sounds like it should be somewhere in Indiana rather than Colorado. But there it is – Hoosier Pass – and Team TransAm has successfully climbed up it and then coasted right back down. I don’t know what the big deal is – …

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TransBallard: Day 51

06 July 2012 Royal Gorge to Hartsel CO 54 miles (TransAm 2,357) Rumor has it Gina has started doping. It seems there is no other plausible explanation for her sudden 24-mile-long sprint up into the Rockies, aiming for that King of the Mountains jersey, passing everyone today except Ubald (serious yellow jersey candidate) and Simon, …

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TransBallard: Day 50

05 July 2011 Royal Gorge CO 0 miles (TransAm 2,303) The other night I saw this advertisement for the first time and I thought, Yep, that’s me, cast as the girl on the computer and yep, there’s Gina and her fellow TransAmmers, playing the role of my parents: The only real difference is that today, …

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TransBallard: Day 49

04 July 2012 Pueblo to Royal Gorge CO 60 miles (TransAm 2,303) “I’ve never been a fan of Canon City – it’s home to several correctional facilities.” And so begins another day in the life of Gina and her bicycle as they cross this great nation. It’s hot, there’s lots of traffic, and it’s loud. …

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TransBallard: Day 48

03 July 2012 Ordway to Pueblo 52 miles (TransAm 2,243) I thought Obama was on a bus rolling through Ohio and yet there he is, in the Mexican restaurant outside of Pueblo, Colorado, stumping with Gina and her brother Mark. This is not a political blog so all I have to say is that he’s …

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TransBallard: Day 47

02 July 2012 Eads to Ordway CO 61 miles (TransAm 2,191) Well, it seems that eastern Colorado actually has nothing on Kansas, at least not in terms of scenery or road safety. The excitement of yesterday’s border crossing was tempered today by semi-trucks passing within a hair’s width of a hair and no paved shoulder …

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TransBallard: Day 46

01 July 2012 Leoti KS to Eads CO 80 miles (TransAm 2,130) Some days out on the bicycle are best summarized by their highs and lows, of which Gina sent me her list for the day (followed by my own commentary, of course). Let’s start with the lowlights so we can end on a high …

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TransBallard: Day 45

30 June 2012 Ness City to Leoti KS 81 miles (TransBallard 2,050) Phone Conversation: Gina: The nice thing about staying in the churches is that you have even more space to spread out individually as well as to hang out as a group than in the motel rooms. Dena: Yeah, I guess it’s like you’re …

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TransBallard: Day 44

29 June 2012 Larned to Ness City KS 64 miles (TransAm 1,969) According to Gina, besides trying to get cows to moo back at you, there is really only one other thing to do to entertain yourself when you are cycling 305 miles on a straight stretch of road through western Kansas: practice your wave. …

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