Day 47, Fairplay to Canon City, CO

Miles – 74

Miles From Start/To Finish – 2,064/2,164

Ave Riding Speed – 3-30 mph

Hours Start to Finish – 7

Weather – Sunny and 84

You all have raised over $12,000 for the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance, so far. We’ll keep pedaling and spreading the word along the way and hope that you can keep spreading the word out there. Thank you!

I was up at 5:30am and rolled over. The hotel room shade was open, but we were not ready to get up. I woke up at 6:45am with Kim moving about the room. I put on the first of two-hotel room 4-cupper coffees. Kim was excited as she picked up some crème at the grocery store yesterday. For breakfast we had our leftovers from what we picked up at the grocery store. We were rolling our bikes out the hotel front door at 8:30am and jumped back on Hwy 9 and Hwy 285 heading south.

About 1-mile south Hwy 285 went south and we cut over on Hwy 9 heading southeast. It was a beautiful morning with the sun shining and traffic was almost nonexistent on the no-shoulder road. There was a noticeable haze shading the sun and cast a fog on the mountain views all around us.

We cruised the 18 miles to Hartsel. Our map said there should be a restaurant and convenience store there. As we rolled into the small town and pulled into the convenience store/gas station. There was a handwritten sign in the gas pump area that said, Opening Soon.” We pulled through and two buildings down, past the restaurant, we saw The South Park Mercantile. Kim peaked her head in while I watched our bikes. She gave it the thumbs up, so I walked in knowing we could see our bikes through the windows.

We try to buy a little something if we’re going to use the restroom. I grabbed some licorice and Kim bought some honey mustard pretzels. We got talking with the cashier and she commented that Hartsel is the center of Colorado and from Hartsel you can view all the mountains in Colorado over 14,000 feet. I asked her about the haze and another customer chimed in and said it’s from the fires in Utah and California. Kim and I walked outside to the rocking chairs in front of the store and had a couple bites of our snacks. The cashier told Kim that there will be no water or services for 50 miles so Kim went back into the store to pickup a couple bottles of water. When Kim returned, she said the cashier gave her the two bottles and to have a safe ride.

In all the excitement of getting over Hoosier Pass yesterday we overlooked a little climb for today as we were thinking we’d be traveling downhill for most of the day. It was a couple humps up about 400 feet to Current Creek Pass at an elevation of 9,404 feet. We conquered the summit and kept moving. The scenery on the south side of the summit was what I’ve imagined we’d see. Pine covered mountain tops all around us. We rode along what was supposed to be Current Creek. Sadly, it was bone dry! We rode for 31 miles until we reached Hwy 50 and headed east. Hwy 50 is a main thoroughfare and the weekend traffic returning from the weekend was busy. The great thing is that this road had a shoulder.

The wind picked up and was blowing hard against us for a slight climb and then we descended into Canon City and rolled right into the Econo Lodge on the north end of town. We dropped our gear and walked over to the World’s End Brewing Company and had burgers and side salads. We splurged and each had a cider and it was delicious!

It was a good day of riding the wide-open spaces of Colorado.

My daughter Hayley called us after our dinner so we could sing Happy Birthday to our 3-year-old twin grandchildren and watch them blow out their candles. It was the highlight of our day.

It’s popcorn time!