Denver - Cody - 506miles Temp - avg 75F, high 86F  I awoke this morning at 0330hrs after only 5hrs sleep, but I suppose my body clock is telling me it is 1030hrs UK time, oh to be a teenager again and sleep till 2pm. With waking up so early I watched TV for a few hours hoping to fall back to sleep. After watching Tv for a few hours I was suprised that there are so many obese people in America and also suprised that they are not all millionaires, because if they would just watch early morning TV they would have the answers to all their problems......"guaranteed!!!!" I felt as though I had stepped back in time when I saw the old fashioned phone in the room, at least it had push buttons and not a rotating dial.  From the Motel I rang a taxi to take me to the bike hire shop and again things ran as smooth as clockwork. But yet again he drove almost the whole trip either on the phone or looking at an A-Z street map held on the steering wheel. Little did I know the supprise that was in store for me at the bike hire shop. On arrival at Colorado BikeTours I got a very friendly greeting off Bill, he then finished dealing with the customer he was seeing to, we then sat down to conclude our business, with me thinking I just had to pay the remaining $985 from the invoice I had been sent by AdMo Tours before getting the keys and being on our way. Imagine my suprise when Bill drops a bombshell on me and tells me AdMo Tours had made a mistake on the invoice and had only charged me for 8 days instead of the 15 days I had requested and which was actually stated on the invoice. He informed me they had only JUST noticed this discrepancy despite me making the booking 9 months previously and also emailing them two weeks previous to confirm everything was still ok. After much discussion, and explaining to him that I expected that having paid them deposits on the strength of that invoice that the invoice was a legally binding document. Bill told me if I did not pay the extra $1300 I had two choices, one, take the bike for 8 days, two, I need not take the bike and he would refund my deposit. At the time we tried ringing AdMo Tours but there was no answer on their phone as they did not seem to work at weekends. Now I knew cowboys originally came from America, but this one was not even wearing a cowboy hat or a six shooter. As my short and curlys were now beeing squeezed so tightly I backed down and paid the excess amount just so as to get on with the trip as it was obvious Bill had nothing to loose by not letting me take the bike, and I in comparison had a trip of a lifetime to loose. I tried not to let this incident affect my trip, hoping that on my return to the UK I would be able to get this sorted out by Visa as all the bills had been paid using my card, but this had put a serious dent in the budget I had allocated for this trip and would require a signifcant time on my return to repay. My hire bike.....................eventually  UPDATE - 8 Dec 2009 - After much discussion with AdMo Tours and also Visa I was told legally I did not have a claim against them as I signed a contract for the full price just before I took the bike, a contract that was signed with a metaphorical gun to my head to enable me to commence my holiday. AdMo Tours and Colorado Bike Hire have both admitted they made a mistake and will repay me $400 in compensation. A small amount for the distress they caused me at the start of the holiday and certainly no compensation for the way I was treated within minutes of starting my trip of a lifetime. Anyway enough moaning and back to the trip. Getting out of Denver was pretty straight forward on the Interstate, but this was made much easier just being able to follow a lead bike. I was amazed at one sign I saw while exiting Denver as it stated the height as being 5500 feet, which felt so strange as the land all around was so flat and did not give any indication that I was at such an altitude. Denver is also known as the "mile high city" as it is exactly 5280 feet above see level.   The 1st 350 miles were very flat leading into Wyoming. At one petrol stop my accent got confused for a Canadian, I guess they dont hear many Brits around these parts. Temperatures grew steadily as we left Denver and at one stop where the bike was telling me it was 77F I thought to myself, we never get it this hot in Scotland and that my body was going to melt. Later in the trip I would have been glad to have been back in those low temperatures of 77F. I LOVED these prices....... £1.45 per gallon.   When we arrived in Cody we found the Hotel quickly, as Phil had stayed here before and liked it so much he booked it 9 months earlier when we started making firm plans. This early booking was to be a bit of his downfall throughout the holiday. We soon discovered that this hotel had changed hands since his booking and the previous owner had taken the booking list with him. Luckily the new owners honoured our booking and even gave us an extra room so two of us would not have to share.  |
Day1 |