Little did we know, but today would be the day we really left the Rockies and returned to flatter lands. We left Sugarbush Campground after our coffees and headed east on US Highway 50, our road for the entire day. The sky was clear except for a few clouds in distance. We started off the day at a brisk pace.
Our route for the morning continued to follow along the Arkansas River, and we saw even more rafters out today. We even passed the USAF Academy boats and vans, as well as many rafting company vehicles giving tours.
The river seemed to be flowing just as fast as we were, though we were faster than the rafts that floated and manuevered over the rapids (which were numerous and not very far between).
Our canyon was interrupted periodically by small grassy plains (a portend of what was to come). All along the roadside were wild sunflowers, with big, dark green leaves, and bright flowers facing east.
We curved around a last rock wall and came upon a sad sight, a long, steep climb. The Adventure Cycling Bicycle Route for this section of the Western Express actually takes riders down to US 96, a highway that is South of US 50 when west of Pueblo. We didn't take that route.... oops. We climbed up the incline, which though steep, was only a few miles, and reached a big grassy plateau which is where Cañon City lies. It was a decent size city (the largest we had passed through in a loooooooong time) and we stopped for lunch at a Wendy's. Then we got to head down the other side of the mini-mountain and into more extensive grassy plains and rolling hills.
Big rolling hills. This was our goodbye to the Rockies. You can see them on the horizon in the photos above and below.
The landscape seemed so empty and expansive without the mountains, the big rocks, and the dark green trees. Almost desolate....
We arrived in Pueblo West around 6pm, stopping at a bike shop on the edge of town. Nick's Bikes was a great stop. The guys there were helpful and outgoing, even relubing our chains and using their air compressor to top off our tires. We biked a little farther to our campsite for the evening - Pueblo West Campground and Arena. They had stalls and fields for horses and two big arenas for horse shows and rodeos.
When we were checking in at the office, a Domino's delivery man showed up asking after the orderer of a pizza he was carrying. We couldn't quite think of anything else for dinner after that, expecially when the smell of hot, fresh pepperoni pizza wafted over to our campsite. We gave in and ordered a pizza. The maintenance lady who had showed us to our spot and talked to us a bit, came by and gave us two ice cold sodas, saying we needed something cold after our long day. Cold Pepsi goes very well with delicious, hot, cheesy pizza!
2 July 2011
West Pueblo to Pueblo, CO
Today was a day not destined to travel very far. We woke up early enough, packed up, cleaned up - getting ready to get on the road, but then we took a look at the bikes. No bueño. The Raleigh's back wheel had a loose spoke and a bump. After flipping Emily's bike upside down on the picnic table and delicately tightening the spokes, checking the tension, checking the roundness of the wheel, and repeating (many many times), Emily had a ("mostly") round wheel once again.
While Chris worked on the bike, I finished cleaning up camp and took pictures of the local birds. :)
Chris riding the Raleigh around to work on the shifting and making sure that it still rolled:
We decided it was a good idea to get some of our extra weight off the bikes. We went through everything we brought and made a pile of stuff that was cold weather gear or just things that weren't really necessary. By now it was almost noon. We headed off to find a post office to ship the extra stuff home and then found a Mongolian Grill to have lunch at and decide on what to do with the rest of our day. Turns out there wasn't much deciding to be done once we saw the weather forecast and the storm brewing outside. We decided to call off biking any distance until tomorrow, and grabbed a night at the Guest House Inn in downtown Pueblo.
It was a very good monetary choice. The rate was relatively cheap (we got a cycling discount without even having to ask for one!) and we got dinner, breakfast, a bed, and hot showers out of the price. The hotel was randomly hosting a cookout by the pool and we each had burgers, chips, and baked beans for dinner. The next morning we had a nice continental breakfast and jumped on our bikes.... Next blog!
Location:Howard CO, to Pueblo, CO
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