Ever hear of a watch-horse?

As written by Bob...

It was getting late. I had stopped beside a driveway and had a drink of water. I saw 2 horses trot quickly (and regally) down the 300 foot long driveway, on the other side of the fence, and eye me. I decided to go the handsome house (in the middle of nowhere, it seemed) and had to walk it because the driveway was mostly sand. Aimee Phillips and husband Ken told me it was not far to the next motel, but "why didn't I come in and have a beef sandwich?" which two of their four guests had brought from Chicago (the beef, that is).

At first I demurred, wanting to get to the motel before dark, but I WAS hungry and it seemed it would be dark anyway, and I needed more water, so I went in for the sandwich, and side dishes too.

They too had wondered why the horses took off from near the house, like watchdogs, so I called them watchhorses, but it seemed they were hungry and thought maybe I was bringing food (I really don't believe that, but it was not their regular behavior).

We had a nice conversation, and I got underway. They said it was only 10 miles to Colorado Springs and "all downhill." But first they explained why I had such difficulty having any kind of reasonable speed for so many miles since Denver ... I had climbed 2,000 feet over 40 miles. The rise is imperceptible to the eye, but my legs and speedometer sure knew. I was relieved. I had stopped several times to check the bike ... maybe the brakes were dragging, or - I didn't what "or." I have to tell you, it was discouraging, and tiring.

Well, there were some more slightly uphill sections, but it was late, it was dark, I was tired, and it was 7,000 above sea level, so I had more slow going. (I had my rainproof jacket and reflective vest on, and a good light on the bike, so traffic did not concern me, and there wasn't much of that anyhow. But when I did hit the downhills, wow! I could not see the road surface, though the lane markings were clear. And I could not see my speedometer, so I don't know how fast I went, but I would guess it was near 35 mph, and might have gone higher had I not judiciously applied the brakes.

Later I learned that I had only descended about 500 feet in elevation, so I must have climbed a bunch before the downhills.

I took the first place that came up because I did not know how far it would be to less expensive places, and I was cold and tired. It was 10:30 or so when I checked in.

Thanks, Ken and Aimee.

I got to Colorado City, maybe 30 miles south of Pueblo. Clearly I had gotten into adding elevation because I ran into a long slog of slow speeds, but I still wound up double-checking the bike/brakes, etc. Last night, the late sun did not get under the clouds on the horizon, so when it first darkened from shade under the clouds, it never brightened again.

Another downer was that several people had told me it was 20 miles to Colorado City, but the one who said it was 30 miles was correct.

I had a bad moment (now I was riding on I25, and 5 miles of it illegally: they like to throw bikes off when near a city because alternative side roads are available, except that the side roads disappeared 5 miles before the end of Pueblo). The bad moment came as I approached Colorado City's exit, and the info signs showed only gas and food services at the exit. Then came more info signs, but not till the last sign, just before the exit, did it show a motel there. What a relief!

Oddly, I25 is not consistently surfaced, and ride quality wasn't so great the last 15 miles. I have found as much as 3mph difference between supersmooth roads and others.

The motel had this computer available, but I was too tired last night.

Now, I am off! I expect to get to New Mexico today. Depending on wind and hills (it is sunny) and possible scattered thunderstorms, my initial target is a place called Raton. Time permitting, and motel availability in my favor, I'll go farther.