Salida - Westcliffe, CO - Big Mountains, Small Towns.

June 14, 2022

Salida - Westcliffe, CO

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Jacinto's mantra in life is to not worry about things until they happen. I would have had a better night's sleep if I had adopted his attitude about the wind today. That's not how I'm wired!

Oren and I agreed on a 7 AM depart. I don't think he was really that interested in leaving so early, but I wanted to get ahead of the wind. Jacinto first said he was leaving at 8, but couldn't peel himself out of bed. He left at 9.

Oren and I met at the breakfast. They had hot sandwiches and burritos. I dissected the innards out of two sandwiches. I supplemented that with yogurt and the dreaded oatmeal. This was worse, because it was all instant. At least when I fix my own, I add nuts and craisins.

It was difficult to leave our nice room. Finding someone else's nail clippings on the floor only diminished our pleasure slightly. Oren found a pair of socks in his room. Our drapes also had some dark gloppy spots. The sheets were clean as was the bathroom. I have to admit to some disappointment in the cleanliness. There was an ick factor to the nail clippings.

Just last night I read George Hall's 2017 experience of riding this same ride. His experience through the canyon, along Highway 50 was about what I expected. Oren and I started out with low expectations on the pleasure scale. In the end, we had little traffic. Perhaps we hit the sweet spot, on a Tuesday morning? We had two total semi trailers, three RV's (almost to our turn off - maybe it was finally getting late enough for the RV's to be out), and 3-4 vehicles pulling toys. I kept careful track of how many big/long vehicles went past us. We did just fine. Jacinto said he had one semi pass too close on the river section, and another one on the second section.

The sky was blue this morning. Google does not have updates on the Lopez fire. A friend sent a link to an article that said the smoke in Colorado is from the Arizona fire. I don't know where the smoke went, but it isn't here. Blue skies and light clouds! That works for me.

The rock formations along the river were outstanding. We did not see any bighorn sheep - despite seeing a sign for them, and seeing Buddy's photos of them on his ride through.

We stopped at the turn, 23.5 miles in. Neither of us needed anything. We looked around for the restaurant that Buddy went to. Perhaps it was inside the convenience store?

The road surface to this point was recently new. Oren felt that the shoulder had been widened since he last drove this road. There were extended areas through the narrow canyon where we had no shoulder at all. When there was a chance for a shoulder, they built one. There just isn't much room.

I told Oren my last trip through here, the climb away from the river had been tough. I allowed that my main problem was the heat. Today was forecast to have a high of 76. Heat shouldn't be a problem.

After we turned away from the river, it was basically climbing the whole rest of the way. There were a few level spots, and slight downhills, but, mostly climbing.

I was happy with how I did. I ate one Perpetum tablet half way up the big climb. I ate my apple on a level spot, and also ate a bar.

I enjoyed the scenery. This entire area is amazing. Rock cliffs, green, green valleys, mountains all around. The view was worth the work to get here.

I had three men on road bikes pass me on the climb. One slowed down long enough to ask if I needed anything. That was kind of him to ask, but I don't know what he could have helped me with. He had one water bottle, and a small seat bag. I presumed they were out for a day ride. He said they were headed to Pueblo. That was a long day ride. They chatted more with Oren. The men are riding 100 mile days, starting in San Francisco. Today they made a navigational error, and would be riding 111 miles. Obviously, they have a SAG vehicle. Those are long ass days, as Jacinto would say.

I never saw Oren again. With 6.5 miles to go, I saw town. It looked so close, but was so far away. The wind had picked up, and it was a slow slog. I'm not complaining. The forecast was for far worse.

Road surface on the second half of the day was also pleasant. There were a few areas with cracks across, but only a few. Overall, I've been pleased with the road surfaces this trip.

Ridewithgps took me right on Adams Street, instead of going into town. I think Oren went right into town. I saw a park with restrooms, and picnic tables. I stopped. I was getting REALLY hungry. I used the bathroom, and got out my leftovers from the Patio Pancake place. My phone didn't have service, but there is Main Street wi-fi. I called Oren. It took him about 15 minutes to find me. He had purchased a cold Starbucks drink and wasn't hungry. My leftovers had only taken the edge off of my hunger!

I called to see if we could get in our lodging. It's another of those remote situations. The cleaning lady was still there. As soon as she finishes, we can get in. We bicycled on over and sat outside.

It didn't take Jacinto long to catch up with us. He and Oren walked to the store for snacks and breakfast fixings. We talked a little about the wind tomorrow. We have a 59 mile ride. It would be nice to not fight the wind on our downhill day.

Tomorrow, in Walsenburg, we are at the Best Western, out by the interstate. Oren couldn't get a room there. He is in town, 2.5 miles away, at an airbnb. We will not have dinner together, and I will have to climb the hill into Walsenburg on cold legs, first thing in the morning.

We have friends from Canyon City driving over to meet us for dinner. We are going to a new Mexican restaurant in town that they heard of. It will be good to see them.

An interesting rock formation on the Arkansas River.

These flags are not fabric. They are always flying.

These flags were all along a fairly large property. They also had solar lights to shine on them.

We did not see any buggies, but I did see a boy using a weed wacker who was dressed in plain clothes. He had two smaller siblings also in plain clothes. The older boy waved. The two smaller ones just looked at me.

The lettering is made of rope. It says Lone Star Ranch.

My only flower photo today. There weren’t many flowers to see.

RANS Stratus XP, K style frame with an AD Carson seat. That is a towel on the seat for just a little Cush.

The elk sculpture is all out of proportion to the gate. I had to look at it for awhile to figure out what I was seeing.

There were a fair number of falling down buildings today.

They don’t have to worry about the snow load on this building!

Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 443 miles (713 km)

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Scott AndersonLooks like the fire must not have been a problem.
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1 year ago

Kelly IniguezTo Scott AndersonThank you for the prompt. I went back and added some commentary. Yep - blue skies today. Google has nothing new on the Lopez fire. IDK if that's good or bad.
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1 year ago

George HallVery happy to hear that you didn't have much traffic on 50! Definitely a much better experience than I had. And yes, the restaurant is inside the store.
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1 year ago

Wayne EstesClose to the Interstate in Westcliffe? I suppose you mean close to the 2-lane US highway.
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1 year ago

Kelly IniguezTo Wayne EstesI went back and added clarification. Walsenburg is next to the interstate, not tiny little Westcliffe.
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1 year ago

Kelly IniguezTo George HallWhen we rode through here in 2017, I had a flat tire in the canyon. This trip it was my entertainment, trying to find the wide spot with a rock where I sat to fix it.

This was definitely a better ride. I was really happy with the lack of big vehicles.
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1 year ago