Cyclists' Only Lodging: Ordway Trail Angel ready to serve again

I've written about trail angels and cyclists' only lodging in the past. Today is about both at the same time.

Our 2006 Trail Angel award winner was Gillian Hoggard from Ordway, Colorado, (conveniently located on the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail). She was awarded this honor by virtue of her welcoming heart, free accommodations to cyclists, and her efforts to make her community friendly to cyclists of all sorts. She is no stranger to bicycle travel herself and cycled 1500 miles around Europe with her three-year old.

Sadly, in April 2008, the town of Ordway was hit hard by fire and Gillian, as well as most of her neighbors, lost their homes to the flames. Gillian's welcoming ways are not her only passion, she also took great pride in the oasis of flowers and trees that surrounded her home so was doubly hit by the loss as she watched them be engulfed by the fire. We reported the situation in the Adventure Cyclist column, Riding Sweep. Money was collected and work parties organized on her behalf to help her restore her property.

I recently received notice that Gillian is back in the saddle again as a cyclists' only lodging host. In her note she tells me that she has "invested in a 30 foot trailer/caravan in English speak... for cyclists to use while enroute." No need to have her address to find the place when you arrive, "when they ask [for Gillian] in town it will work...small place...and many more now know of this stopover for cyclists...even with this 'prehistoric' method I still get tons of people."

Welcome back, Gillian!

--

GEOPOINTS BULLETIN is written by Jennifer 'Jenn' Milyko, an Adventure Cycling cartographer, and appears weekly, highlighting curious facts, figures and persons from Adventure Cycling's Route Network with tips and hints for personal route creation thrown in for good measure.