Day 46: Pueblo, CO to Royal Gorge, CO

Wednesday, July 4, 2012,  56 miles - Total so far: 884 miles*
    * Miles ridden on the TransAm route
    Odometer miles - Today - 56.2 Total to date - 923.5 miles  

Rocky Mountain High - Colorado!

Because we had pancakes at Evan and Marcella's house at 7am this morning I didn't start my ride until 7:45am - the latest start yet.  We left Pueblo and started to climb a bit into the foothills.  The scenery was far more beautiful than anything we've seen for days.  The first 25 mile segment this morning was capped off by a rugged climb up and then drop down into Wetmore, CO.  I was riding alone most of the morning but caught up with several of the others and the van doing a service stop for us there.

The mountains in the distance as we head out of Pueblo

Now those are REAL mountains.

The next 11 miles was mostly downhill to Florence, CO.  As we rode we could see Pikes Peak way off in the distance directly in front of us.  Most of us did a lunch stop at a cafe in the center of Florence - a cute little town that seemed to specialize in antiques.  It was a pretty busy place on this 4th of July holiday.

Downtown Florence, CO - some old car buffs were out for a 4th of July drive.

Wendy with her brother Derick and nephew Daniel - our extra riders today.

After lunch in Florence we followed a relatively flat but winding road to Canon City, CO.  We crossed the Arkansas River as we entered town.  It's a much more robust river here than what we saw in Kansas.

Nicole and Judy stopped for a refreshing dip in the Arkansas River at Canon City.

The last 8 miles, from Canon City to our campground on U.S. Hwy 50 near the Royal Gorge bridge was pretty tough.  It was afternoon and the sun was out in full force with a temperature in the mid 90's.  The road was flat for a few miles, but then started a constant climb for the last 5-6 miles.  It was hot, there was sometimes a headwind and it was very slow going.  I was riding near the back and rode with Wendy and Gina for the last 3 miles.  Clouds were building in the afternoon heat and it looked like it might rain, but fortunately all it did was cover the sun and cool things down.  That made the final 3 miles a bit more bearable.

The final eight miles was along U.S. 50, a busy 4-lane highway out of Canon City.

We arrived at our campground at 2:15pm - a 6.5 hour day of riding for me to go 56 miles.  Still it was a good day overall.  Our first climbs in the Rockies.  I managed them very well - slow but steady at my plodding pace.  The views were fantastic everywhere we looked.  It's what everyone in the group endured Kansas to see.

The campground has spaces for RVs, tents and a few cabins.  When Paul and Nicole made the reservation months ago they reserved two private cabins and a 3-bed shared cabin, assuming some people might prefer that to sleeping in their tent.  Last night after map meeting they had a drawing among those interested to see who would get to use these cabins.  Simon got one private cabin, I got the other and Gina, Wendy and Judy got the spots in the shared cabin.

So for these two days I get the "luxury" of a private cabin.  It's not as great as it might sound.  It's not air-conditioned, though it should get pretty cool overnights.  It's just a bare wooden cabin without any bathroom, but it does have a nice queen size bed.  The winners bear the expense of their cabin, but overall I think it's worth it to enjoy a couple of days with a place of my own to spread out and relax. 

My luxury cabin at Echo Canyon campgrounds, Royal Gorge, CO.

Inside the spacious accommodations.

A view from our campground - the shared cabin is in the foreground, our pavilion in the background.

Another view from our campground.  It may not show up on the blog photo, but we can see the tops of the towers for the Royal Gorge suspension bridge in the distance to the left.

Day 45: Ordway, CO to Pueblo, CO

Tuesday, July 3, 2012,  53 miles - Total so far: 828 miles*
    * Miles ridden on the TransAm route
    Odometer miles - Today - 53.4 Total to date - 867.3 miles  

(Time to get caught up - Wednesday afternoon, July 4.)

Finally, a glimpse of the Rockies

First some catch-up.  Yesterday evening in Ordway, CO Wendy's brother Derick, his wife, two sons and daughter drove down from Denver to visit with us.  They brought a huge smorgasbord of Pizza Hut food for our dinner.  We ate dinner in the lobby of the Hotel Ordway.  Derick's family stayed overnight in the area so that Derick and oldest son Daniel could ride with us for a couple of days. 

On Tuesday morning I got started earlier than some of the others.  The day before I had been slower than everyone (probably still paying for the 80 miler the previous day), so I wanted to get a bit of a head start.  I made it to the first town, Olney Springs, CO ahead of everyone but found there wasn't much there.

A worn-out cottage in Olney Springs, CO.  The faded lettering says "Welcome to Olney Springs, A nice place to invest the rest of your life."

These earth mounds are pretty much the first "terrain" we've seen since I rejoined the ride in Kansas.

