On Saturday, June 23rd, I flew into Grand Junction airport, enjoying the view of the mountains and looking forward to my bicycling odyssey with my brother John. We set up our tent on the school grounds and had some supper. John had troubles getting his bicycle from the airline, but it finally showed up about 9pm. While searching for his bicycle, he found out we had 350 participants and 50 staff to support us. A light night rain fell as we slept.
Our first day out took us to Delta. But to get there, we had to climb up and over Grand Mesa. What a way to start! A total of 87 miles, with a 20- mile climb to the top of the mesa, which peaks at 10,389'. And this was 20 miles with no let up. This tour is somewhat different than most I've done in that you get fed at lunch (in the middle of the ride) instead of at the end of the day. And I mean FED! Our meals during the day consisted of spare ribs, baked potatoes, hamburgers, chicken, salad, sodas, and desserts. It's not too bad when the rest of the riding is mostly downhill, as it was on our first day, but when you've got to do more climbing, you've got some adjusting to do. On the way to the mesa, we met Greg LeMond's sister. She was there with a fairly large contingent from Minnesota. On top of the mesa is where we had our lunch break. Just before leaving the break, it started to rain. I mistakenly told my brother before the start that we wouldn't need our raingear, as even if it rained, it would have a nice cooling effect as it was going to be so hot during the day. Well, it was hot during the day (some people ran out of water climbing the mesa), but coming off the mesa in the rain was VERY cold. We stopped about two miles down because we were shaking so badly from the cold and found shelter until the rain let up. Then we continued the 30-mile downhill into Delta. Our total vertical climbing for the day was 6300'.
Day two took us over more mountains into Montrose by way of the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Though the map told us we'd have a 30-mile climb this day, it was more a series of climbs with ample (for me) breaks. But again, we had some rain at the top of the mountain, though this one wasn't as long lasting as it was on the first day. While the first day had a lot of desert-type views, this day turned greener. The total mileage for the day was 115 miles. But I like to say it was a century with a 15-mile coast to the end. I regained my breath this day. The first day had me feeling only slightly the effects of the elevation. Today I felt strong on the last climb, and John let me enjoy it by letting me take off and wait for him at the last rest stop. We had been joined on the first day by a rider from the Boston area named Russ. As my brother now lives in (flat) Minnesota, he wasn't as ready as I for the climbing. The addition of Russ meant that I wasn't abandoning John. After all, he got me on this trip to help him celebrate his 40th birthday, and my job was to keep him on the saddle and get him over the climbs. Having Russ along allowed me to have a little bit of fun on the climbs. Total vertical climbing for the day was 7900'.
We were told that the third day would be a ride into the mountain. And all day we were pointed into it, but never seemed to get there. Ouray was the destination. For the most part, we got on Route 550 and didn't turn off it. This was a different sort of ride. It was a short ride, with an optional 13-mile climb on the "Million Dollar Highway" to the summit of Red Mountain AFTER getting to our destination. Most participants did opt for the extra miles. John and I got in to Ouray about 11am and first set up camp. Then we rode into town to lunch. After lunch, though we had decided to ride the climb together if the rain held, John decided to wait for Russ before tackling the ascent. That left me alone to tackle the mountain. We had been warned of the narrowness of the road and to watch for traffic, but I thought it none worse than the climb up 33 West. The climb had some spectacular views, some of which I stopped to photograph. But headwinds picked up and rain started falling about one mile from the summit. These summit rains were beginning to get to me. Though I missed the view over the other side, I was fortunate to have caught up with an earlier rider at the top. A third joined us and we all quickly snapped each other's pictures at the summit marker of 11,018' in the rain. With my rain jacket on, I started my descent back into Ouray. I generally like descending, especially after putting in so much work to get to the top, but the rain, coupled with a bumpy road that I hadn't noticed at my speed while climbing, and very tight switchbacks had me looking just to get down off the mountain. I passed John and Russ about two miles from the top and was surprised they were continuing their ascent in the rain. I later found out they received a ride back down in the support van. I made it back down without incident and was glad for the portable hot showers at the campsite. I totaled 65 miles for the day. Afterwards, we all went into town for supper and sightseeing. Ouray is a very nice town nestled in the mountains. It's called Little Switzerland. It was worth the day's efforts of 5500' of vertical climbing.
