Todays Distance: 72 miles
Cycling time: 5hrs 58 mins
Average Speed: 12.1 mph
Today’s cumulative ascent: 2725 ft
Average Heart rate: 107 bpm
Distance so far: 1221 miles
Ascent so far: 45,607 ft.
Todays profile:
Today’s Route:
Dedication: Today is for Sadam, Aminur, Naphisabet, Sonia, Sainkupar, and Sangita in Providence, Shillong wishing them and all the children every success. Be good.
Today was meant to be recovery day before the climbing in the Colorado Rockies. The distance(72) was less than the average (80) and no serious climbs along the way although we gained over 1300 feet in altitude. We are now at 5820 feet and Monarch Pass on Thursday is at 11,312 feet. A lot of feet to be gained in 2 days. Well, we’ll take it as it comes.
The route out of Grand Junction was a bit involved so Sue (from Grand Junction) went through the details at Route Rap on Monday evening and also volunteered to lead us as a group out of town. At 7.30 am the pelethon pulled out en masse into the morning traffic on G Road. The roads in Colorado have their own logical sequence. The east/west roads are lettered (A,B,C etc) while the north/south roads in Grand Junction are numbered according to their distance from the Utah state-line (29 Road is 29 miles from the state-line. I even spotted 28¾ Road and B½ Road. ) At one stage today I was chuffed to be cycling along 32 Road….my personal auspicious number.
Part of the rout out of town was along the Colorado River Trail…a 10 mile bike path along the river. The river was flowing strongly against us and evidence of recent flooding was clear. There seem to be miles and miles of dedicated bike paths with regular access points for pedestrians, strollers, skaters and cyclists with a limit of 15 mph. Will we ever see the likes at home?
Occasionally there were maintained ponds with wildlife along the way with the Grand Mesa as a backdrop. The Grand Mesa is the largest table-top mountain in the world with an area of 500 sq miles on top and a height of 10,000 feet. It was on our left for most of the day between the Colorado and Gunnison rivers. Both rivers meet at Grand Junction…hence the name.
At one carpark the resident goose didn’t appreciate being disturbed in the early morning and let it be known. This bike-path brought us out onto 32 Road and clear of the built-up area. The valley around Grand Junction has the largest known concentration of oil-shale (the rock that burns) in the world, enough recoverable oil to meet the US demands for 110 years. Due to technological difficulties the harvesting of this oil is not economic. Present situation may lead to a re-think.
This brought us over the Colorado River and heading for I-50 East which we would follow for the rest of the day…. Easy navigation from there on. Early in the ride temperatures were pleasant but at noon it was reading 91 degrees.
Before we reached I-50 we were confronted by a prominent house – definitely every room with a view. It reminded me of cycling in Tuscany in 2006 where every town, every farmers place was perched on a hill. In the immediate environs of Grand Junction there was an amount of cultivation fruit and grapes. There is an extensive wine industry with a wine trail linking the various wineries for the benefit of the tourists. Vineyards here at 5,600 feet above sea-level are among the highest wine-producing regions in the world. The area’s warmdays and cool nights are conducive to producing top wines.
By the time we got on the I-50 the desert had taken over again and only scattered small-holdings were to be seen conducting small service industries but no land cultivation. This should be our last day of cycling through these vast high deserts. Such a vast expanse of land. The absence of water is a big problem. Where there is some water, the desert produces. If a man can be put on the moon and beyond, why couldn’t the desert be made to flower? Not a novel idea. 
When we dropped down by mid-day into Delta on the banks of the Gunnison we had green fields of flourishing corn and bales of hay.
Today’s only SAG was at the summit of a short but stiff climb but there were extensive views in all directions across the Colorado desert. On these last few days there has been a heavy draw on the water barrels. On both sides of the route the same table-top horizon was with us.
Into this high ground some magnificent canyons are carved and week-end warriors take to the rough roads by jeep and by quads to be atone wit nature and survival. The majestic canyons aren’t by the Interstate but occasionally we got a glimpse of the odd un-remarkable canyon. One could just imagine how the big ones might impress. 
We have had a fair share of long straight featureless roads over the last 10 days. I can only imagine how wearisome driving on them can become and the resulting danger from tiredness and fatigue …. the big danger. As at home, crosses mark the spots where lives have been lost. Moving into the Rockies proper tomorrow, I expect that we will have more variety.
Lunch today was in Delta City on the banks of the Gunnison river and I topped it off with a Root Beer Float…… gorgeous. I’m reliably informed that it is the real American thing just like apple pie. From Delta it was just 22 miles to the motel but temperatures were rising steadly and called for more sunscreen (better than reaching for rain-gear).
Many times during the course of the day, the SAG wagon passed up and down and made water available. It can be hailed in at any passing for whatever reason. Gives a great sense of security to know that it is there. The cycle staff are ever-conscious of our well-being and nothing is too much for them.
By early afternoon, we had arrived in Montrose with snow-capped peaks overlooking the town. We are not the only cyclists in town. The Ride the Rockies tour with 2,500 taking part are in town tonight also. That is a 7 day tour and both groups will pass on the same rout tomorrow……. It will be a little crowded and confusing so we will wear the America by Bicycle shirts to avoid confusion.
Another good day of cycling and no flats in our group…. just 4 today. We are a unique bunch which I will elaborate on in a future posting. A good nights sleep and plenty of water tonight is of the essence for tomorrow. Looking forward to it already.Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.
PS On the bike path today while I was cycling by myself for a period, a gentleman in a wheelchair was accessing the path. I waved to him bidding him the time of day but all he could do was smile. Raising the hand was not possible. Would make you think and thank.)
SPOTTED TODAY: Passing a Presbyterian Church on the outskirts of Grand Junction this sign caught my eye: ‘ Seven days without prayer makes one weak’. Interesting!
