Day 53: In the Mountains
Posted by the girls on Thursday, May 26, 2011
Well, for better or worse, we've finally made it into the mountains! The first part of our day from Pueblo was the usual flats with some gradual incline. However, at the end of the day we were greeted with the steeper inclines that central Colorado has to offer.
We left our CouchSurfer's house this morning and headed to a nearby guest house to meet Mark (the Dutch guy that we met at the bike shop two days ago). We will be heading the same direction for at least a few days, so he decided to join us (his whole trip from Miami had been solo up until this point). Emily also had to quickly stop at Enterprise to pick up her water bottle that was left behind in the car.
We left Pueblo and saw the mountains in the distance. By the end of our 50 mile ride, we were beginning to climb those mountains. Luckily, we had favorable/unnoticeable winds. We were planning to spend the night in Canon City, but we got there around noon. It seemed too early to stop and the weather was so nice; we decided to keep going. We only did 10 more miles, but that included a sort of famous 8-mile climb to the Royal Gorge area.
We pitched our tents at the KOA campground and unloaded the panniers from our bikes. With our lighter load, we decided to bike the four extra miles to visit the Royal Gorge and see the big bridge that spans it. Little did we know, those four miles were all uphill. When we finally reached the gorge, we found out that they wanted $15 per person to walk/bike across. Way too much, in our opinion. We just looked around on our own without crossing and took a few photos.
We biked back to the campground, showered, and then walked to dinner at the cafe that is connected to the Royal Gorge Visitor Center on Hwy. 50. We enjoyed some burgers and sweet potato fries. Not feeling quite full enough, we walked to the next restaurant, the Whitewater Cafe, and ordered some chips and spinach artichoke dip. Feeling a bit more satisfied, we walked back to the campground and headed into our cozy tents.
We are loving the beauty that surrounds us, but also hoping that our legs and lungs can handle the elevation!
We left our CouchSurfer's house this morning and headed to a nearby guest house to meet Mark (the Dutch guy that we met at the bike shop two days ago). We will be heading the same direction for at least a few days, so he decided to join us (his whole trip from Miami had been solo up until this point). Emily also had to quickly stop at Enterprise to pick up her water bottle that was left behind in the car.
We left Pueblo and saw the mountains in the distance. By the end of our 50 mile ride, we were beginning to climb those mountains. Luckily, we had favorable/unnoticeable winds. We were planning to spend the night in Canon City, but we got there around noon. It seemed too early to stop and the weather was so nice; we decided to keep going. We only did 10 more miles, but that included a sort of famous 8-mile climb to the Royal Gorge area.
We pitched our tents at the KOA campground and unloaded the panniers from our bikes. With our lighter load, we decided to bike the four extra miles to visit the Royal Gorge and see the big bridge that spans it. Little did we know, those four miles were all uphill. When we finally reached the gorge, we found out that they wanted $15 per person to walk/bike across. Way too much, in our opinion. We just looked around on our own without crossing and took a few photos.
We biked back to the campground, showered, and then walked to dinner at the cafe that is connected to the Royal Gorge Visitor Center on Hwy. 50. We enjoyed some burgers and sweet potato fries. Not feeling quite full enough, we walked to the next restaurant, the Whitewater Cafe, and ordered some chips and spinach artichoke dip. Feeling a bit more satisfied, we walked back to the campground and headed into our cozy tents.
We are loving the beauty that surrounds us, but also hoping that our legs and lungs can handle the elevation!
