Canon City to Salida, Co! 7/12/09

Well it was up with the sun today... Actually we were up before the sun and left camp as the sun was coming up. The morning was the hardest part of the day besides the wind. We had a 7 mile uphill climb up to Royal Gorge area. It was not too bad, rather gradual but still we were breathing a bit harder then normal. We made it to the top quite quickly. We then had a great downhill with spectacular views of the Rockie's as well as the Arkansas River which we rafted yesterday! The ride for most of the day followed the river so it made for pretty flat/rolling terrain! Our only enemy was the wind. It as about 9am Mountain Time and I was starving. So we stopped in Texas Creek at a small diner for lunch. I had a wrap and Chance had a burger. Sadly, they didn't have Mt.Dew so we had to have a Dr. Pepper instead, we need our caffeine to help us make it through the day. After lunch again the ride continued to be beautiful with similar terrain. There were a lot of points where we had no shoulder to ride on and an RV actually ran me off the road. Luckily, there wasn't a large drop so I only ended up on the gravel. We took small breaks here and there. About 15 miles before Salida Chance started talking with lady named Shelly and once I got there I chatted as well! She was very nice and filled our water and gave us some snacks for the road. Once we left the sky started to get darker so we knew the rain or storm was coming. We rode quickly hoping to get to Salida before the rain came down. we were pretty lucky and it only drizzled on us. We then pulled into Salida where Chance had a bad encounter with a rude man driving a truck but it's all good and worked out fine. We were told to go to Absolute Cycle once we got into town, so that is what we did. we picked up a few thins we needed and talked with one of the workers for a bit. He then told us there was no camping near by but there was a hostel we could check out. We went to the hostel and nobody was there so we went over to Amicas to eat! It was recommended by Aaron our rafting guide from Canon City. Chance and I both had pizza and it was rather good! After that we ran into a group of guys who are mountain bikers and asked us all about our journey and took a pic with us. So, we made our way back to the hostel called Simple Lodge and met the hosts. John and Julia greeted us and we come to find out they were originally from Minnesota and moved out here a couple years back! The hostel is really great and we got a good deal! It is decorated really cool and they are super friendly ( just like all people from MN!) So Chance and I showered up and headed down the road to check out a few shops, get some ice cream and some groceries. Now back to the hostel to relax for our big day tomorrow! We will be going over our biggest pass tomorrow called Monark pass which is roughly 11,000 feet and we will be going up hill for about 15 miles or so with a nice down hill! Wish us luck and continue to pray for good weather! Thanks for all of your support! We are looking to have Colorado behind us in just a couple days here!