Day 57, Pueblo to Canon City, Colorado.

Colorado has a lot of flowers. These were growing in front of the Quality Inn.

I thought these were also kind of neat.

The Arkansas River as it runs through Canon City.

A retired train from an era passed.

We can see the mountains. Actually these are the foot hill leading to the Rocky Mountains.

The terrain changes drastically once in the foot hills.

Colorado, we love it.

Buffalo, and one Lama.

Chris, happy to have found Marcus.

Here's Marcus, poor thing. He didn't even know he was lost.

Trees and mountain, they are every where.


deep blue skies, clean fresh air, and plenty of open road.

That is snow on them hills.

Pat, it was a long day for the three of them.

Main Street in Canon City.

One of the most creative head stones I have seen.

One of our first glimpse of the mountains.

The land scape has a character all it's own. We couldn't help but smile.

Lisa said that the snow covered mountain is Pike's Peak.

Cool rock formations.


I thought this elk was for real. It was only a fake one on the side of the road for tourist to freak out over.

Ted, after a bi breakfast at the big M.

When you gotta go, you gotta go.

I was so excited about seeing the mountains, I took way too many pictures.

Rolling into Wetmore.

Leaving Wetmore.

This is a motor sports park out side of Pueblo. There were motorcycle trails and jumps all over the place.

We watched "Hang Over" at this theater.


Day 57, Pueblo to Canon City, Colorado. “Climbing The Foot Hills”. 4o miles.

Pueblo is a big town, with over a hundred thousand people, it was the largest town we have been to so far. A town this size does have it’s conveniences. We were finally able to go see a movie. “Hang Over”, I have mixed feelings about this movie. I would not recommend it to church going people. But if you like to party, drink, swear, and act like fools, then this is the movie for you. A large town also has a variety of places to eat, and 24 hour convenience stores every where. The down side is, too many people. Which means the traffic is horrendous, and it takes a long time to find where you want to go. And if you get lost, well, you end up miles from where you want to be, and that could take up to an hour to find your way back.
We left pueblo at our usual starting time around 8:30 this morning. Finding our way back on route was no easy task. This place is so spread out, that we were still in the city limits for the first 4 or 5 miles. Once out of town, the road became very rough and in need of repairs. On top of that, we lost our usual shoulder. Now we were on the road with cars and trucks. There are bike route signs posted, so at least motorist are warned of our presence. The country side changes drastically once we entered the foot hills. There were more trees, and the terrain took on a character of it’s own. Colorado is a beautiful place, with lots and lots of spectacular views almost at every corner.
We gained almost three thousand feet today. Most of it gradual, and with such stunning scenery, the climbs did not seem to bother us as we might have thought. We did encounter a bit of head wind, but not enough to dampen the other wise perfect riding conditions. We saw this huge prison coming up on our right as we were coasting down form a pass. I pulled up to the entrance where two guards came out to greet me. I asked them if it was alright to take a few pictures of the place. They told me that picture taking was prohibited in this facility. I then told them what we were doing, and they both asked the usual questions. As I left, they both wished me luck, and told me the weather should be nice for the rest of the week. That was good news, because yesterday, there was a storm that moved through the area with close to freezing temperatures.
We pulled into the town of Wetmore at about noon. We were planning on having lunch here, but because of the big breakfast we had in Pueblo, decided to just chill out, and have a cold drink. Florence, another small town was just 4 or 5 mines up the road. Depending on the amount of climbing, we figured to be there in less than an hour. I needed to use the john, and thought I could just duck behind a tree once we got out of town. Funny thing was, the town never ended. So when we came across this cemetery with no one around, I decided this was the place. It was one of the nicest grave yards I have ever seen, very well maintained. I remember saying to myself, “I wouldn’t mind being buried here”…………………… Florence didn’t have much to offer, so we pushed on to Canon City, our destination for the night. It was only nine miles, so we knew we were going to make it with no problem. Upon entering Canon City, we found Pat and Chris at a motel. We stopped to say hi, but was soon discouraged by some bad news. Marcus, their traveling companion was missing. They were supposed to meet up with him ten miles up the road, but he never showed up, and his cell phone would not answer. They have been searching for him all morning, and even alerted the police, and checked the hospital. We told them that we would keep an eye out for him and let him know where they were. To make a long story short, Marcus was alright. He arrived at their meeting point, but did not see them, so he had pushed on to the next town. Apparently there was no cell reception, so that’s why he never answered. A happy ending to an other wise tense situation.
Tonight we are at the Quality Inn. Tomorrow, more climbing, we will try to make it to Hartsel, about 60 miles. Good night, Ted.