Day 10 - Rangley Colorado to Grand Junction Colorado 112 miles

The day began with a 40 mile long climb south out of Rangely. The first 35 miles were a gentle climb and the last five miles were ridden at a much slower speed of about 6 mph as the pitch was quite steep. At the end of those 40 miles was Douglas Pass. From Douglas Pass it was mostly downhill the next 30 miles to Loma, which is in the Colorado River valley. John Newton, who rode both Eastern Mountains and Elite with me, joined the trip this morning and I rode with him the last 15 miles in to Loma. I had forgotten how strong he is. On a few of the little uphills our speed would drop to 13-14 mph and then on the downhills we rode at nearly 30. He rode in front the whole 15 miles and on flat ground and the downhill sections I barely had to pedal. He's taller than me so I can tuck in behind him closely and his slipstream would pull me along. In fact, there were several times that he would be pedaling and I would be coasting and I would be almost hitting him because the pull was so strong. So instead of braking I would just move to one side or the other out from behind him and let the wind hit me in the face and check my speed. Then when my speed matched his again I would tuck back in behind him. It is good to have him back.

The highlight of the day by far was the section through Colorado National Monument. This was an optional route in to Grand Junction that added about 20 miles over the shorter route but ended up being very worth the extra effort. The best way to describe this place is a miniature Canyonlands National Park or Bryce Canyon National Park. The climb to the top of the Monument took me nearly two hours. On the way up the scenery was spectacular. In addition to the scenery, the payoff was a crazy descent of about five miles through a tunnel and tight switchbacks. Hopefully the videos give you an idea of what fun that was. The switchbacks really forced you to pick your lines carefully and think about your braking points. As usual Ethan and Tom excelled on the descent but I did a decent job of keeping up. It was a fun end to a great day.

Tomorrow we head for Montrose which is a 115 mile trip. It features one huge climb to 10,000 feet which should be a big challenge.