Day 52 - ending at Kit Carson, CO - The Great Plains Trail - Sort Of

July 5, 2023

Day 52 - ending at Kit Carson, CO

Day 52 - Lamar, CO to Kit Carson, CO

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At 12:35am last night we had wind and some rain but nothing severe. I was up at 4:54am. Moved the bike over to the outlet to charge its accessories battery and also the phone. I needed to get going, since afternoon storms were predicted, and I had longer to go than yesterday. Writing/posting yesterday's report would have to wait. Packed up and left at 6:51am.

Today's destination is Kit Carson Inn in Kit Carson, Colorado - 58 miles away. All my riding today would be going north on US-287. First though, I needed to get through Lamar and have some breakfast.

There's lots to see and take pictures of downtown. After 7:30am I had music to listen to that came through loud speakers.

The campground owner yesterday afternoon had recommended the Hickory House Restaurant as a place to have breakfast. It's on the north side of Lamar. I arrived there at 7:40am. An attentive older waitress brought me steak and eggs for breakfast and carrot cake for dessert. Back on my way at 8:40am.

I crossed over the Arkansas River at 8:45am, barely missing a nail that would have certainly given me a flat. I picked that nail up to throw away later. On touring trips I can't possibly pick up all the nails and screws that would cause flats, but I do pick up a few that are particularly hazardous to vehicles due to their location.

On the north side of Lamar where US-287 curves west, there's the Tri-state 9-11 Memorial. It is extensive and well done.

Out of town the highway goes west for 6 miles before turning north. I made that turn north at 9:45am into a northeast wind.

This morning I was able to tune in a radio station - KVAY (105.7MHz). I find commercials for local businesses interesting to listen to.

At 11:45am I took a short road down to Nee Noshe Reservoir to start an early noon break away from the highway. My Gatorade was still cold. Today's high is predicted to be in the 70s, not the 90s like the past several days.

I was happy with the noon mileage: 25.8 miles.

At 1:06pm I met up with CO-96, the highway the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail follows through this part of Colorado. US-287 shares that highway for a few miles to the city of Eads. In town at 1:20pm, I passed JJ's Restaurant and decided to stop at for ice cream. They only have ice cream for putting on pies. So I had pie also.

In the parking lot afterwards I called Kit Carson Inn to make a reservation for a motel room. They were already full for tonight! But the motel owner said he had talked previously with the owner of the Trading Post Restaurant in town there. That owner lets touring bicyclists camp behind his business. The only thing is there are no bathrooms. But there is one at the gas station. That should work.

I continued on through Eads, taking lots of pictures. In some ways, I feel like I've been in this town before, having read so many other bicyclists' journals describing the place.

I made two stops in town. First at the Kiowa County Museum and then at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. The county museum's curator did a good job explaining what they have on display. Interesting to me, they have a map showing how the railroad initially picked town names along its route. They wanted each town along its line to start with the next letter of the alphabet. Except for towns built later, and one town that changed its name, the pattern still shows. The museum worker used to work for the USDA, but is now a school teacher. Moving on to the federal government site, I found it confusing that this place in Eads is called the National Historic Site, when the actual site is out in the country northeast of town. Turns out they have two locations for information, and today the site northeast of town is closed. The federal worker at this location checked the weather radar for me when I first arrived. The afternoon storms were nowhere close, so we figured I had time to look around.

I finally got through town and was back on US-287 at 3:23pm. And now I had a tailwind! I entered Cheyenne County at 4:17pm, and was in Kit Carson at 5:37pm.

I took some pictures downtown as I looked for the gas station. It turns out the gas station is a self-serve pump next to an old building that has a porta-potty out back. I continued on west to the Trading Post Restaurant to check out the campsite behind the building. Looks like it'll work. The only thing is there are a lot of fenced-in dogs next door barking.

I was still hoping to find a place to get some food. I'd seen a lot of cars parked downtown, indicating to me that maybe there was a bar there. It turns out there's a children's activity center there, and it was full of kids playing. So I rode on back to the camping area. Some neighborhood kids came over to play basketball as I got set up. At 7:18pm I was ready for the rain that was coming. That started at 8:30pm. Later, the two kids from earlier showed up by my tent in the rain in the dark offering me a blanket to stay warm. So thoughtful.

Jeff

Spent: $4.82 (Gatorade) + $21.33 plus $6 (breakfast) + $8.48 plus $2 (pie a la Mode, lemonade) + $1 (Eads Roadside Park restroom cleaning supplies donation) + $5 (Kiowa County Museum donation) + $5 (Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site donation) = $53.63

Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site - downtown Eads, Colorado location.

Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 2,197 miles (3,536 km)

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