One hundred rabbits

June 24, 2015

Second day in a row exceeding eleven hours and a half of actual pedaling sessions; it seems like I am warming up. Here is the plan: I start off at 7am and finish at around 8pm. Thirteen hours minus some breaks and stops; you do the math. From Walsenburg to Lamar, 214 dead calm kilometers. I paid the toll fee of the Rocky Mountains and I have now arrived to open land, the endless great plains, oceanic, a hundred-kilometer lines; here I can get my rhythm and keep it for long hours until my muscles start to weaken after working too much time in the same angle. I keep staring at the horizon from left to right, conjuring up so that the storms that are forming in the distance pick another route. If you are trying to imagine what the spring looks like in the great plains; it is enough to say that, when people see us with the camera, they think we are storm hunters. A car passes by every now and then, yet I have seen horses, skunks, falcons, antelopes, badgers, coyotes, mice…I do not feel like talking about critters and snakes, but yeah, one hundred…
Now that I am all by myself, I have time to think about stuff. It is to me rather shocking the whole tipping thing here in the restaurants of the United States. While some take too much care of the customers with the annoying question “is everything okay?, in the vast majority of places, apart from serving pre-cooked garbage or poorly cooked, the staff either lacks good customer service skills, they have a rude attitude or also adopt a stance of boredom. Both of them ask with similar impertinence for the tip, and they even insist if the answer is somehow evasive. This usually takes place in both cities and tourist spots; I have not yet witnessed it in the rural environment. The effect of calling certain conducts a custom is that they become respected and completely inevitable, like this I am talking about here. Although it is harmful and indecent for both parts, it has the solely purpose to avoid wage claims from the employer. It is just another example of how we put pressure on each other in the arena while a few others rub their hands from their suites. I understand this might sound insignificant, but it is the history of mankind. As far as the quality, we say that this food they serve makes you consume more energy to process it than the energy you obtained.

Por cierto, un detalle minúsculo: tengo alergia al polen de las gramíneas. ¿A qué?. A todo eso verde que veis en la foto. Adicionalmente a la medicación he tenido que improvisar una mascarilla con un pañuelo de papel porque a mitad mañana a falta de viento la vela funcionaba a estornudo limpio.

By the way, a little tiny detail: I am allergic to the grass’ pollen–allergic to what? To all that green stuff you see in the picture. Additionally to the medication, I have had to improvise a mask with a handkerchief because, at around midday, the lack of wind made sneeze the whole time.

La gente se detiene a preguntar, se preocupan por si necesito algo, constantemente. Comprueban que me encuentro bien y siguen. Creo que aquí las personas, no diré que son más hospitalarias, pero sí tienen un instinto protector más desarrollado que en Europa, probablemente por la aplastante impresión que provocan los vastos espacios naturales despoblados.

People stops to ask you, they are concerned that I might need something constantly. The make sure I am alright and continue. I do think that people here, I will not say they are more hospitable, but they do have a bigger protective instinct more developed than the Europeans. This maybe stems from the impression caused by the deserted vast natural spaces.