Day 36: Hartsel, CO - Frisco, CO (82/150)

Hoosier pass, elevation 11,539 ft: check! Second day of really climbing and so far so good. When I started out this morning it was the first time this trip that it was really chilly, so I had to wear my knee and arm pieces. The route started with an easy climb with gentle grades into the town Fairplay. There I rode through the historic South Park City (you know, from the TV series).

After that there was again a slightly less easy climb into Alma. This entire was even on a paved bike path! Didn't expect that! In Alma I got some water at the highest saloon of the US before heading to Hoosier Pass. There were only some 1000 ft left to climb, but the grades were steeper and the headwind and elevation also made it tough. It wasn't all that bad though and after not too long I reached the summit. There I met a group of cyclists who are riding supported from San Francisco to Yorktown and are actually riding roughly the same route as me towards Boulder, so we exchanged some thought about the route.

The descend was off course big fun and led through some foresty valleys. Between Breckenridge and Frisco I was again welcomed by beautifully paved bike paths, running along creeks and through forests, really nice. I'm staying today at a national forest campground close to Frisco, next to the Dillon Reservoir. As I was already there early in the afternoon I spend some time sitting by the lake reading, really relaxing! 

After coocking some simple dinner another cyclists rode up to my camping spot and asked whether I would like to share the spot and split the fee. No problem, as the spot was more than big enough. Joanna is from Australia and is riding the Transam and west to east and finishing in Washington DC. She has been riding for two months already (and covered 2000 miles) and is flying back from DC in a month (another 2500 miles). She was seeing how to get there in time, which in my humble opinion isn't gonna happen as that would be significantly quicker than what I have done so far and she told me that she had to push her bike up regularly and complained about the warm weather (for me coolest weather so far).

The  nights here are getting properly cool, so tonight I used my fleece vest for the first time during this trip, another item that I luckily didn't bring along for nothing :)

Day 35: Royal Gorge, CO - Hartsel CO (80/150)

Current Creek Pass, elevation 9,404 ft: check! Today would be the first of three days with a lot of climbing. Today would be the day with the lowest elevation, but the most feet of climbing. The really high passes will come tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

Directly after leaving the campground I took a short detour to the Royal Gorge bridge, something the guy from the campground advised me to do. The view there was indeed astonishing! After the detour I picked up the route, which steadily climbed its way up. About halfway I had lunch in the small town Guffrey. 

During lunch it started raining shortly but heavily. As I set out the rain had stopped, but scattered thunderstorms would cover the skies all afternoon. Luckily I again managed to miss all heavy showers and only got a few drops of rain :). At the Currant Creek Pass, I was treated by a spectacular view, since from here the higher, snow topped parts of the Rockies could be seen. From there the route generally descended into a sort of plain. On this plain I reached the town Hartsel, where I'm basically staying on a patch of grass that nobody is really using, so they let cyclists camp here.

Day 34: Pueblo, CO - Royal Gorge, CO (79/150)

Finally, the mountains! After downing some coffee and a load of donuts and cake at the hotel it was time for action. The first 20 or so miles lead through a relative flat part between Pueblo and the mountain ridges. The scenery got ridiculously beautiful directly. I couldn't help myself stopping every few miles to take a picture along the way. After the first 20 miles there was a steep climb over a low ridge (+10%, whoever said the grades in the Rockies would be easy?).

After this ridge was a sort of narrow plain between the first lower ridge and the higher mountain ridges behind it. Via this plain I made a nice descent into Florence, after which I had a relatively flat ride into Cañon City. Here I was directed to a sports bar named Chili's, where I could watch the soccer world cup quarter final Netherlands versus Costa Rica. The personnel didn't mind putting the match on the big screen with the sound on, so everyone in the bar had to watch the match with me :). Whilst enjoying a club sandwich and some refreshing coke, I saw the Dutch team win after penalty kicks and a very exciting game. Lots of people congratulated me afterwards and said they were hoping The Netherlands to win the cup, nice!

After the match I did some groceries only to discover afterwards that I had my first puncture of this trip. Not bad after some 2200 miles I'd say. Due to the long match and having to put one a new tube, it had gotten a bit late, but I decided to put in a few more miles as planned. The climbing for the next 10 miles was indeed over gentle grades and due to the time of the day the temperatures had also dropped a bit already. The low sun did again give some amazing views. As I stopped at a campground near Royal Gorge the campground guy greeted me and told me they had cheap spaces for cyclists for only 10 bucks. He also offered me a refreshing sno-cone and directly drove me around in his truck to show me my spot... best campground reception so far! Elevation at the end of the day (and by far highest thus far): 6300 ft. 

Day 33: Haswell, CO - Pueblo, CO (77/150)

After some 20 miles of riding today the silhouettes of the Rockies appeared on the horizon. The riding itself was in long stretches as today is the 4th of July and the convenience stores in the small towns were all closed. Today was warm and sunny with temps in the low 90's and there was a nasty headwind, so the riding was tough. Basically it was one stretch until lunch and one after. This also meant some planning w.r.t. food and water, which worked out in the end. At the lunch stop I again ran into some riders of the Bike the US for MS group.

The landscape is similarly awesome as yesterday, with the addition of the mountains in the background. After lunch the route led through the valley of the Arkansas river. The valley is flanked by some nice looking sand hills. The final miles into Pueblo showed some nasty thunderstorms, but luckily they appeared to be just behind the city in the mountains.

