| Over the Continental Divide Week three Utah to Beautiful Colorado |
| Day 15 Sunday June 23 Price to Green River 66 miles The start of a new week! Today started out great, and the first half of the ride was as good as it gets - cool weather, clear skies, decent road, moderate traffic, scenic country. After the SAG stop, though, it turned into a bit of a chore. The country was more open and there were head winds. The highlight of the day for many of us was a trip to Arches National Park after we arrived in Green River. We used the two vans from America by Bicycle, and I arranged to rent the van owned by the motel manager to make the hour-long drive to the Park. The rock formations there are truly incredible. After we got back, I did my laundry at the laundromat across the street, and then wolfed down my usual megacalorie meal. We are going to need a lot of energy and hydra- tion to get us across to Grand Junction tomorrow. It was reportedly 104 degrees here today and the forecast for tomorrow is the same. Day 16 Monday June 24 Green River to Grand Junction 95 miles A brutal day! Windy and hot, windy and hot! It was also not a Kodak kind of day since eastern Utah, at least from the Interstate, is not very scenic. The staff did a great job of keeping us furnished with water and Gatorade, which we sorely needed in the triple digit temperatures. The only fun anyone had today was a group that went for a swim in the Colorado River. The promotional brochure had a paragraph about the concept of a cross country ride versus the reality; I think it was talking about today. It was definitely a challenge, but I guess if it were easy, everyone would do it. We said goodbye to Utah, and hello to Colorado. I think we have more nights here than anywhere. Day 17 Tuesday June 25 Grand Junction to Montrose 69 miles I rode with Jo Anne all day today, and we had a discouraging start. The sky was clear and the temperature was pleasant, but the wind gods are still angry with us, and we had signifianct head winds much of the morning, as well as road construction. However, after a bite to eat in Delta, conditions improved and the ride on in to Montrose was not bad although it was quite hot again. I heard from one of the staff that we used about 100 gallons of water yesterday, versus a normal amount of about 40 gallons. Day 18 Wednesday June 26 Montrose to Gunnison 63 miles Tough day today! I actually rode about 84 miles today. The first six miles were because breakfast was three miles away from the motel in the wrong direction. I also decided to ride the optional side trip into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, which added about 14 miles but was the highlight of the day. Our old nemesis, the head- wind, was back with us in full force, and we had three significant climbs in addition to the one to the Park. My total elevation gain today was about 7,000 feet. I rode today with John from England, and the poor bloke had four flats. We spent about nine hours in the saddle today, so no wonder I am knackered, as they say in the U.K. Day 19 Thursday June 27 Gunnison to Salida 66 miles Fabulous day today! We started out with clear skies, cool temperatures, and best of all, no wind! Just as we were leaving Gunnison, a hot air balloon was being launched. The ride was scenic, and even though we had a nine-mile climb to the top of Monarch Pass, everyone was excited about reaching the Continental Divide. Most of us got there late morning as clouds gathered, but we only had a few sprinkles. Jo Anne and I rode a gondola to the top of the mountain, and actually saw some snow flakes. The 20-mile descent into Salida was really sweet. Maybe it will be down- hill all the way to the Atlantic now that we are over the Divide. Everyone is in high spirits tonights to celebrate the high point of our trip. Day 20 Friday June 28 Salida to Pueblo 96 miles Today was as good as it gets! Our ride from Salida to Canon City was really great - scenic, downhill and cool temperatures with a mostly good road, although there were places where the shoulder was non-existent or very narrow. Some of us took an eight-mile detour into the Royal Gorge, and this made it a century ride for us. Jo Anne used her charm to get the admission fee waived for us, and that was another plus. My older brother and a couple of friends, all from the Denver area, showed up to visit, and it has been an all-around great day. Day 21 Saturday June 29 Pueblo Rest! Today was a mindless day for me. Some people went river rafting today but I was content to have a leisurely breakfast with my brother and friends from Denver. My brother wanted to go the street rod car show, so three of us tagged along, more for something to do than out of interest. To be honest, I did not find it very interesting, but the beer belly and baseball cap crowd seemed to be having a good time. I have never seen so many orange and yellow and green cars - it was a veritable rainbow of colors, none of them natural. |
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| A rest moment |
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