Day Seventeen

Super Size me!

Nancy & GLORIA from Waukesha, WI

When we come to town we tend to take the place over. Phil, Sooner Rick, Tony, Wade, John Hurley

Robb with a new buddy.

Wasn't much of a talker.

The Gunnison River flowing through Black Canyon.

With two of my FAVORITE riders Lauren and Adella.

Tony climbing out of Black Canyon.

Everyone knows it’s Windy

No AC in a lot of the motel rooms last night so lot’s of cranky early morning riders at Denny’s for breakfast but this should be relatively easy day with two cool towns that we’re going to ride through on Route 50.

So I’ve figured out why mountain biking is so popular in this state. It’s nearly impossible to ride on the roads because of all the glass on the shoulder. I know all my Colorado eco-freak readers will weigh-in about this and probably blame all the glass on out-of-staters. But stop and think about that…why would someone from Florida drive to Colorado to throw glass on the road…really you guys…it makes no sense…clean-up your state!

The town of Delta is neat and very friendly with lots of local stores and trompe l’oeil murals. This is the kind of small friendly downtown area that we need to preserve. I know the big box stores have their place and we vote with our dollars but the way the local stores can compete is to provide an experience and/or product or service that the big guys can’t provide. Delta appears to understand this. When was the last time you saw a beautiful mural on the side of Home Depot? We didn’t eat in Delta because we still had about 25 miles to our destination.

The next town was Montrose where we had been alerted to a local bakery by one of our riders who lives out here. The wind finally came at us and I kept thinking how quickly we blew off 25 miles yesterday as we battled our way into Montrose. The group really blew apart with some people deciding to climb into the van. We slogged it out and were rewarded when we finally dismounted at the The Daily Bread Bakery in Montrose for excellent milkshakes and sandwiches on homemade bread.

The staff arranged a side trip by van to Black Canyon of Gunnison which is a National Park. The canyon is so steep and deep that the walls are often in the shadows which is how it gets its name. The Gunnison River flows through it and the views were stunning. At one point Tony shouted HELLO and we could distinctly hear three replies. Well worth the trip it you ever get to the area.

Today’s ratings: (the higher the better or easier)

Scenery: 4 (not counting Black Canyon)

Road conditions: 4 (clean it up Colorado!)

Grunt factor: 5 (would have been much higher except last 15 miles)