We had some night rain again, but the morning broke clear and cool. This 72-mile jaunt with 3200' of vertical climbing to Naturita was our first day on the road without any rain. We started out of Ouray with cold weather gear on, but shed them as we climbed over the Dallas Divide. Then we had a good amount of time along the San Miguel River. We had some wonderful views on this road through the San Miguel River Canyon. After a while we got to climb Norwood Hill. Then it was a slight downhill to lunch. After lunch, we were back to the dessert area. The first sight of Naturita was quite unimpressive, looking very rundown and 19th century. But after supper in Nucla and some walking around, it didn't seem too bad. We went to the local museum and found out that the filming of Thelma and Louise took place nearby. We actually would be passing through the town of Bedrock tomorrow, where they filmed the "shoot the truck and blow it up" scene.
Our next day started with a quick, cool ride into Nucla again for breakfast. The ride out of Nucla sent us through a canyonland-like topography, which we were glad to have ridden (some skipped breakfast and took the shortcut out of Naturita to meet up with the route). The views of the San Juan Mountains were wonderful, and the two climbs up Paradox Hill and Sidewinder Hill were tough. Though Colorado's climbs were long and shallow (never marked, but none more than a 6% grade), Utah seemed to revel in telling us that their climb was at 9%. It was 4300' of vertical climbing, but most of the ride after that was a downhill into Moab. The heat was getting oppressive by this time of day and John and I were eager to get to camp, so we skipped the visit to the "Hole "N the Rock", a 5000 square foot home carved out of a natural cliff face. We finished the 88 miles and looked for shade and cold water.
Our sixth day was a "day of many options". John and I had decided to rent a jeep for the day. Our morning was spent driving to Arches National Park for some hiking and sightseeing. This is truly a magical place, even with the heat of late June. We visited most of the arches and then headed back to town for some lunch. After lunch it was time to do some true four wheeling, which neither of us had ever done. I started the driving towards Canyonlands National Park via the Colorado River road, following the route given us by the jeep proprietor. This road turned to dirt after about ten miles. Then the fun began. We had views of the river and formations not many people get. John took over the driving and I began holding on. We went deep into the heart of the park on roads we never thought we'd get through, but did. There were climbs and drop-offs you really don't want to know about. We were glad for the lack of other vehicles, as some of the roads were much too narrow even for just our jeep, and having to reverse to let another vehicle by would have been terrifying. Yet at the same time we were concerned should we get stuck. Would anybody ever happen upon us and take us to safety? We finally emerged on the paved park road and made our way to a scenic view. The short hike took us to another arch at the edge of the canyon, which I was able to climb onto. Nice view, but the fall would have been a killer. Our trip back to Moab had us missing a turn and entering Dead Horse Point State Park. After getting directions from the ranger at the gate, we found our road back to Moab. Still under impressive heat, we had supper and found ice cream for the second day in a row to be quite a welcome treat.
The last day started with a scenic ride along the Colorado River Road. The 1200' canyon walls were all around us. Then we broke out of the canyon and the heat started. We rode towards the Fisher Towers area, where Bon Jovi filmed a video. I was just about out of water when we reached the first rest stop; it was that hot already. After the stop we had to get onto Interstate 70 to make our way back to Grand Junction (it's legal to bicycle on interstate in some western states). Our lunch break was off the interstate and down a little bit of gravel road - and way too hot. After lunch we were back on the interstate. Coming into Utah we had stopped for a picture, as the scene was so nice. Now, while entering back into Colorado, we decided to push on. We wanted off the interstate and out of the heat, plus the sign wasn't as nice as was the sign into Utah. When we were finally able to get off the interstate and onto a side road, it didn't seem any better. It was a road with the longest straight section I had ever ridden, with no shade, and a crosswind that wouldn't stop. We finally made it to Fruita for the last rest stop, again with little water. From there it was just a few more miles, past the base of the Colorado National Monument, and back again into Grand Junction. Another 105 miles and 2500' of vertical climbing completed. That gave us over 530 miles for the week with 29,700' of vertical climbing.