I decided to stay in a hotel today, since this would allow me to get some sleep despite all 4th of July silliness and allow me to go into the city with all my stuff locked away. After checking in, showering and taking a nap, I had dinner with some beers at the Shamrock (Irish pub). Then I went to have a look at the Riverwalk, where the main celebration and fireworks would be. After listening to some awefull music I enjoyed the fireworks show and returned to the hotel to turn in early to be able to watch the quarter final of the Dutch soccer team tomorrow during lunch :)

Day 32: Leoti, KS - Haswell, CO (73/150)

This morning I woke up, packed my stuff and set out before my hosts were awake. The weather was sunny and cool in the early morning, but someone had again turned on the south / southwest headwind. There were only 80 miles planned for today, so I wouldn't let a little headwind bother me. Not long after setting out I rode from the Central time zone into the Mountain time zone.

A while further I passed the "leaving Kansas" sign (including bullet holes!) and after that the "welcome to Colorado" sign. I'm thrilled to have finally made it to Colorado, cause this is where I'm gonna be riding through the awesome Rockies and also where I'll be visiting a friend in Boulder. I'll first have to pass through eastern Colorado though.

After riding into Colorado the landscape started to change significantly. It soon almost felt like I was riding through the landscape of a Western movie: A very arid landscape, with almost no trees and green grass; practically unlimited view; corresponding vegetation including cactusses; dust clouds sweeping over the plains and even those dry grassy bushes (how do you call these?) being blown over the road. The landscape was just awesome and it was joy riding through it (especially after the monotonous Kansas part). The plains are also starting to gain elevation towards the foot of the Rockies. Yesterday and today had both well over 1000ft of climbing spread over the day. The maps marked a section of 58 miles as limited services so in a small town I used a very primitive restroom, only to find out a few hundred yards later that they did have a convenience store there. Ah well... part of the experience right?

I planned to stop in Eads, but after a short visit to the library, I realised it was still quite early, also due to the switch of time zones. I therefore decided to continue some 20 more miles, which would allow me to reach Pueblo tomorrow (4th of July) and watch the big fireworks. The wind had turned in the afternoon to become a tailwind, so that also made the decision easier :) In Haswell (population 86) I'm staying in the simple city park. Here I again met the group of Biking the US for MS, which was good for some evening conversation. Unfortunately clouds came in on the last stretch, so I haven't been able to see the mountains yet. As they are now only some 100 miles away, they should pop up sometime tomorrow... cannot wait!

One more thing, based on mileage I passed the halfway point (2100 miles) today!

Day 31: Bazine, KS - Leoti, KS (68/150)

After a healthy breakfast and saying goodbye to Elaine and Dan I set out for an early morning start. The weather was cloudy with some drops of rain here and there, but without any wind whatsoever. In the afternoon it became sunny with only a slight wind resulting in a perfect day for cycling. 

Due to the very good progress during the morning and early afternoon I had some time to spend in the library to plan my detour towards Boulder, where I'm visiting a Dutch friend. My initial plan was to follow the route to Pueblo and from there cut almost straight to Boulder along the foot of the Rocky Mountains. However, since progress is so good until now and my friend is only back in about a week, I have some extra days to spend. So I decided to follow the route much further into the Rocky Mountains over Hoosier Pass towards Fresco and then take Loveland pass to get to Boulder. This means that I get to ride much, much more miles and days in the mountains, something I'm looking forward to very, very much !

The route today followed a single straight road, which I will be following all day :) The landscape is not much different than yesterday, i.e. flat. I did pass a wind farm (no nasty smells at all !) near the small town Modoc. It was hard to see from a distance, but I don't think they were Siemens turbines, but seeing them did make me happy!

Tonight I'm staying with WarmShowers hosts Sarah and Jason in Leoti. Even though they were not home when I arrived, Sarah gave me instructions to their house and told me to make myself at home. When they arrived Sarah immediately offered me a cool beer and after a refreshing shower Jason cooked us some lovely burritos. Sarah and Jason are in the middle of their ongoing home renovation, but nonetheless they had no problem hosting me. They gave me a floor space on the second floor for my air mattress and sleeping bag, which should be more than sufficient for a good night's sleep.

Day 30: Nickerson, KS - Bazine, KS (64/150)

Luckily I decided that yesterday would be a small ride and today a large one, as the weather was super today. The morning was nice and cool with almost no wind. The first 60 miles of the route were without services, so I was packed with water and supplies and due to the weather finished this bit already around noon.

After lunch at a Subway the northwest wind had picked up, so the 50 miles in the afternoon were much harder, but still far easier than yesterday, also because the temperatures remained at a very comfortable mid 80's. As I felt like I should do something cultural for a change, I decided to pay a short visit to Fort Larned, which is a 150 year old fort, used to protect the Santa Fe Trail trade route.

The scenery is basically the same as yesterday, fields of cattle, corn and grain. There are more and more oil fields the further I ride, including oil smells (renewables smell soooo much better!) In addition the landscape is turning from mainly green corn fields to mainly brown grain fields, giving the landscape a much more arid look. Each town during the afternoon therefore had huge grain storage facilities.

Tonight I'm staying at Elaine's Bed and Breakfast Bicycle Oasis in Bazine. This is just passer the small town Alexander, which marked the end of the 5th section out of 12 of the route. Upon arrival Elaine let me in and after a nice and refreshing shower she prepared a nice and healthy dinner for me accompanied by lots of stories about other cyclists and pictures of her (grand)children and dogs. Super to not have to worry about dinner (and breakfast tomorrow) for a change!