DAY 33 SAT 10/10 CIMARRON TO TRINIDAD OR FREEZE YOUR BUTT OFF

Well, we started off this day with a lot of clothes on, knowing that it would be a pretty cold morning. But we look to the east and only see a light and limited amount of clouds. Oh what fools we are. We have rollers going downward and the countryside is the beginning of the plains. We see our first pronghorn antelope, lots of hawks and other birds and a large herd of bison that may be part of the Ted Turner herd. The cloud cover is increasing and getting more ominous, hummm. We are doing our best to keep warm, the cycling helps. After about 35 miles we get to the entrance to I-25 where we must ride on the freeway until Raton, 5 miles down the road. Chris is waiting for us there just to see if we are OK. We are, and he heads off to wait for us at the Raton Welcome Center. We are glad to have a warm RV and some welcome lunch waiting. After a rest it is over our last pass of this section of our ride across America. We are cool, but the wind is behind us and that is good. It is a long pass, but never too steep although the cold does drain some energy. Chris is waiting at the top and takes this photo of us, well clothed for the cold. We have made it over the Rocky Mountains!

We do however put on wind pants for the downhill which is 11 miles and sometimes a 6% grade. As we head down we are going slowly both to watch for road debris waiting to give us a flat and because of the cold, but with the wind at our back it isn't too bad. Then suddenly, about 4 miles from our goal, the wind from our back stops and we are into a head wind, a strong head wind and looking at a foggy cloud that is covering the Trinidad Valley area and the snow covered mountains to the west. WE ARE COLD! Oh my gosh, it is cold and the more downhill the colder it is getting. The head feels like a popsicle and the fingers don't feel at all. We go as slowly as we can to reduce the wind chill factor. Upon getting to the RV we run inside, tear off our jackets and each of us grabs a dog on our laps who instantly become our little personal heaters! Thank you Shorty and Hopper, you were there for us when we needed you. We had to warm up before showering and know that tomorrow we will have a very late start, waiting for it to warm up a bit. We hear on the Weather News that it is 29 and a chill factor of 22 which had to be a lot more when you are going 15 to 20 mph! Hopefully the weather channel is right and it will be warming a bit tomorrow than today!