Greg bought a new Trek 520 for this trip and mounted racks and panniers on it for the first time. He had serious shimmy problems at certain speeds due to the front rack not being mounted correctly. We worked on it in front of the hotel room, but I didn't have the correct length bolts in my spare parts bag to make the repair, so we rode into old town Salida to the Absolute Bikes bike shop.
They didn't have the bolts but Greg did buy a new headlight since his old one had a defective mount. When the fellow who was helping us heard we were planning to ride through the Arkansas River canyon on highway 50, he strongly suggested we take a cab instead. That route has high-speed traffic on a two-lane road with no shoulders in many places and lots of blind curves. He said last year two cyclists who had been warned about the danger and rode anyway were killed.
Later, when Greg went to a hardware store to get the bolts, he heard from two other people, one of whom was a cyclist, that they considered that route too dangerous to ride.
For dinner we all went to the Boathouse restaurant where Val and I had dinner the night before. We again got a table in the open-air dining room overlooking the boat races in the river below. Once again the food was fabulous along with lots of conversation.
We pitched our tents in a little plot of grass at the Wet Mountain RV park in Westcliffe. Dinner was at Chapi'srestaurant where we had some of the best hamburgers we ever had.
We took bets on whether Val would finish the double burger.
I won the bet.
We spent some time in Val's car searching for the camping store that we spotted the night before. When we found it, the proprieter didn't know how to troubleshoot the stove. He did have some gas canister stoves for sale but he informed us that because of the stage II fire alert in effect, it is illegal to use any device that generates a flame outdoors, even cigarettes. We then had a long discussion with him about politics, etc.
Then we spent some more time looking for Willi's restaurant, which several people had assured us was a great place for breakfast.
When we finally found it, it lived up to its reputation. This is your's truly with Seani the waitress taking our orders.
I had the large breakfast burrito.
We finally go on the road about 1 pm. Here's Greg ready to go.
I am now once again riding with panniers and camping gear on the bike. The ride started with a long 1300-foot climb, followed by a long, steep downhill gradually rolling out to our destination.
We had made reservations at the KOA north of town, but it was pretty far off route, the weather was windy and threatening rain, and we would have had to set up the tents on gravel.
Val drove around and did some research and found that the Motel 6 was only $10 more per person and nearer our route, so we opted to stay there. She rode back to meet us and guide us in.
Later Val and Greg went down to the Pueblo Riverwalk while I updated my blog.
We had 54 miles of strong headwinds today. A ride that should have been fairly easy was brutal. It took us almost 8-1/2 hours to do the 54 miles.
We stopped in Boone, but the store there was closed, with a FOR SALE sign on the door. But the VFW hall was open so we bought a soda and Greg filled up his water bottles.
We stopped again in Olney Springs and found a water spigot in from of the police station, which was fortuitous because Greg was almost out of water. Val called and told us to stop at the bar in Crowley, about 5 miles from Ordway. We stopped and each bought two sodas.
Val did 42 miles today, the first 21 with a tailwind and the last 21 miles with a headwind. She talked to Joe, another touring cyclist who was in the bar, who told her about Gillian, a Warm Showers host in Ordway. The alternative was to camp in the city park, but they lock the bathrooms between 8 pm and 8 am
After the tough day today we decided to do another rest day tomorrow.
Val drove us to breakfast and later we bid her farewell. She had to get home in time to attend a wedding. We'll miss her ready smile and cheerful personality. Her 2-1/2 weeks with us were too short.
We stopped 5 miles down the road at the cafe in Sugar City so Greg could use the restroom and we could buy a couple sodas. The lady "sweet" talked me into buying a cinnamon roll and I talked Greg into doing the same thing.
We stopped again in Haswell where I bought a pre-made sandwich for lunch.
We had some headwinds in the afternoon, but nothing like on Monday. We did our 63 miles in a couple hours less time with a lot less effort then the 54 niles on Monday.
The choice for accomodations tonight was the city park in Eads with bathrooms on the other side of the railroad tracks or the Cobblestone Inn where they have a special rate of $79 for cyclists for a large room with two beds and full breakfast. Guess which option we chose?
Last updated June 26, 2018