Benkelman, NE --> Boulder, CO

It's been a really fun couple of days since arriving in Benkleman. Our second evening in Benkleman, the town threw us a BBQ fundraiser. There was music, hamburgers, hot dogs, and socializing. People made donations and bought pickles and desserts and the proceeds all went to the team. There were a bunch of kids running around getting the team to sign their shirts, which was pretty cool. It's like we're famous in Benkleman!

The next day from Benkleman into Yuma, Colorado was one of the most fun days on the trip so far. It was only 68 miles so we took our time. We crossed into Colorado pretty early on in the ride, which really blew my mind. Colorado is really the West of the country so I was pretty psyched. We stopped and took pictures as usual. Sadly, however, one group didn't notice the sign and didn't get to take any pictures. Soon after our arrival into Colorado, we had an amazing water stop. Our van driver stopped at a local community center to ask if the team could use their bathroom and found a couple of old ladies. They said, of course we could use their bathrooms, but did we also think we could help them finish their food? Apparently, they had just had a high school reunion and had TONS of leftovers and didn't want to take them all home. So for our water stop, we had pies, and pasta salads, and chips, and potatoes and all sorts of other things. The ladies were really nice and told us that they wanted to give us all hats that said "Laird High School Reunion" on them, but they didn't have enough there. So at the end of the day, they drove out to Yuma, with the hats and gave them to the whole team! They were really nice and said that the 4k needs to keep in touch with them and maybe they can arrange steaks for lunch next year. They were really great women! Later in the day, we had lunch with a cowboy at a random little flea market store in the middle of nowhere. He was really friendly and let us take over his store for a while.
We had a few other interesting encounters throughout the day. One was with a local state senator. My group passed a cyclist going the opposite direction and he waved and we all kept going. However, apparently after seeing two more of our groups he turned around and started riding with them. The group found out that he was a Nebraska state senator, which is pretty neat. Another encounter was with what I am 90% sure was a rattlesnake. A teammate and I heard something rattling and then saw something slithering through the grass in a snakelike fashion. Finally, we rode past some fields that were just PACKED with cows. The fields went forever in every direction and we later found out it was a feedlot and has 140,000 cows in it. It was pretty gross and made me briefly (very briefly) consider if I could give up eating red meat. I really like beef but something about the feedlot seemed pretty gross.
We ended the day with homestays! I stayed with a really really nice couple named Bob and Darlene, who gave us a tour of Yuma and beds to sleep in. They had a 19 year old son who for breakfast had a protein shake and bacon tacos, which I thought was funny and not really a nutritious breakfast.

The next couple days were not as exciting but still pretty good. We got our first glimpse of the Rockies in Wiggins, the next night and they just kept getting bigger and bigger into Boulder. Now we're in Boulder and they're pretty massive. We're at about 5,000 feet above sea level and have another 7,000 to go to the top of Trail Ridge Road. Boulder is a pretty neat town with lots of shops and it is very cycling friendly. They have really nice bike lanes and tons of people riding bikes everywhere. It's a nice place to spend our last day before the really tough biking begins.