Another nice ride, although not quite as twisty or scenic as last week's. Today I was by myself. I went north on back roads and then east to the little speed-trap town of Ault, where I got onto US-85, the Centennial Highway. After Ault, 85 passes through the even smaller burgs of Pierce and Nunn (motto: "Watch Nunn Grow" -- I've been watching for 30 years and it's finally growing!). From there, you ride over some hills and through some draws on the west side of the Pawnee National Grasslands. When I entered Wyoming and was about 6 miles south of Cheyenne, I turned east on the Chalk Bluffs Road. I thought I'd ridden a motorcycle east on this road, but I must not have. After about 8 miles, it turned into a washboarded gravel road and that lasted about 12 miles. The best thing about the gravel portion was that there wasn't a lot of traffic. The gravel Chalk Bluff Road finally joined WY-138, and became the paved Chalk Bluff Road. Chalk Bluff is mentioned (although I think with a different name in James Michener's novel Centennial. Years ago, I was at a Rotary meeting in Loveland, when a professor from the University of Northern Colorado (located here in Greeley, BTW), gave a program on the geography of Centennial. I wish I could remember it! I think the native American people had a ceremonial use for the chalk.
After getting back on pavement, I rode past the little Wyoming town of Carpenter and through the tiny, dying Colorado town of Hereford taking a newly built road down to Grover. Grover's not very big, but it is fairly stable. Between the oilfield activity and a nearby huge wind turbine installation, Grover seems to have a good school and a few businesses. The Grover Market isn't large, but was very well-stocked and reasonably priced, plus they had a little restaurant with a good short-order cook. I blew my diet all to pieces and had an outstanding green chili burger and a couple cups of freshly brewed coffee before getting back on the road. I went south past the little (and nearly dead) town of Keota. Keota is the gateway to Pawnee Buttes, another site Michener used in Centennial and is not-too-widely-known as the hometown of a man who started as a track-maintenance worker and rose through the ranks to become President of the Union Pacific Railroad. You can tell he was dedicated to the UP's profit/loss statement because one of his actions was closing down the line that ran between Sterling, New Raymer, Keota, and Cheyenne.
From Keota, it was south back to CO-14, then west to Briggsdale, and onto CO-392 back to the north edge of Greeley. Another 160 mile ride, getting me up to 4,212 for the year.
Pawnee Grasslands east of US-85
Chalk Cliffs
Pump Jack between Hereford and Grover
Wind Farm east of Grover -- this stretches along this ridge for about 50 miles!
Looking west toward Front Range from CO-380 between Grover and Hereford.
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After getting back on pavement, I rode past the little Wyoming town of Carpenter and through the tiny, dying Colorado town of Hereford taking a newly built road down to Grover. Grover's not very big, but it is fairly stable. Between the oilfield activity and a nearby huge wind turbine installation, Grover seems to have a good school and a few businesses. The Grover Market isn't large, but was very well-stocked and reasonably priced, plus they had a little restaurant with a good short-order cook. I blew my diet all to pieces and had an outstanding green chili burger and a couple cups of freshly brewed coffee before getting back on the road. I went south past the little (and nearly dead) town of Keota. Keota is the gateway to Pawnee Buttes, another site Michener used in Centennial and is not-too-widely-known as the hometown of a man who started as a track-maintenance worker and rose through the ranks to become President of the Union Pacific Railroad. You can tell he was dedicated to the UP's profit/loss statement because one of his actions was closing down the line that ran between Sterling, New Raymer, Keota, and Cheyenne.
From Keota, it was south back to CO-14, then west to Briggsdale, and onto CO-392 back to the north edge of Greeley. Another 160 mile ride, getting me up to 4,212 for the year.
Pawnee Grasslands east of US-85
Chalk Cliffs
Pump Jack between Hereford and Grover
Wind Farm east of Grover -- this stretches along this ridge for about 50 miles!
Looking west toward Front Range from CO-380 between Grover and Hereford.
Plains Ride - CO and WY
spotwalla.com
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