Leaving at 7 am it was pleasant and most left in short sleeves and headed east into the rising sun. Navigation for today was straight-forward – drop down onto I-70 East after 1.3 miles and come off after 96.3 miles. The shoulder for most of the day was gritty with plenty of tyre debris strewn about. To the first SAG at 24 miles it was all a pull but the wind was kind – it was non-existent.
During this first stage I got my first flat of the cycle so far. Not bad for 16 days and over 1000 miles. And it was in the front wheel, strangely enough. Others have got 5 or 6 so far with one getting 4 in one day. I’ve been one of the lucky ones. There were 5 in our touring group today and all helped with the repair – in my case it was a sharp stone. In many other cases it is pieces of radial wire that is the culprit..
Our group had 4 flats today, with Jeff having 2. This is the first day we were held up with putting in new tubes. The old ones will be repaired on Rest Day. Luckily, when we got the last flat the SAG wagon was nearby and Christine produced the foot-pump – the only weapon to put in the pressure. And the 3 gentlemen just watched as Christine was left to do the pumping! No chivalry. Me? I was busy taking the photo.
On our left for the first part of the day we had the same scenery as yesterday. You could imagine you were cycling along the bottom of a lake that someone had pulled the plug on, long time ago. As the morning wore on the sun began to catch the face of the rocks in thee distance.
Cycling through this Utah desert, we were confronted again with vast expanses of arid earth. It stretched to the extremities of human vision and very little vegetation seemed to thrive. In the far distance higher mountains capped with snow were to be seen. Is there any end to the seemingly infinite spreads of nothingness that we have experienced in Nevada and in Utah?
Long straight roads faced us again with very little in the way of long serious climbing although the aggregate for the day was just short of 4,000 feet. It was all short frequent lifts. When a descent came, it was relished.
We knew that temperatures would climb as the day progressed and with the long mileage, hydration was of the essence. Copious amounts of water were taken the night before to hydrate and our strategy was to take small frequent drinks as we passed each mile marker along I-70. It worked well and the SAG wagon was on hand many times to top up our bottles.
At the 71 mile point we came to the Utah/Colorado state line. We were now entering our 4th state of the cycle. It had taken almost 5 days cycling to cross Utah, the beehive state. The moment of entry had to be recorded. The mile-markers along the I-70 started at zero again.
From the second SAG stop on, there was a little more greenery to be seen and by the time we were descending to Grand Junction, more and more cultivation was evident. The Colorado river, flowing against us was in full flow. I believe it was in flood just 2 weeks ago.
The last 40 miles, we cycled in great heat. Some of the cyclists had recorded temperatures in the 90’s. When stopped, it was intense. The only relief was to keep cycling and to create one’s own air-conditioning. Sun-block was increased and shirts were open to full extent to keep cool. It was almost 4 pm as we came into Grand Junction on the Colorado river … a town with a population of almost 50,000.
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It was decided to bring forward departure this morning so as to have most of the cycling done before it got too warm. It turned out to be a good move as temperature were at 86 degrees when I arrived in Green River at 11.45. I was sure glad to be in out of that. I presume this will be a feature when temperatures threaten to soar.
Just outside Price we merged onto Route 6 and stayed with it for most of today’s route. For the duration we again had the railway alongside but no action on Sunday.
The skyline again was lined with flat-topped hills and became more and more spectacular as the day went on. They appeared as if someone had flattened them out with a spade. There was a craggy skyline visible in the very early stages off to our left.
At one stage I spotted an operational sign for a Dinosaur Quarry (many remains of dinosaurs have been located around this general area) . Looking at the landscape about it was possible to visualise the scarce trees being snatched up by these monsters to be consumed. I had the others posted to report any sightings! Our group today was the same that started yesterday (Steve, Suresh, Jeff and self) and we maintained contact from start to finish.
Our route today promised to be favourable – more descent than ascent and there was no significant wind. We were being compensated for yesterday as we moved across the Utah desert with the usual long stretches ahead. 
At one stage in the first half we had a lovely drop down for a mile or so and then on to a long stretch off into the distance. On either side there was no vegetation worth talking about but the skyline made up for that.
“SAG ahead on the right.” SAG was at the 33 mile mark and was located in a perfectly scenic lay-by and the views distracted us from the snacks and the refilling of water-bottles. Temperatures were rising a bit (it was still only 9 am) and the coolness of the early morning had disappeared.
At one stage I decided to scale a hill to get a better view of the surroundings and a vantage point of the approaching cyclists and their surroundings.
Returning to resume cycling I realised that I had left my mark on the Utah desert and wondered how long those footprints would remain there. Would someone mistake them for those of a dinosaur?
Just before noon we dropped onto Interstate 70 before entering Green River located on Green River that flows southwards………………………………….. It is a small town and was extremely quiet, but then it was Sunday morning. 
One muscle machine was parked up in a shade of yellow but would have benefited with a splash of red (the colour combintion on the best trucks).
Just before going to the hotel I dropped into a gas station to pick up a lunch to help the system recover and my eye was caught by a brochure for GOLDEN….small town, big fun. Inside I discovered ‘With so much to see and so much to do, better plan on a day or two.’ Coors beer is brewed there in the largest single-site brewery in the world and it gives ‘ the true taste of the Rockies’ as it says in the ad.
The Green river that give the name to the town is 730 miles long and flows soutwards carry much silt and joins the Colorado river before flowing on to the Pacific. All rivers till we cross Monarch Pass flow to the Pacific.
So at 12.30 with temperatures of 86 we pulled into Holiday Inn at the eastern end of town and had an afternoon to recover. Nice to finish in the early afternoon. We were in for the 'minor match', as one might say.