About 15 miles into the ride Derick and Daniel caught up to me.  We chatted a bit and Derick said he was into endurance cycling and had ridden the Leadville 100 a few years ago.  It was clear he was much stronger than me, so I suggested he head on down the road ahead of me.  Instead, he suggested I tag on behind him and use him to block the wind and give me a "tow".  What a huge assist that was!  Derick towed me for a while, then Ubald joined us and I tucked in behind the two of them.  I tagged along for about 9 miles which sped my day up tremendously.  Many thanks to Derick for the tow!

Derick towing me towards Pueblo, CO

We stopped at a grocery/hardware store in Boone, CO for a lunch break.  Then I fell back and rode with the slower riders on into Pueblo.

Lunch stop in Boone, CO - in the shade of a tree near the city park.

Although we've been riding alongside railroad tracks for several days, this was the first train we saw.  We saw two more later in the day.

11 miles to Pueblo.  Still not much scenery, but we could make out the outline of mountains in the distant haze.

Pueblo City Limit - Elevation 4695 Ft.

When we reached town, Gina and Wendy split off to go to a hotel and Paul, Judy and I continued on the route into town.  We stopped at the Great Divide bike shop near downtown.  Judy needed some work done, so while we were there I had them true both wheels and adjust my brakes.  I went across the street for lunch at a Mexican restaurant while they did the work.  The total charge for their work was $28 - a bargain in my estimation.

The Arkansas River with downtown Pueblo in the background.

After the bike work was done I made my way across town to the house where we were spending the night.  A couple who are bikers and very touring cyclist friendly had agreed to host our group.  Evan and Marcella let us sleep inside and use their showers.  They also prepared a big dinner of spaghetti, salad, bread and desert.  Because they have a dog and I was concerned about my allergies I slept outside in the garage, but it was quite comfortable overnight and I still got to use all the facilities.

The backyard hang-out space at our overnight accommodations in Pueblo, CO.

My "bedroom" in the garage.

The next morning Evan and Marcella made us pancakes for breakfast before we started out.  They were great hosts who went out of their way to make us welcome and take care of us.  Thanks, Evan and Marcella!

Evan and Marcella, with Lucy in their backyard - seeing us off on our ride Wednesday morning, July 4.

Day 44: Eads, CO to Ordway, CO

Monday, July 2, 2012,  62 miles - Total so far: 775 miles*
    * Miles ridden on the TransAm route
    Odometer miles - Today - 61.9 Total to date - 812.3 miles  

(I'm falling behind with my blog, so this recap of yesterday is being written Tuesday evening, 7/3.)

Could Colorado be more barren than Kansas?

The answer is yes - at least through this eastern section of Colorado.  The route is not as straight as in Kansas, but the terrain is just as flat and the vegetation is more barren.

The day's ride was 62 miles - not nearly so daunting as the previous day's 80 miles.  There was still a crossing to head wind in the morning, but not as strong as the day before.  Temperatures were a bit
cooler, but services were very limited along the route.

It's still Hwy. 96, but now we're in Colorado

I was riding with Wendy as we approached our morning rest stop in Haswell, CO.  Alongside the road I saw something hopping which looked like a kangaroo.  It turned out to be a small mule deer fawn which still had its spots.  I only managed to get one poor picture, but at least you can see it in the picture below.

Spotted mule deer fawn in the shadow of a shed beyond the railroad track.

Scenic eastern Colorado

 After lunch break I rode alone for a while and took the time to take a few photos of the flowers alongside the road in this area.

Not sure what this purple flower is, but they're growing alongside the road.

Wild sunflower, with herd of cattle beyond

Thistle

Thistle, part II

 We did our lunch/rest stop in Arlington, CO - a town with about three houses, but a nicely shaded rest area with a picnic table.

Lunch stop in Arlington, CO

More beautiful Colorado scenery.

Sugar City, Elevation 4308 ft.

A caboose on display at the city park in Sugar City, CO

The final rest stop of the day was in Sugar City, only 6 miles from our destination of Ordway, but with the temperature rising it was nice to take another break before pressing on.  When we arrived in Ordway the others headed right to the hotel, but I took a detour to check out the Dairy King.  I thought I'd get some kind of ice cream, but the cheeseburger on the menu looked too tempting.  So I did the burger with a large coke refilled once and the waitress told me I could get a free piece of cake with my order.  Free for for a cyclist?  Are you kidding? Of course I'll have it!

The Dairy King, Ordway, CO

Paul and I shared this room at the Hotel Ordway in beautiful downtown Ordway, CO

Main Street - Ordway

The Hotel Ordway, seen from the city park.

So I'm still behind in my blog.  It's Tuesday evening, about 9:20pm.  I'm late for my usual bedtime and I still haven't described today's ride - from Ordway, CO to Pueblo, CO.  Tomorrow we ride to Canon City, CO and have a layover day, so I'll try to get caught up tomorrow.

