Day 34, Salida to Westcliffe: Bighorn Sheep Sightings!

August 25, 2017

NOTE; You can leave a comment or question for us by using the “Comment” feature located near the bottom of the page. We enjoy getting these and will respond as soon as we have internet service (some places we stay don’t have it or the wifi is just too weak to be useable). Thanks!

Mileage Today; 49 Total So Far; 1,547 Remaining; 56

Climbing Today; 2,475 Total So Far; 91,070 Remaining; 2,053

Max Grade Today; 8.7% Average Uphill Grade; 2.0%

Average Speed While Riding; 10.4 mph

Mechanical Issues; None

Photos Credit; Bud, unless noted otherwise

****

Bud speaking;

We slept till 4:30 this morning, just enough time to wake up, get the bikes downstairs/outside, load the panniers and carry them out to the bikes, and roll about ½ mile to the local MacDonald’s for their 5:30 am opening. It was nice having a sit-down restaurant breakfast, even if it was MacDonald’s. The hotel had a free breakfast at 6:30 am, but that’s way too late for serious tourists who want to avoid the heat and traffic issues. Our concern this morning was more on the traffic issues, as the ACA map had warned us about the stretch of Highway 50 from Salida to Cotopaxi. This is a popular tourist corridor, and the road is 2 lanes with little to no shoulder and limited sight distance due to the many curves as the highway snakes around the rock cliffs carved out by the river. So we ate quickly and prepared to roll. As we rolled out of Salida we encountered this warning;

Watch For Wildlife, And Even For Rocks; But Not For Bicyclists?

Hey, why didn’t they include a warning to watch out for us cyclists? The good news for us is that we are rolling downstream this morning, so we should eat up the 21 miles to Cotopaxi in a couple of hours. We’re following the Arkansas River downstream, and she’s a beautiful mountain stream full of turbulent energy.

We're Following The Turbulent Arkansas River Downstream

Arkansas River Is Energetic and Beautiful (Photo Credit; Doc)

The sign is warning me to slow down; they must be joking. I don’t think 15 mph is too fast for this highway.

Once the sun pops out, the Arkansas River sparkles as the waves burst over the rapids. The poor photo doesn’t do it justice.

Ok then, I believe in art, science, and love myself.

I mean, who doesn’t believe in science? Ok, maybe about 50% of our politicians deny science, but who else? But back to our regularly scheduled adventure. Our early start was helpful, but there was still a lot of traffic on the roadway, and as you can see there just isn’t any shoulder.

Doc and Sis Roll Along; Narrow Road With Little/No Shoulder And High Traffic

Most folks are polite and cautious when passing cyclists, but there are always those few who seem to be upset that they have to take a few extra seconds to slow and pass us safely. The law requires that cyclists must be passed with a minimum of 3 feet lateral distance, but 93% of all motorists are not familiar with the law.

We were glad to make it to Cotopaxi and to our turnoff on County Road 1A.

The Cotopaxi Store Has A Café; Wish We Knew That

The Cotopaxi store had a café that serves breakfast all day. If we had known that, we could have got on the road a little earlier by skipping breakfast in Salida, and perhaps missed a little bit of the traffic. Oh well, any future cycle tourists that read this journal will know and hopefully benefit from that little bit of knowledge.

We were in the Bighorn Sheep Canyon, so as we left Cotopaxi we were searching for sheep sightings. We got lucky and spotted a couple of them, one at a time;

This Fellow Seemed To Pose For Us High Above On His Rocky Perch

Sis Spotted This Guy When He Turned His White Tail Towards Us

Not far from Cotopaxi we encountered a steep climb. We are all pretty strong now, and what would have been a huge challenge a few weeks ago is just routine work now. Here’s Sis and Doc coming up the steep climb;

A Steep Climb; By This Point It's A Piece Of Cake

Notice that the road dips so much that you can only see part of them; this really was a steep hill, but no one is walking. Our legs have become steel hardened springs now, and we can climb any grade (it’s easy to say that now that the tour is almost over and we won’t be facing any crazy climbs for a while).

As we approached Hillside, the road became more rolling and opened up into the expansive Wet Mountain Valley.

Sis Rolls Off In The Distance; The Scenery Today Was Magnificent

Flowers In The Wet Mountain Valley (Photo Credit; Doc)

I was ahead of Sis and Doc and planned to wait for them while enjoying a cold drink at the store in Hillside. But that store was closed, so I just rode on towards Westcliffe and ate up some miles. The road had shrinkage cracks every 30 – 40 feet it seemed, so it was just a steady stream of bump-bump-bump as I rode along, and the jarring from this made me keep my speed down. But eventually Westcliffe appeared in the distance;

We rode past the Frank Kennicott homestead a few miles outside of Westcliffe.

Frank Kennicott Homestead (Photo Credit; Doc)

And here’s our home for the night;

Our Home For The Night; A Liquor Store Motel? Why Not?

If you had the chance, how could you not stay at the Antlers Liquor Store, General Store, and Motel? (it’s a rhetorical question, you really don’t have to answer; but if you must, do so using the Comment link near the bottom of the page) Westcliffe is an interesting tourist town with lots of attractions, and we enjoyed our short afternoon stay.

We met another cycle tourist before we headed for dinner. Marty left New Orleans, traveled up the Natchez Trace, went into Missouri and took the Katy Trail westbound, crossed Kansas and half of Colorado and is now going to follow the Western Express to San Francisco. Wow!

As for us, our little adventure is nearing the end. We have only one day remaining, and tomorrow we travel to Pueblo and the end of the trail. But a lot can happen before we get there. Night all, I’m going to enjoy my liquor store bed and start dreaming of the next tour…

Today's ride: 49 miles (79 km)
Total: 1,546 miles (2,488 km)

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Kelly IniguezWe have stayed at the Antler - I was less than impressed. Jacinto loved just going downstairs for a beer. This trip we are at a new place, the Dark Skies Suites. I made our reservation back in October. I noted that their price now is $60. less. I asked for a price adjustment. No go. It was worth a try. It's one of our most expensive lodging locations of the trip. I hope it's worth the money.

I'm going to watch for the mountain goats. Thanks for the tip. I didn't notice them on our previous trip, which was in July, 2017.

We aren't very good at stopping mid ride - especially before a big climb. Now - if someone would deliver that food to me at the top, before a big downhill! That's another story!

I know I read your journal when it was live. I'm going back now to get the highlights. I'd love to ride this. I don't think I have the legs for those big mile, back to back days in Nevada . . . one can dream.
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1 year ago

George HallKelly - if you can do the climbing for the tour you are on (looks like a great tour, BTW!), you could do the Nevada basin/range part of the Western Express. I mean it. Just leave really really early on those long mileage days in Nevada that have no services, cause it's the heat issues that could actually hurt someone. The Nevada basin/range area is simply incredible to ride across, and I know it has some special significance for you. Train enough so you are confident, then go and do it next year - I know you can do it, and you will always be happy that you did.
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1 year ago