and get on the river for a day. Sam and Jess did an excellent job of rowing through the rapids while the Vagabonds relaxed and enjoyed the view of Brown's Canyon on The Arkansas River. By the time we got home we pretty much made a quick dinner then hit the sack. We were ready to hit the road again the next morning. Sam rode with us to Salida, the town that he lives in. We spent several hours there before parting ways. We ate a little and checked out the neat art shops but most importantly..we sent home ALL of our winter gear! WHOOO!! It is very exciting to know that it is going to be actual summer from here on out and especially to have less stuff to carry. Ask us if we feel the same a few days from now when we are riding in 100 degree heat.
We went on a little further from Salida to Texas Creek Juntion where we did the most homeless thing that we have done yet. We slept underneath a bridge. Well, we can check that off the list. We must have slept well because we were on the road before 9 o' clock. That is also a first for us. Our next city was Canon City, about 25 miles away. We had a lot of downhill with one long climb, but we had a nice surprise at the top. It was where we intersected back with the TransAm and we arrived right at the same time as our friend Nick coming from the other direction! We all descended into town together and started to scope the place out. Canon City has nine state and four federal prisons and we have been told that many inmates' families move closer to them then once out of jail, the freed man or woman ends up staying there with their family. To us this meant entertainment. We spent our time there playing " who used to be in jail?" While that was a lot if fun, we needed to get at least to Pueblo. If the ride was as easy as coming into Canon City, and it looked easier, we would be there in no time. WRONG. The winds were not on our side and the amount of climbing did not make sense to be loosing elevation like the map showed.
When we eventually made it, it was once again that time to find a place to sleep for the night, way too last minute. But hey, once again it couldn't have worked out any better! We met Dane, the owner of a bike shop in town that does A LOT to make the community more bike friendly. He immediately offered up his place and we had dinner with him
and his friends Previn and Josh.
They were hilarious and we had a great time chatting. They did a great job showing us that Pueblo had more to offer than just being the "armpit" of Colorado as we have heard so many times.
Dane was an excellent host! It took us a while to get out of town after finding groceries and what not but 50 miles is nothing to worry about when going east with the winds right? Well actually, wrong again. Can't we catch a break??? More head winds. Like strong headwinds. And rain. We stopped shortly for an Ethnic Popsicle Break (no I didn't just make that up) hoping the winds may change for the good but nope. They really only got worse. The ride was sooo slow and it got dark on us quick. And dark in nowhere Colorado is REAL dark. Riding bikes into the wind and rain in the dark is not really ideal but we finally made it to Ordway. Ordway did not have many more lights either. Pretty much everything was closed. Oh and I also forgot to mention that Ordway and the entire 10 miles leading up to it smells strongly of animal manure. And the big question is where do we end up sleeping tonight?? Well pretty much the only place we could find open was the Veterans of Foreign War bar. We went in to get out of the rain and wind and ended up with a field to stay in. That progressed to allowing us to camp on their back patio. We win again! However, there is a catch. We had to try to sleep under a string of blue party lights and with ACDC, J.Lo and other various artists blasting on the speaker system. Hey you take what you can get right?
No comments:
Post a Comment