2014-08-03: Day 39 Death of a Small Town, Eads to Ordway, CO

Mileage Today: 63 Total Mileage: 2154

After 57 miles today, we took a break at the Sugar City Cafe to consume some calories shaped like pie with ice cream. You can eat anything you want after 57 miles. The pie was great. On the wall above the table were two pieces of wood with an index card reading “Sugar City History”. It sounded like a story so I asked the woman at the register about them. She said the wood came from the walls of the Sugar Factory that opened in 1900. The Sugar Factory produced sugar from sugar beets grown by the local farmers. When the factory opened the town of Sugar City was created. All the farmers sold sugar beets to the factory. The factory provided jobs. The sugar was shipped primarily east to the population centers. Life was good until 1964 when the factory closed its doors in debt. The local farmers were owed money that was not repaid. Some had to sell out. The town began to die out. The hostess at the restaurant said that the owners of the Sugar Factory did eventually return and pay their debts to the local farmers but the Sugar Factory never reopened. No sugar beets are grown in the region any longer. I wish this story had a better ending.

The truth is that we have ridden through many towns like Sugar City on this ride. Many small towns are shrinking; although some are thriving. Of course the key is jobs. I am thankful that Hillsboro, OR has retained some small town feel despite the presence of Intel and the massive economic boost it gives to the area.

We met two TransAmerica riders today. Nick from New Mexico is riding east and attempting to write a book about the experience.

Tom from Hood River, OR is actually a participant in the Race Across America which started on June 7^th. We met several other racers way back in Virginia during our 1^st week of riding. The winner finished on June 24th in Yorktown, VA. It’s August 3^rd. Tom is almost to the halfway point. He is in the race but he is definitely not in it to win it. He is in it to have fun. He made sure he was the first across the start line so at least for a moment he was winning the Race Across America.

This week Jon and I skipped our day off and rode 514 miles. My previous high was last week's 413 miles. We are in a hotel tonight in Ordway, CO just about 50 miles east of Pueblo. Tomorrow we finish this thing. Ya Hoo!