I left Fowler early to ride the two miles back to my route and head to Pueblo before the strong afternoon wind. Pueblo is a bit over 30 away and I will need to merge onto the divided highway 50. This road has doubled lanes with an 8 foot shoulder that is riddled with every kind of debris from chunks of retread tires to glass.
I got to Pueblo before noon, still feeling fresh and not wanting to stop for the day I decided to continue west. I knew that options to get food were few and a place to sleep would make this an 80 mile day.
Sixty mile into the day I was struggling to get to Florence, the next city on my map that shows places to sleep. I was tired from pushing into the wind and I had run out of water an hour ago. I used up most of my energy I had left climbing the steep U-turn hill into Wetstone and saw two people outside working on a house. I stopped and asked for water. I began talking with the woman as her son-in-law went inside to get water. She pointed to the bridge 50 feet away and told me that on the small dirt road on the left there was a small park next to a library that had restrooms and outlets for phone charging. She told me to set up camp there for the night.
After removing the panniers I discover that both tires were punctured but didn’t go soft. Tubeless rocks.
I graciously did and some of the 21 people in town came to talk and wish me good luck on my trip. Wetmore, CO. is a warm and welcoming small town. I learned some of its history and got to meets some of its wonder people.
