Day 40

Pueblo, CO to Westcliffe, CO, about 58 miles.  I began climbing into the Rockies.  At around 28 miles I reached Wetmore, a small town at the base of the Wet Mountains where I began my climb over a pass through the mountains.  The pass had me climb over 4500 feet to over 9000 feet of elevation, by far the longest single climb I've done on a bike.  The climb was challenging, and the worst part is that I was surrounded by a swarm of flies who bothered me throughout the ascent.  Nonetheless, the scenery in the Rockies is breathtaking.  Arriving at the top of the Wet Mountains, a more distant range and one far more beautiful comes into view, called the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  Descending into Westcliffe, I got an awesome view of this the Sangre de Cristo range.  Luckily, I won't have to climb these mountains.  Rather, I will spend a day riding north through the Wet Mountain Valley to the next range north, where I will climb over a pass through that range.

In Westcliffe, I saw a Shakespeare in the Park performance of King Lear.  It was my first time seeing this play, and doing so while surrounded by the mountains made it very fun to watch.