Pedal the Plains was a blast

Around the time I committed to doing Ride the Rockies, my aunt came across another Colorado ride called Pedal the Plains. It was its inaugural year, but the appeal of flat lands vs. Rockies was immediately appealing to my family. My aunt sent out an e-mail to the family, and we got 5 committed souls to Pedal the Plains in September. Getting into the spirit of things, and after hearing about all the shenanigans that happens during RAGBRAI, my aunt created a team name for us (the Landsharks), and team t-shirts and fins for our helmets.  These fins should have made us more aerodynamic, but I'm convinced otherwise.

Lo and behold, we find non-genetically (?) modified corn on the plains.

My training was embarrassingly non-existent for this ride.  After doing Ride the Rockies in June, I took the Diva into my favorite bike shop, and short of a weekend ride between Edwards and Vail, I really didn't ride too much at all.  But the route seemed pretty achievable, and in this case, the ride was all about FUN.  Lots of parties, BBQs, and excuses to ride with fins on our helmets. But, the ride was short, so I figured no matter what shape I was in, I could power through it.  And if you're in Colorado looking to do a fun, short and (relatively) easy ride, you might enjoy this one.
There were about 1,000 riders for the 3-day event.  It is organized by the same people who do Ride the Rockies, so you will find this ride better supported than some other rides around the country.  There are plenty of support vehicles that will take you as little as 5 miles down the road if you just need to catch a break, or catch up with your friends, or will take you to the beer garden at the end of route host city.  Did I mention they have beer?  Colorado breweries represent on this ride, with lots of choices from Oskar Blues, Odell Brewery and Left Hand (who can do no wrong in my book). 
For your meals, you are on your own (no meal plan is included), but the communities do a good job of covering you.  Some of the breakfasts were a little weak, but that was more than made up for when stopping in the lunchtime stops of Eckley (day 1) and Idalia (day 2). There were a significant number of food options.  The lone vegetarian in our group sometimes felt a little left out (this is cow country, after all, so the number of red meat options were large), but at the end of the day, there was always a couple of options for her to choose from. As far as sleeping goes, they have support for just about every option you can envision.  For camping, you can camp inside or outside (with your tent, it got pretty cold at night to consider under the stars in a sleeping bag), they have a tent service that will provide you with a tent and sleeping bags.  You can also bring your RV, or sleep with a local host.

Not just plains, the town of Wray had beautiful sweeping bluffs

We chose the RV route, and had no issues in finding parking at any of the host communities.
Besides Ride the Rockies, this was probably one of my favorite rides.  Even so, there were a couple of things I would probably have changed if I could. First of all, I would have either altered the route, the days we rode or both.  On the last day, which was a Sunday, we were to ride from Burlington to Yuma, a total of 83 miles. Think about it.  Most people are going to average around 10 mph, and they are to get to Burlington by 3 pm?  Unfortunately, that meant that a few of our group either skipped Sunday entirely or had the RV drop them in partway through the course. Either way, not really maximizing enjoyment.  If they shortened the route on the last day (as most rides do) or even schedule the ride so the last day is on a Friday or Saturday, people may have been more relaxed.  The other thing, which I must warn you about, is there are many cattle out in Eastern Colorado.  A few years ago I heard somewhere that Eastern Colorado/Western Kansas is where McDonald's gets most of its beef.  And maybe watching the cattle graze on the prairie is relaxing.  Unfortunately, you do go by some pretty significant feed lots (one had over 111,000 head of cattle).  And having so many cows living on top of each other, you do get a certain amount of "aroma" and flies.  But nothing that would stop me from enjoying this ride again next year.  It was great, and I hope to see you there.

Me at the finish line with my "Landshark Fin"

Hello World

My passion is cycling tours. My goal is to do a multi-day cycling tour in each of the 50 states. I've conquered 3 states so far, so I have quite a ways to go. I hope to share with you my experiences. And what I hope to get from you, dear reader is input on the best cycling tours in the US to experience.