It was somewhat warm out, in the 70's, but I had looked at the map and I knew I was going over some more high mountain passes so I put on my Gerbing heated jacket and gloves. I got a little warm at first but it wasn't long before I started climbing in altitude and it got cooler. I also started getting into the clouds and the roads were wet. I didn't get into rain but obviously it had rained not too long before.
Because of the wet roads and the cool temps I didn't take my gloves off to take any pictures.
It was beautiful scenery but traffic was slow and the wet roads always keep me on my toes. Just can't relax. That's one thing about riding bikes - you get the best views and it is a lot of fun feeling the temperatures change and smelling all the smells as you cruise along. But you can't ever relax as you watch for traffic to do weird things, watch for potholes or dead animals in the road, other animals to run out in the road, pay attention to the corners to position yourself in your lane, all while thinking about where you are going, how much gas do you have, where are you going to eat next, man I got to pee but I can't stop now, and a hundred other things that race through your mind. All while you just sit there and you can't move to scratch your ass or your nose when they itch.
Is this fun or am I just a masochist? Yes, it is fun but it takes a lot of discipline, patience, and tolerance for discomfort and risk. A trip like this is a culmination of a lot of planning and a lot of practice riding around the local area. You just can't have close calls or misjudgments about situations at home and expect to survive a trip like this. It is constant hyper-awareness of everything around you and planning for things ahead of you.
Anyway, I went through Gunnison and kept going, waiting to eat breakfast after I got some more miles behind me.
I kept going and just got into a groove. I wanted to make some time today as I was in position to make a good ride and get well into Kansas and make it home the next day. I was hungry and really wanted a hot cup of coffee.
Finally I was ready to stop but then I saw signs to the Royal Gorge. I really wanted to see that bridge and ride across it if I could. So I took the exit and rode the 4 mile (I think) access road to the park. Along the way there are all kinds of really trashy theme parks and tourist traps. Buckskin Joes and other BS. I should have known what was coming.
So I finally got to the park and it was crowded as hell with cars. I rode to the front where I saw lots of people and found a place to pull over with some other motorcycles. I took all my riding gear off and walked over to the gate, but there was a long line of families, kids, older people and general random sons of bitches. Then I looked at some of the signs and saw it was $26 just to walk into the park and see the bridge. Damn! That's just nuts! Then it finally sunk in to me what a total tourist trap the place had become and all I wanted was out of there. I was hot and tired and hungry and cranky.
So I put all my riding gear back on and rode the slow winding trail back to highway 50. Fortunately, Canon City wasn't too far away and as I got in there I found a nice local cafe just a block north of the main drag. It was lunchtime then so I got a big ole hamburger and iced tea and checked email for a while.
Canon City was much lower in altitude and consequently was warmer and the clouds went away so it was a hot sun. I took off my Gerbing jacket and heavy gloves and packed them away. I was back in the dry heat.
Hit the road again and continued east. Here is a map of my trip for just the morning. About 180 miles.
It was another 40 miles to Pueblo as I watched the tall mountain ranges fade away into the distance over my shoulder. I wish I could have enjoyed them more but I know enough about Colorado to know to expect any kind of weather when you get up on the mountain passes.
I was traveling now to make time. It was another 67 miles to La Junta and by the time I got there the temps had climbed to 103 degrees. I was a little surprised to find that I actually didn't mind it as long as I was moving. When I stopped I got hot quickly unless I was in the shade, like at a gas station.
It was another 150 miles or so to Garden City, Kansas. A long hot ride across boring western Kansas. I pulled into Garden City and looked for a place to eat. My GPS told me about a nice sounding restaurant but when I got there it was no where in sight - probably another victim of the economy. So I found another, a sports bar, just a mile further down the road. It was a nice place and I had a welcome beer and a large salad. It felt good to be in some air conditioning for a while.
Then I rode another couple miles down to an RV park that I stayed at 2 years ago on my previous "Most Excellent Adventure". I checked in and set up camp. They had wifi and I could get it from the picnic table by my tent, so I checked my email for a while before I went to bed.
Some time later I woke up to some thunder. It was 1 am. Damn, I thought. I had seen those towering black thunderstorms to the north as I rode across 50. I pulled out my little netbook and called up a weather web site and looked at the radar. Sure enough, there was a bright red line of rain training up to the northeast but slowly moving toward me just 5 miles or so away. That explain the flashes I saw and thunder I heard. But I always pack all my gear inside my tent and it is a good waterproof tent so I took a couple of Tylenol PMs and put my earplugs in and went back to sleep expecting the worst.
The total miles for day 14 of the trip was about 450.
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