Heading north from from Eads
Kit Carson at 20 miles and Hugo at 65 miles are the only places to stop on the way to Limon

When I checked in last night, the manager told me that "A group of bicyclists from Georgia" are in the rooms next to yours. This morning at 6:30 AM, when I came out looking for breakfast and internet access, I found them. There were eight of them, most of whom work for CDC. They invited me to join the group for breakfast, and even cooked waffles for me ;-}. Only two of the eight were riding across the country. The young guys I met yesterday said they thought a trans-am was often done in a time of transition, e.g after college graduation in their case. This couple was doing it after his retirement from CDC. The other six folks had joined them for a week of riding in Colorado and were heading back to Atlanta this morning.

After the couple continuing on to Kansas headed out, the rest of their group packed up into a van and headed south to Pueblo. I packed up and rode north towards Limon. The folks heading east had a side-headwind. I had a tailwind ;-}.

There were a lot more trucks than trees on this route!
Note the good, if a little bumpy, shoulder

I had two goals today, one was to get to Limon some 85 miles north west of Eads and the second was to meet up with an old friend whose daughter was driving her from Louisville, CO to Dodge City, KS. Thanks to good roads and good winds, I made the 85 miles in six hours of mostly easy riding. I also met, and had great visit with, my friend and her daughter in Hugo. there isn't much except a lot of pretty grass land and some very big wheat fields between Eads and Limon. There are only two places to eat or get water, and those places, Kit Carson and Hugo, are 45 miles apart.

This route run parallel to railroad tracks most of the way to Limon
Most of the trains I saw were hauling coal

I covered the 20 miles to Kit Carson in about an hour and a half. When I got there I saw a cafe at the motel open for breakfast and then rode all the way to the other end of town where there is a restaurant and a convenience store - both closed at that time in the morning ;-{ - and then rode back to the cafe. My second breakfast was good, if overpriced, and two older ladies at the cafe where friendly, as were several folks that came in while I was there. As I was leaving, I asked one of the ladies what was between Kit Carson and Hugo. She said there might be 'a couple of houses near the road.' That was accurate.

Most of the traffic was big trucks which, since I had good shoulders and a tailwind, were no problem. The traffic wasn't heavy, so five or ten minutes might go by when I didn't see another vehicle. Nice riding except for a few sections where both road and the shoulder were bumpy.

About 10 miles north of Kit Carson. Nice shoulders and a good wind made for fast riding

Typical view today: pretty grassland with, rarely, a clump of trees

About ten miles before Hugo, there is a nice rest-stop. I thought this might e a good place to meet my friends, so I parked my bike where it could be seen from the road, snacked, used the bathroom, and took a bit time to rest in the shade of a tree. Since my friend hadn't shown up yet, and I was getting hungry, I decided to ride on to Hugo and find a place to eat.

In Hugo, I didn't find a place to eat until I was almost at the north end of town. Then I found a very nice place which was right on the road and had a great place to leave my bicycle where it was visible both from the road and from inside where I would be eating. I went in, ordered the special, and had a nice lunch while listening to two groups of men, one retired and the other middle aged, talking about things that mattered in Hugo.

After eating , I went to bathroom to clean up a bit and, when I came out, my friends had just come in looking for me. We visited for about an hour while eating dessert and drinking tea. A nice time was had by all and I look forward to seeing them both at my daughters wedding in September. They drove on towards Dodge and I rode on to Limon. The 14 mile ride took well about 45 minutes thanks to the, now even stronger, tail wind.

287 intersects I-70 twice before getting into the old part of Limon and, at each intersection, I note the no-pedestrians signs on the I-70 entrance ramps. When I finally got into town, I picked a nice looking local motel across the street from a local grocery store and, checking for wireless first, I went in and registered. The fellow working the desk was nice and interesting, but really didn't know what he was doing, and put me into a nice room which, it turned out, was already reserved. I walked over the grocery store and bought some pop to drink. It was a nice to be in a good, but definitely small town, grocery store. Although I had been in Limon several times, I had never been in the real town of Limon, just the interstate service area, and now I appreciate Limon, as a nice little town.

When the woman really running the place came back, I ended up moving twice in order to get a room with a good wireless signal. Despite that, I really enjoyed the motel - a very mellow place to stay - and had one of the best internet connections I've had on this tour.