6/11/14 Walsenburg to Pueblo West - 69 miles
This was a somewhat "schizophrenic" riding day as we rode on just about every possible surface and road condition. All my prior research into the route had indicated that there really is no good way to get from Walsenburg to Pueblo by bicycle. We left the motel early and followed the feeder road along I-25 for the first few miles. Then, Google lady directed us to turn right and pick up Co Rd 101. So far, so good. However, the pavement ended shortly after that and we began riding on what seemed a fairly well-maintained dirt road. Given my past experiences with Google lady, I was somewhat skeptical. But the scenery was stunning. We were on the vast grasslands east of the interstate and for as far as you could see it was just wide open spaces. The road was flat and there seemed to be a tailwind, because you could coast at approximately 13 mph without pedaling. A couple of antelope hopped up out of the brush and sprinted across the grasslands. They were quite large and had these huge white bushy tails. Made you feel good just watching them. Off to the west, we saw some windmills. The sight of windmills has become one of my favorite sites on my various bike rides.
After 8-10 miles, there was a fork in the dirt road. A sign off the right fork warned of No Trespassing, so we veered left. After 3 miles or so, something just didn't seem right and after consulting Google maps I could see we were off course in the middle of this huge grassland. We backtracked and when we reached the fork could see that the No Trespass was actually Co Rd 104 - my guess is that some landowners were trying to discourage random people from going down the road. We took Co Rd 104 all the way to I-25, where we were able to access a feeder road again for about 5 miles. At one point a grey fox hopped onto the feeder road in front of me and sprinted ahead for about 1/4 of a mile before leaping back over the fence into the grasslands. At the end of the feeder road, we had to make a decision to either turn right on another Co Rd off to the east, which would eventually come back to I-25, or get on the shoulder of I-25 for 8 miles or so. We opted for I-25 since that would cut the route by a good 5+ miles and avoid another dirt road jaunt. Riding the interstate is not prohibited here, except where specifically designated, and the shoulder was wide and smooth. Also, the traffic was lighter than we had previously seen and we had a tailwind. We fairly cruised all the way to Colorado City, where we got off the interstate and started following the Google route again. The first part went fine; beautiful country roads with vistas of grasslands ending at the bases of mountains in the distance. However, this only lasted about 8 miles before the road turned into dirt. That was tough going for 5 miles or so. Then we got on S. Burnt Mill Rd for almost 17 miles. Again, a dirt road, but we were able to cruise 15 mph and made good time. The scariest part was that dark clouds began gathering in the distance and we heard occasional thunder. I kept thinking we were headed in the right direction to skirt another storm if we could just get past the nearest dark cloud fast enough. Fortunately, this is exactly what happened.
After 17 miles on S. Burnt Mill Rd, we ended up back at I-25 with no seeming options other than to get back on the interstate. It was smooth sailing again all the way to Pueblo, then we exited to take the back roads to Hwy 50, which we intended to ride to Pueblo West. As we were once again consulting Google maps in a neighborhood, a nice man out on an afternoon ride came up and offered to assist us. He told us of a beautiful paved bike trail that would take us almost all the way to Hwy 50. It was a lovely shaded trail alongside a beautiful river, and a huge contrast to the various roads we had been off and on all day. Huge big shade trees.
We eventually made it to Hwy 50 and headed for the motel some 8 miles away. It was approaching 90 degrees by late afternoon, and we were tired, but plugged on towards our motel. Approximately 2 miles before the motel, we came upon a Wendy's and stopped for what has become our favorite Apple Pecan Chicken salad, fries, and a frosty. As we ate dinner, the wind started kicking up and it became very overcast. So we hurriedly finished dinner and started out for the final 2 miles to the motel. The rain started just as we pulled up to the Econo Lodge. Al, the innkeeper, greeted us warmly and we found one of the nicest, cleanest rooms on the trip to date. We both took long, hot baths, fixed a pot of Via laced coffee, and settled in to watch So You Think You Can Dance. A fun and relaxing evening to end a very challenging day. I told LaDonna that I thought the challenge of navigating and riding the 69 miles to Pueblo West felt like good training for Amazing Race, if we could ever get selected for the show.
The forecast for tomorrow is cloudy with pm storms. The plan is to ride the 50+ miles to Colorado Springs along scenic Hwy 115.
