Day 41: Westcliffe, CO to Salida, CO.

Miles today: 52.

Another short day today, but only 11 miles short of where we'd planned instead of um... 50. We're still used to the free city park camping options all through Kansas and were finding it difficult to bring ourselves to pay for camping two nights in a row. When we asked for advice in an outdoor store in Salida and were offered the backyard of one of the employees, we were more than willing to promise ourselves we'd get up an hour earlier to make up the extra miles.

Spent a little time this morning in Westcliffe having breakfast at an Amish bakery in town with delicious quiche and saying goodbye to the campground owner and the ice cream shop guy. The ride was easier today, and we actually encountered roads other than 96, which we'd been on since somewhere in the middle of Kansas (really). US-50 has the most breathtaking views and the least courteous drivers that we've found the entire trip; we unfortunately happen to be traveling on it during a weekend along with hundreds of tourists with huge RVs and no willingness to move over or wait 8 extra seconds to pass us safely. Thanks, guys.

Our map tells us that Salida has one of the oldest historic districts in the country, and it's a pretty cute one, too. Lots of character and people bustling around. Stopped at a bike shop to get new brake pads and the guy running it was pretty enthusiastic about our trip. Bought some new pads (in a dark orange color that I'm actually pretty excited about) and were offered some watermelon before we headed over here to the library. This time I don't have a timer counting down exactly one hour before it kicks me off!

Monarch Pass tomorrow, the highest up I will have ever been. Coming down the other side is my motivation for the 12 miles that are probably going to take me between 3 and 4 hours.