Today I took an easier day and cycled the relatively short distance to Pueblo, the last major town I’m going through in Colorado, and the end of section 6. The weather was forecast as overcast with chance of thunderstorms and rain most of the day, but the good thing was that this kept the temperature way down so it made for very pleasant riding conditions. I took advantage of this and left mid morning.

The ride loosely followed the headwaters of the Arkansas River, which flows through Pueblo, and which I think I’ll be following out of Colorado. The scenery was turning back into a high desert, but the rocks were totally different, they are thin layers of ancient seabed, limestone, ancient lava flows, etc. The rocks erode where the water flows making for all these shallow canyons with many many layers of rocks making up the walls, it was really neat.

Instead of taking the TransAmerica route, which follows a state highway all the way, I took a slightly more direct route that took me through a state park and onto a dedicated bike trail, the Arkansas River Trail. The highway I took lead me past a huge concrete plant, down a highway with almost no cars on it, undulating through the canyons.

I could see the mountains in the distance on three sides, and they seemed to be shrouded in the clouds receiving most of the precipitation. It wasn’t until I got to the state park that a shower came, and the timing couldn’t have been better, I got to a campground that had covered benches, literally as the rain started I ducked under a bench and ate lunch while it fell all around me. As I finished lunch the shower had passed.

The reset of the day was following the river trail into Pueblo. The surface was warm and most of the moisture had evaporated by the time I started cycling again, but there were puddles here and there where the water pooled. The town of Pueblo is like many of the towns I’ve been through, a mix of old and new. The center is laid out with large old buildings in a grand style, and on the outskirts of town are the new highly commerical wearhouse like buildings with 100 foot high signs vying to be visible from the interstate. It’s all very American.

With the end of section 6 I’ve now travelled 2,043 miles on the TransAmerica trail, although my trail has taken me at least a few hundred in addition to that. I’m halfway through the mapset, and 150 miles shy of halfway through the distance. I’ve finished the American west with its mountains and deserts and the Pacific coast. From here I’ll be dropping through eastern Colorado and into the American Midwest, Kansas and Missouri.