June 17, Day 17

June 17, Day 17
Grand Junction to Montrose, CO
Mileage: 73.3
Temperature: Hot. 108 off the pavement

Dear All,

Well, today was supposed to be a “recovery day”. At least that's what they told us last night. Guess what. They lied.

We awoke and were ready to ride at 7:30 am. A local rider who has ridden with America by Bicycle before led us out of the motel on a delightful ride along a beautiful bike path with the Colorado River running along side.

As we rode along this delightful path, it occurred to John that as of today he is eligible for early social security. That seemed a little incongruous given what he was doing today but nonetheless it did seem to be a milestone of sorts. Amy provided John with a wonderful present for the day, a new pair of cycling soaks which are really quite nice.

After the bike path ended at about the 15 mile mark we rode onto route 50 which is a divided highway. The shoulder was in good shape so it started out as a pretty nice ride. HOWEVER, what they forgot to tell us was that this recovery day involved a headwind and a number of pretty difficult climbs. The climb to the first SAG stop was tough. We're told that the grade was only 7 or 8% which is pretty tough but it felt like a lot more than that. Maybe the reason it felt so tough was both because of the temperature and the fact that we weren't prepared for it.

In any event the ride was pretty with views of the Rockies far off in the distance. As John said along the way those mountains seemed to get larger and larger in the front window as the miles rolled by. We haven't checked but they sure seem higher then the Sierra Nevada mountains and they certain have a heck of a lot more snow on them.

We pedaled for what seemed a very long time before we got to the town of Delta. Now, we had been told that once we arrived in Delta we should grab some food and further that the final 25 miles or so from Delta to Montrose was pretty much flat or downhill and not very difficult. As a result, we stopped into an A & W (which are extremely common out here) and had a burger and a root beer float. Boy does John love those floats. In fact, they gave John a second float since it took a little long to get the burger. Now, John knows it's a bad idea to eat too much for lunch with 25 miles to go, but what the heck, it was downhill more or less for the next 25 miles.

Back on the bikes for the simple little ride to Montrose, WRONG. The wind was not very helpful and it was a constant incline. Not enough to call it a “climb”, but enough to make one work all the time. By now the temperature was really soaring, and no shade in sight, not even a tree. After a bit, Amy spotted a farm with a tree in the driveway. We pulled off and sat in the shade of that tree for a good ten minutes. It was wonderful, but eventually we had to get back on our trusty steeds and proceed. About 5 miles up the road we were roasting and again Amy found the solution. Somebody had automatic sprinklers watering their front lawn. Not in the list intimidated by the fact that we had not been invited we simply stopped, laid our bikes down and took a shower. It felt great.

As we rolled into Montrose, John spotted another gas station. The price seems to have dropped but it still hasn't matched the price at Hill Top (for those of you who have not been following this blog you need to go back a few days and see the price of gas at some closed stations along our ride). We're guessing this owner closed up shop and went to Silicon Valley to make his fortune.

We arrived at Montrose to find that the Ride the Rockies event was spending the night here. That is a ride of about a week with 2,500 riders.. Tomorrow we will ride to Gunnison with all 2,500 of them on the same road. That should be interesting.

Thanks for reading. And, thanks for all the good vibes.

Amy and John