Day 20 - Monarch to Pueblo

We started the day high in the Rockies and ended the day on the edge of the Great Plains. What a contrast! It was cold enough in the morning that I think everyone had on at least arm warmers or a jacket. It's been a few days since we've had any temperatures that cool! We started with a steep descent right out of the motel as we came down off the mountain and into Salida. We had a lot of really good downhill, not hitting a steady uphill climb until about mile 60 of the day. We were riding along the Arkansas River for almost all of that and it was beautiful, gradually changing from pines and aspens to junipers and a drier landscape. In Salida we connected with many cyclists involved in Ride the Rockies. I heard there were about 1800 cyclists so that dwarfed our group of 20. We all wore our red, white and blue jerseys so our support crew could spot us more easily. There was a lot of passing back and forth, some friendly riders, some not so much. We overheard a couple of riders commenting on our tour - I don't know if I'd want to do that. I mean I like riding my bike and all but...  :)  The wimps! Haha. We overlapped with them from Salida to Canon City. It was kind of cool for a while to be out riding with everyone but after a while it was just annoying and we were pretty happy when our routes diverged again. Before Canon City we had a pretty good climb. I just decided to jump out and hammer up it so I accelerated around the people I'd been riding with and took off. I had my sights on where I thought the hill ended and was kind of measuring my effort to finish up there. Of course I came around the curve and it kept climbing. And climbing. But with people behind me I couldn't let up! So I kept pounding and going and going and was really happy when it finally did flatten out. :) I had plenty of time to catch my breath while I waited for them to catch up. We decided to stop in Canon City for lunch and we were looking for better than fast food. I'd recommend Michael's on Main Street for anyone wanting to eat there. Very tasty and bike friendly including a candy shop and gelato bar. I understand the beer selection was good as well although I didn't sample that. One of the guys swore it was the best strawberry lemonade he'd ever had in his life. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch there and then moved on with about 35 miles left to finish out the day. After a morning of mostly downhill we weren't all that excited about the rolling terrain we faced for the remainder of the day. Seemed like it was down one hill just to climb up another and the wind kicked up a bit as well. I looked around at the mountains receding and said my farewells to the Rockies for another month or so. We were riding along when someone drove by, waving and yelling out the window. My fan club! :) John and Susan Montgomery were out driving and watching for us. They pulled over and we stopped for a quick photo before continuing on. The last 10 miles before town seemed pretty long but we eventually made it into Pueblo and wound our way through town to reach the motel. It was feeling really warm outside and the ac in the motel felt like heaven! After a shower I had the mechanic check my back  brakes as they'd felt a bit chunky on some of the descents that day. Got that worked out, met with the group to go over tomorrow's route, then Fiona and I left for dinner with John and Susan. Had a great dinner at Noodles & Co. The Montgomery's offered better but we wanted food fast - crabby bikers are like that - and it tasted great! Fiona's first frozen yogurt experience followed shortly thereafter. Susan brought me a variety of granola to offer some options for breakfast. We are quickly tiring of the standard hotel fare. It was so fun to see them and hear news of home. I wouldn't say I'm exactly homesick but it's so nice to be reminded that there are people out there that love me. :)

Ready for Rest Day #2!!

Looking back at our mountain descent

Through the canyon along the Arkansas River. Flowing pretty high!

Blooming cacti! Cholla would be my guess but I might be wrong on that.

Scenery at the first sag stop about 50 miles from our starting point of the day.

Our lunch stop - Cincinatti Barry, Fiona, me with Texas Barry as photographer

For those of you that like the food shots, this was my chef salad. I probably made it through half of it.

But managed to fit in a bit peppermint gelato and a small piece of chocolate.

Watching the mountains recede.

An example of the rolling hills we had into Pueblo.

Fro yo with some fabulous people!  A great way to end the day. :)