July 12, 2018
Canon City – Pueblo
86 km (53 miles)
595 m (1952 feet) elevation
3:46 moving time
3404 km (2116 miles)

Half way there! Pueblo is considered the halfway point of the TransAm trail so after 28 days we are a bit ahead of schedule. We are hoping that some of the biggest climbing days are behind us even though we still have to do the Ozarks and Appalachian mountains.

We made it into Pueblo after riding through the dessert, just as a storm was approaching. We were apparently riding with the rain on our tails as we were warned about not going north which is where we were coming from because it was raining hail there.

28 days and nearly 150 hours of riding and we still have not had any rain! We have put on our rain jackets twice when it was about to start but we took them off a few minutes later in both instances.

Had a breakfast at 14 o’clock – because breakfast food is the best food – followed by a Starbucks coffee before going to meet our Warmshower host. Had a great dinner and a wonderful discussion. Amazing when people open their homes to complete strangers, give them food and a bed without asking for anything in return. Shows how amazing and caring some people are!

We got a great comment yesterday from our friend Erlingur about the naming of Hoosier pass:

‘One account traces the word to the necessary caution of approaching houses on the frontier. In order to avoid being shot, a traveler would call out from afar to let themselves be known. The inhabitants of the cabin would then reply “Who’s here?” which – in the Appalachian English of the early settlers – slurred into “Who’sh ‘ere?” and thence into “Hoosier?” A variant of this account had the Indiana pioneers calling out “Who’sh ‘ere?” as a general greeting and warning when hearing someone in the bushes and tall grass, to avoid shooting a relative or friend in error.’

Regarding the honking yesterday we think that cars should come equipped with two types of horns. One for ‘good job/I see you/Watch out’ and one for ‘Idiot/Get out of the way’. BMWs would only need the latter. 😎 It can be hard to interpret what a quick honk from a passing car means.

Below you can see how far we have ridden. Thanks to Saemi’s sister for creating the image showing our location.

We are now headed into new territory. Goodbye mountains, hello flat, hot and humid.