Day 43: Leoti, KS to Eads, CO

Sunday, July 1, 2012,  81 miles - Total so far: 713 miles*
    * Miles ridden on the TransAm route
    Odometer miles - Today - 80.1 Total to date - 750.3 miles
 
We're not in Kansas any more

Another 80 mile day – as bad today as yesterday was good.

We woke up early again and started riding at 6:00am.  A quick look at the flag near the church showed fairly strong, swirling winds generally from the SW.  We knew we were in for a tough day.

Heading towards Colorado in the early morning light.

The sun rising through the low haze behind us.

We entered Mountain Time Zone at the Greeley County, KS line.

As usual, I rode with Wendy, Gina, and Judy.  The wind in the first 22 mile segment to Tribune slowed our speed to barely 10mph.  We stopped at a truck stop in Tribune which had all the requisite facilities – drinks, restrooms, ice machine, tables to sit inside in air conditioned comfort.  While there we chatted with a couple of truck drivers.  One driver said he was driving an oversized rig carrying a huge pipe which is the base for a wind generator.  We were passed by a couple of these yesterday and his was sitting in the parking lot.

The base of a wind turbine on its way to Limon, CO.

The Chatterbox Cafe in Tribune, KS - relocated from Lake Wobegon, MN?

After our second breakfast we headed out to the prospect of more headwinds on a long desolate stretch of road.  The immediate goal was the Colorado state line in 16 miles.  As the sun rose the morning cloud layer disappeared and the temperature rose.  It wasn’t as hot as a couple of days earlier, but there was full sun beating down on us.  We stopped for pictures at the Colorado welcome sign, then headed on to our next segment.

Me, Paul, Wendy, Judy and Gina entering Colorado

After the state line we expected to find another convenience store in 14 miles at Sheridan Lake.  To our great disappointment, after plodding along through the heat and headwinds we found the one convenience store was closed on Sunday.  Paul looked around a bit and found a firehouse with a spigot outside and a 6 foot strip of shade on one side.  That served as our second “big” rest stop.

Old Ford pickup at the "rest stop" in Sheridan Lake, CO

"Welcome cyclists" - but not on Sunday

Fortunately, we got a call from Nicole who said she was on her way to give us a rest stop in our remaining 28 mile stretch to Eads.  She met us about 8 miles down the road with ice and some drinks.  At the same time she took our orders for dinner in Eads.  It turned out when she got to town there was only one restaurant open and it was closing at 2:00pm.  So she stopped there about 1:00pm, placed our orders and got our dinner.

To our great delight and salvation, the winds shifted around noon and we had a tail wind the last 18 mile stretch from our rest stop into Eads.  We arrived about 3:30pm Central time, making it a 9.5 hour day on the road.  I'm hoping this will turn out to be our longest and toughest day of the trip.

We spent the night at the Kiowa County Fairgrounds on the north edge of Eads.  There’s very little of anything in Eads, but there’s a very large metal building at the fairgrounds with a large open concrete floor and air conditioning.  So we’re dry and comfortable inside, though as I write this there’s a thunderstorm with pretty heavy rain going on outside.  Sure is great to have this day behind us.

The spacious interior of our overnight accommodations in Eads, CO

My "bedroom" in Eads

The van outside our accommodations in Eads

Continuation of Day 42: Ness City, KS to Leoti, KS

Following the great ride and after we got settled in the church and got our showers I came back, did some laundry and organized photos until dinnertime.  Because Nicole and Paul expected a tough day they made plans to eat out at a restaurant for dinner.  There weren’t many choices in Leoti, but we went to Charlie’s Mexican restaurant (over 50 years in Leoti).  Everyone had a nice dinner and then we went back for map meeting.

While I think about it, I thought I’d provide a little detail about our routine lately.  Because it’s been so hot in Kansas and we’ve been starting our ride at ~6:00am each day, we “do lunch” the night before.  That means the lunch meats, fruits, energy bars and snacks are set out after map meeting.  Everyone prepares what they want to carry on their ride for lunch the night before.  Most of the breakfast items are also set out in the evening so that we can get breakfast quickly the next morning.  Nicole and Paul have been doing the breakfast cleanup so we can get on the road early.

Photos from Saturday, June 30

Metal sculptures on a slight rise just outside Ness City

Sunrise looking back toward Ness City

Where farm equipment goes to die - along the road to Leoti

Giant hay rolls in the field - 23 miles to Scott City, 47 miles to Leoti

Tractor looks like some overgrown weird insect

A feedlot just outside Leoti - cattle feedlots are big business throughout this region of Kansas.

Where the huge hay rolls get collected

Gina, Wendy, Judy and Nicole at the Dairy King on the way into Leoti

The United Methodist Church in Leoti

Dinner out at Charlie's Mexican Restaurant in Leoti