DAY 35: Pueblo to Eads: "Prairie Horizons and a sore butt"

July 3, 2016

DAILY STATS

Mileage: 114.34

Average Speed: 14.1 mph

Maximum Speed: 23.3 mph

Today was sure a change of pace. I was on the road by 8am, after saying goodbye to Mike and grabbing a small snack.

Immediately outside of Pueblo I found myself in flat, flat territory. Along with this new terrain came hoards of grasshoppers, some of which hitched a ride on my panniers (but most of which I just heartlesssly ran over).

Tgis road is known as the "Prairie Horizons Trail" for cyclists. The communities between Pueblo and the Kansas border strive to serve cyclists and make their journey into or out of the plains smooth and enjoyable. Just the type of bicycle advocacy that is much appreciated by we touring cyclists! The communities and their residents have provided me with maps and directions, weather updates, and various other suggestions. It's awesome.

Soon the land it became even MORE desolate, and all signs of life were gone, save for myself and miles and miles of grass.

It was startling to feel so alone. The land was simply a vast expanse of desolation. I still feel unsettled by it, and I can't quite explain the sensation it causes inside of me.

The towns were small, few, and far between. Often I could see the water tower from miles away, and would spend a considerable amount of time to finally reach it.

I could see this tower in Haswell from about 15 miles away.

This type of terrain will pave the way to Missouri, about 500 miles away. Luckily I had prepared for this, and downloaded a number of audiobooks. Today I plugged away while listening to Jack Kerouack's "On the Road," and appropriate book for the setting. I got through about half of ithe by days end.

I had a brief run from some lightning before I rolled into the Eads fairgrounds to set up camp.

Setting up for the night. It was actually a great place to spend the night, as I will explain in the next blog post.

I'll be taking tomorrow off, since it is the Fourth of July and people may be drinking and driving. I spoke with some locals who told me that fireworks would be going on at the fairgrounds in the evening, so it appears I chose the right place to stay!

Today's ride: 114 miles (183 km)
Total: 2,320 miles (3,734 km)

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