Past the Continental Divide

This is Heather posting for Jeff this time...
He's made it into Kansas and his climbing days are over until we hit the Appalachians.
Three BIG climbs yesterday in Colorado--Wolf Creek Pass (10,800 ft), La Veta Pass (9,400 ft) and Cuchara Pass (9,980 ft). He rode until almost 4 in the morning to put them behind him. Today a gradual desent from the Rockies into west-central Kansas.

Each morning Jeff is having trouble eating right as soon as he gets up (after 2.5 hrs rest), but after an hour on the bike is spotting a diner or local eatery and asking for some breakfast foods. His appetite is improving and therefore is his caloric intake. We've been having mild weather (in the 60Fs all day today)and now without mountains to climb he is exerting himself less and can digest better. We hope his strength on the flats will bring him up in the standings. With much of the nice scenery behind us, Jeff won't have much to focus on other than riding.

Yesterday Tim Stern, a buddy from Colorado joined the crew as Rob Sampson left. Jeff's brother Mike came and rode with the crew for a few hours to do a newpaper story. Jeff seems very happy to have the distractions of visitors and new faces.