Day 26

Mileage: 91
Total mileage: 2273

In the mountains at last!

Last night I feel asleep on a mattress, with my head on a pillow. This morning I woke up on the floor, with my head on the mattress. I suppose I'm not used to mattress sleeping, but I get to try again tonight!

Everyone else who slept at Gillian's last night was up by 5 and out by 7. I knew the breakfast diner didn't open up until 8, so I was up at 7:30 after a nice long night's rest. It was 50 miles into Pueblo, with no restaurants, so I'm assuming the others just ate food they had with them. At the diner, I asked, like I usually do, if they will make a super sized combo for me. My breakfast of 8 eggs over easy, short stack of pancakes, hashbrowns and toast never seems to be a menu item, and if you paid the side price for each item, you'd end up with a 20 dollar meal. I love small town diners! They agreed to charge me $7.50, which I thought was hilariously cheap. The atmosphere at these places is amazing. One retired patron apparently had the informal job of walking around and swatting all the flies. Everyone was heckling him as he went past their table good-naturedly. Every person who came in got a round of greetings from everyone else. I ended up sitting with a nice couple of ladies, Dorothy and Anita and hearing about their children and grandchildren as well as life in Ordway. When I got up to leave, Anita bought my breakfast for me, which was just incredibly nice of her.

With a belly full of food, the road into Pueblo was flat and uneventful, but there was so much scrub that I couldn't get a clear view of the mountains ahead. The vegetation is changing with the elevation and scrub brush covering small hills is the new norm. As I was riding along, suddenly I heard a familiar voice shout my name. It was once again Steve! ! We rode hard for a while and then parted ways once we reached the city. He was off to a motel and to meet a friend and I needed to go get Wi-Fi at the library.

Pueblo is an enormous city in my new frame of reference: 100,000 strong, and I didn't much like it. I suppose this is going to seem backwoods or superior of me, but everyone just seems to slide off one another, instead of interacting. It's not their fault, it's just impossible to have that kind of close connection when you're sharing a city with so many other people. Drivers were noticeably less patient and I felt the least safe on the side of the road since the shoulderless Kentucky highways

I chugged a half gallon of chocolate milk while working from the library computer for a while and then went to hang out at the bike shop. They gave me a rag and let me spend around an hour in the workshop with my bike up on the stand, cleaning components, degreasing and oiling my chain, wiping down the frame and just generally doing a much needed halfway point tuneup.

I wasn't back on the road until about 4 in the evening, and I completely forgot to get some real food while I was in the city. Either way, I figured I didn't have that far to go, and I certainly wasn't turning around, so I just pushed on. Outside of Pueblo, I crawled over the top of a biggish ridge (indignant that I had to use my small ring for the first time in several hundred miles) and saw the Rockies on the other side of one last prairie.

Oh boy, what a feeling it was to be riding towards that looming wall and feel it growing taller and taller above me! I had excitement, wonder and a healthy dose of intimidation all swirling around inside of me as I crossed the last of the windy plains and started into the foothills.

Just on the other side of the first foothills, tucked away back into the mountains is a tiny little beautiful town called Wetmore. I included one picture, not of the town, but of the little mountain valley it sits in which was just so picturesque. Pretty soon I was losing most of the elevation I had just gained as I descended into Florence where I planned on staying the night in city park. I went to check in with the police and wound up getting a very formal evaluation, with my name and drivers license information all being relayed back to the dispatcher to make sure I wasn't some criminal. In retrospect, it makes a lot of sense, as there is kind of a federal supermax prison right here outside of town.

I went to eat at a Chinese restaurant and got to talking with another group at a nearby table. This was Dan, his wife Audrey and their son Brock. They recently moved up to Wetmore from Pueblo, and from the change in view, I'd say it was worth it. We talked about Kentucky and Phoenix and how they've changed over the years and finally got around to the question of why I was sitting in Colorado, in my biking outfit, crusted with salt and staring at maps while I waited for my food.

As we finished eating, Dan extended an invitation in true cowboy style, saying only 'You want a shower tonight?' I babbled how much I'd love one. 'Throw your bike in the truck then' and he walked out to the parking lot.

I rode back to their place in Wetmore, willing to trade the 14 miles of downhill riding for a hot shower, but then Brock offered to drive me into town tomorrow morning. So tonight I'm sleeping on a lush bed that I hopefully won't fall out of. I've been plied with towels, soap, showers, cold water, bananas, popcorn, laundry and every other luxury you can think of. I'm not quite sure how to react. I've been so used to simple pleasures that I'm a little overwhelmed by all the sudden pampering. But I won't complain, I'm just so happy we ran into each other tonight and I think we'll stay in touch for a long time after I go.

Tomorrow involves climbing, but that's all that I'm going to say. No promises and maybe something big will happen. Either way, I'm going to need a few hours of sleep. G'night!