Leaving Colorado Springs was difficult for us. Not only did we find a new love for Colorado, but also our new friends at Lee Spirits Co. make sure we were sent out the night before. We plan our route like we did every morning, but today we had a list of 12 different highways that we needed to turn on to not head to the wrong Las Vegas.
We head out and the now familiar Colorado miles were business as usual. We did our best to soaking in as much of the twists that we could, we couldn’t be sure which one would be our last before heading into New Mexico and over to Texas.
After our first hundred miles or so we came across the 165. One of the best stretches of roads we’ve hit not the trip so far. There where countless miles of well kept pavement, no other vehicles, and some of the best sweepers the entire way. We stopped here and there at different spots just to get some last looks of some of the best from Colorado.
We take the 165 to Colorado City were there is a decision to be made. We could take the mountainous/scenic route the more direct route that would but us a good deal closer to our destination. Since we had a bit of a later start and signs of my headlight failing, we decide to go direct. Though it was only another 200 miles, they would prove to be by far the most challenging yet. As soon as we jump onto the 25 heading south, we realize just how much of a treat the 165 was. Just one last gift from Colorado before entering a terrain that could not be more different from what we had been so spoiled with.
It wasn’t that long ago we spent days in the cold, rain, and snow but the staleness of the endless straights and nothing around farther than the eye can see proved to be a mental strain that is manifests into physical pain. Spending all of our energy to stay focused and not allow our minds to wander. I was experiencing spouts of exhaustion and admittedly allowed my eyelids to blink slightly longer than i should have. With no protection from the wind around us a serious gust of wind hit us and nearly threw me off my bike. Though it was sketchy, it did give me much needed waking blow to end the battle of exhaustion.
Dave made the mistake of putting his can of Meat Lover's Stew next to the fire without venting the lid... you can guess what happened. While Dave walked off to the bathroom the can exploded and meat stew was all over everything!
Campground at Las Vegas, NM ... Dave lost all the pictures on his phone from Hurricane Matthew so the pics from this part of the trip are few.
As it gets closer to dusk we sort out a campground in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Absolutely no relation to Las Vegas, Nevada. We set up camp after a long and strenuous day of riding and do the best we could to prepare ourselves for the start of our time through Texas.