Rider’s Narrative Summary – Cross Colorado North to South
This was a record attempt crossing Colorado from North (Cheyenne, WY) to South
(Raton, New Mexico) by Julie Lyons and Jerry Schemmel on August 20, 2018
starting at 5:43 am from the zero mile marker on Hwy 85 on the
Wyoming/Colorado state line. Conditions were brisk but clear. We were
surprised at the amount of traffic along Hwy 85 early on Monday morning but
apparently, many folks live outside of and commute to Greeley. Who knew? We
literally had traffic on most of this route until after Pueblo so you must enjoy
riding with cars to attempt this record. We are attempting four records this
summer and this was number 3 of 4. We are making these record attempts while
fundraising for a local literacy program for children. We were lucky in that the
weather was relatively mild for this attempt with temperatures in the high 70’s.
We did face quite a bit of headwind for most of the route and smoky air
conditions due to multiple fires in CA blowing our way. We both brought and
rode a road bike and a TT bike. We used the TT bikes during the flatter sections
and road bike in the city and when climbing the last 75 miles. We had two
vehicles, one for each racer and in each vehicle there was a driver, navigator and
WUCA official. We packed coolers in each vehicle with food and drinks for crew as
well as any race nutrition we needed for ourselves.
The best part was completing the record attempt with smiles on our faces and
enjoying the ride. The hardest part was dealing with the traffic in the cities of
Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo. Nothing unusual happened during this
ride and we finished at 11:55 pm at the top of Raton pass adjacent to the State
Weigh Station underneath the Welcome to New Mexico sign. We used Google
Maps to pinpoint both our start and finish to be certain we were directly on the
state lines on both ends. We completed the ride in 18 hours 12 minutes.
Respectfully Submitted by Julie Lyons 08/27/2018
