Day 15 -- Denver

Actually let’s talk about the night going into Day 15!! The Mac and Cheeses was not spectacular, in fact anything but, so not a great dinner!

Went to bed, sleeping bags and all. THEN – rain, heavy rain, like you’ve never heard, pelting the tent, and we hadn’t put up the rainproof sheet over the tent!! Silly us! Plus high winds, really high winds! I was at one end of the tent with Jack at the other and Felipe, Andriy and Charlie in the middle section. Andriy was the first to feel the rain just coming through the tent roof (if that’s what you call the top of the tent!). Then Charlie and Felipe caught some, next up was Jack. I seemed to be in the one dry place in the tent. Suddenly thunder and lightning, which was absolutely right above us, and loud and noisy as could be. Literally every few seconds, boom then the lightning, and the heavy rain and the high wind that was bashing the tent. The lads were getting hysterical, with Jack’s nervous laugh, each time the thunder and the lightning happened, and Andriy getting up and screaming for someone to help him place the tarp over the tent. It was getting to be a little like Comedy Central inside the tent. Charlie who had a miners light around his head, got up to help Andriy, and the rain eased a little, so out they went into the rain and driving wind, to get the tarp and place it over the tent. Now you know sods law – just when you think things are getting better they get worse!! So just as Andriy and Charlie exit the tent the rain and wind intensifies! They get the tarp out of the van, but they are not in unison, and the wind is blowing it all over the place. So it’s hard to control and they get it wrapped the wrong way trying to straighten it out. Shouts and screams with Jack’s nervous laughter in the background each time there is a crack of thunder. Felipe has his torch on and this looks like an alien ship floating around the tent!

Andriy and Charlie get the tarp over the tent and secure it, but little do they know that the zip entrance on the tarp is on the opposite side to the zip entrance to the tent!! Now how to get in? Crawl up under the tarp and find the tent entrance, with the miners light all over the place and Felipe’s torch trying to help, and Jack’s nervous laughter and me giggling in the sleeping bag! Everyone gets in but the rain is relentless, fast and pounding the tent, with the wind almost lifting the tent of the ground! More thunder and lightning and we all wonder just when we are going to get hit and fried. Rain has gotten under the tent and makes it feel like a water bed. We are all now searching for a dry place to put our sleeping bags, quite hilarious when we all end up in a corner of the tent in the only dry spot! The night is long, but I think that we do get some sleep, but every so often you are getting feet pushing you, arms all over the place, and generally moving each other with limbs. Oh and all this time Angel and Raymond were safely sleeping in the van, not realizing just what was going on!!

Morning and we have managed to stay relatively dry, the tent is still in one piece, and attached to the ground which really is a miracle. The wind has subdued a little and the thunder and lightning long gone, but the rain is still coming down. We manage to shower and get dressed and into the van. We have placed most of our luggage into the tent to give it some weight so that it doesn’t blow away, which we still think it might. Bikes into the back and we drive into Pueblo to the Ski, Hike and Bike shop to get the bikes serviced, repaired and anything else that may need. They will have the bikes ready for tomorrow, Tuesday.

Charlie is leaving today, from Denver. So this is a chance for us to drop him off at the DIA and look around Denver. It’s a two hour drive and we say goodbye to Charlie who I think would have liked to have continued on this Ride. He takes the miners light with him, safely packed away, and not on his head, although there have been times when he’s forgotten that he’s wearing it and has wondered around during the day with it on! We are sad to see him go. But into Denver to see the City, and it’s a pretty new modern City. I was here in 1998 with the Men’s U19 World team to train before playing in the World U19 Championships. Changed a lot since then. We meet up with Eric Eijteljorg, the CEO of Mile High Urban Programme here in Denver. He’s literally just got back from the Urban Individual Champs. He and his team landed at 3am this morning. We talk about Urban squash, and the developing programmes. He’s from Philadelphia so we talk about squash there. Eric was a member of the Merion Club way back when, but still remembers his time there. More walking around Denver, then we see the Denver Athletic Club, and I know the Pro there – John Leskoe. He’s been in Denver a long while, but I first met him when I came to New York to be the Head Pro at the Heights Casino way back in 1993! Thomas Hercule the squash coach for the Mile High programme was at the Club too so really good to see him and chat about squash.
Finally we were going to have a fantastic meal. Andy, Audey and Gabriella Garr had told us a few days previously that they would donate dinner at any stop that we made. So we told them Denver would be good. Andy took care of it all and text us that he’d booked the Denver Chop House for 7pm. We didn’t know what awaited us! We all met up again at the Denver Chop House, went in, and what a terrific restaurant, and I mean terrific. We sat and drooled over the menu, appetizers, main course and deserts. We really didn’t know where to start, and it took some time for us all to decide just what we were ordering. Starters were delicious, a triple deck with calamari, onion rings, jumbo shrimps wrapped in bacon, portobello mushrooms in asparagus sauce, and corn bread, a feast in itself. Then the main course where we all chose steaks, New York Strip, Fillet Mignon, and Porterhouse and some included shrimp too. I don’t think there was any talking while we enjoyed the main course! Finally the sweets, with Felipe and Angel’s eyes lighting up. They both chose ice-cream, while others had raspberry sorbet, crème brulee, and lava cake. Me I enjoyed a coffee! What a wonderful meal in a great restaurant. We all want to thank the Garr family so much for making this possible. Cheers all.

Back to Pueblo and the camp site and wonder of wonders the tent was still there, only half blown away!

BP