Day 16: Green River UT to Fruita Colorado

Today’s Highlights:
The highlight of today was entering Colorado! It’s a great place to be. We worked very hard today to get here, but it was worth it. Our ninety mile ride started at 7:00 am. We immediately got on Interstate 70 and stayed there for the entire route. The first ten miles were freshly paved, making it very nice to ride on. A slight headwind kept our speed down. The next fifteen miles were on a rougher surface and the wind picked up. That first 25 miles was also a long gradual climb. Our rest stop was near the top of it. Next, we had a long gradual downhill to mile 40, however a strong headwind still held my speed down near 15 mph. The second half of the ride consisted of long rolling hills with less effect by the wind, and the temperatures were in the nineties. Still in the high desert environment, we were in full sun all day.

Along our route we had views of the Book Cliffs again to the north. Far to the south, the La Sal Mountains rose abruptly from the desert basin. The cliffs and other land formations were interesting to see. Vegetation was still very sparse. As we neared Colorado, the landscape got more hilly, with more variation of grasses and shrubs. There were some signs of ranching, but no significant structures other than fences and a few empty corrals. We crossed the Colorado boarder seventy miles into our ride, and continued another twenty to Fruita. Farms and other signs of civilization appeared as we neared town. A few miles before the end of our ride, we came upon the Colorado River, with Cottonwood trees along the banks and colorful cliffs in the background. It was a refreshing site to see flowing water and trees and green grass again.

Pictures Of The Day:

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Statistics:
Zoom and pan the map to explore the route. Click the name or ‘View Detail’ to view more information at Garmin Connect.