Day 49 Canon City, Colorado to Guffey, Colorado 55km

We really hit the mountains today with a lot of climbing. The scenery was beautiful even if it was quite clouded over. We decided to stay in Guffey after lunch and it turned out to be a good decision as it started to rain shortly after. We are staying in some cabins in town which are very unique. We are struggling at times to catch our breath when we are cycling due to the altitude. We are at 9000 feet now.

Leaving Canon City

Royal Gorge

Ranch in the Rockies

Nice house

A valley in the Rockies

Entering the South Park

Interesting art in Guffey

Guffey

Our cabin

Our cabin

Settling in

Day 48 Pueblo, Colorado to Canon City, Colorado 64km

It felt very like home today. It was raining most of the day and it felt quite cold at around 16c. That's a huge difference from the 40c heat we were experiencing less than a week ago. There have been flash flood warnings and thunderstorm warnings for the last few days, so we are constantly having to check the weather forecasts to make sure we don't get caught out. We are at about 5000 feet here in canon city and we will reach our highest point of over 11,000 feet in a couple of days. Today was not a great day for photos as it was so misty and damp.

Still in the high plains today. No mountains yet.

US50 heading towards Canon City

Day 47 Pueblo, Colorado (Rest day)

Plenty of rest and eating today. I visited the Pueblo history museum this morning which was interesting. Tomorrow we will start our climb into the Rockies.

A huge bison head in the museum

Pueblo

Day 46 Ordway, Colorado to Pueblo, Colorado 80km

I had my first puncture today which was quickly followed by my second. My back tyre had split so I had to put some paper into the tyre to try and prevent more punctures. After switching my back tyre to the front I had to nurse the bike for about 70km to Pueblo. We are taking a rest day here in pueblo so my bike is gone to get a full service before we tackle the Rockies. Pueblo is a nice city with a strong Mexican influence.

Ordway, Colorado

Rail tracks damaged by flash floods

Eastern Colorado

Day 45 Tribune, Kansas to Ordway, Colorado 190km

We had the wind at our back today so we took advantage and covered a huge distance. We crossed the state line into Colorado. The countryside in eastern Colorado was even more arid than Kansas.We saw some dust devils today as we were cycling. The last 60 miles today was almost desert.

Colorado

Colorado

Day 44 Dighton, Kansas to Tribune, Kansas 112km

The wind was much lighter today so we made good distance. We are still battling the heat so we are cycling nearly non stop from 7am till around midday/1pm. The ground is getting much more arid the further we climb up the plains. The grass is turning from green to brown. There is not much to look at apart from the huge grain silos which you can see from more than 10 miles away. We crossed into the mountain time zone, so a 7 hour time difference to home.

Dighton at dawn

Dodgy looking barn

Huge cattle feed lot

Mountain time zone

The silos in the background are more than 3 miles away.

Watching a storm kick up from our motel

Our motel in Tribune

Day 43 Ness City, Kansas to Dighton, Kansas 50km

It was very tough cycling today as we had over 20mph winds in our face. Nothing is more heartbreaking when your cycling than a headwind. We decided to call it quits in Dighton as it was already in the mid 30s and it was another 25 miles to the next town. Hopefully the winds will be in our favor tomorrow.

Courthouse in Ness City

Ness City at dawn

Cowboys on the prairie

Another oil well

Machinery graveyard

It might look flat but we are slowly climbing all the time

Dighton, Kansas

Day 42 Larned, Kansas to Ness City, Kansas 102km

Another hot day today. We were finished by half 12 and took shelter in our motel room with the AC for the rest of the day. We passed through the town of Rush Center today which claims to have "the largest St Patrick's parade".

Long straight roads in Kansas

Barn in the middle of nowhere

Rush Center

Rush Center

A lot of big trucks on the road today

Day 41 Sterling, Kansas to Larned, Kansas 88km

It is starting to look like the Kansas we had imagined. It's becoming flatter with nothing but huge grass prairies and oil wells dotted around. You can usually smell the oil wells before you see them. There were no services on the road today between Sterling and Larned. When we went to pay for our lunch in Larned, we discovered that a couple had paid for it. We hadn't even been talking to them. This is just another example of the generosity we have encountered.

Grass prairies of Kansas

Oil wells

Straight roads to the horizon

Larned, Kansas

Day 40 Hesston, Kansas to Sterling, Kansas 80km

We were finished our cycling before midday as we were aiming to avoid the worst of the heat. The motel in Sterling we were planning on staying in was closed and another B&B we had googled was also closed. We then thought we had no choice but to camp in the town park which was not ideal as temperatures are not going to drop below 25c all night. All these towns also have state pools in the park, so while going for a swim we got talking to the manager of the pool. He gave us the number of a college in town which would put us up in their dorms and out of the sun. We were delighted to get our air conditioned rooms as the heat outside is almost unbearable.

Camels near Nickerson

Cobbled roads in Nickerson

Getting some shade

Sterling, Kansas

The park in Sterling

Great drying out

It's Hot