Day 17: Fruita to Montrose

Today’s Highlights:
Good old headwinds! It was very easy to fill our lungs with fresh Colorado air this morning, since we had a 20 mph wind directly in our faces. On the other hand, it was quite a challenge to make forward progress on a bicycle. It took me 3-1/2 hours to ride the first thirty-eight miles to our rest stop. On a calm day, a route like that might have taken 2-1/4 or less. I had made up my mind that it was going to be a very long day. Fortunately, after leaving the rest stop, the wind calmed down and was much less a factor for the remaining thirty six miles. I finished the 74-mile ride around 1:30 pm, averaging only 13 mph.

Leaving Fruita, there were some beautiful views of the eastern edge of the Books Cliffs lit by the morning sun. It’s quite a spectacular backdrop for the farms and homes in the area. We crossed over the Colorado River as we left the frontage rode and cycled onto US route 50. We will be following US-50 for a few more days. After several miles through a commercial zone in Grand Junction, we reached wide open space with an occasional ranch or home. This part of the ride was quite scenic, although consistent for miles. Unfortunately, I saw a lot of pavement as I had my head down pushing hard into the wind.

As we continued south, approaching the town of Delta, we crossed over a small canyon and passed more ranch land. Close to Delta, there were large farms with very scenic mountains in the background. In front of use, the Rocky Mountains grew closer and closer. We will be climbing over them for the next couple days. It’s hard to believe, because they still look very far away. We crossed the Gunnison River and entered downtown Delta. It looked like a very cozy little town with shops and restaurants. They were proud of the nice murals they had on many buildings.

Continuing from Delta to Montrose, farmland was the predominant scenery. We rode down into Montrose on Rt 550, then down Main St. Montrose is also a very nice town, much bigger than Delta. Main St had architecture from its early days and looked quite fun to walk around. However, I pressed on looking for the hotel and trying to be careful in the traffic. It would be a nice place to come back and visit.

At the end of the day, most of the riders diplomatically describe their ride as “not their favorite”. The wind was really the culprit, because otherwise it was a nice road with gentle hills and pleasant scenery.

Pictures Of The Day:

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Statistics:
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