Grand Junction To Montrose
I have to start off by saying the cue sheet was twice as long as all the others. There were a lot of turns to get out of Montrose. I would almost have preferred to just jump on I-70. We did eventually end up on I-70 for a short section. Once we got off the interstate, the terrain was pretty mellow. Of course we were climbing, but it was really gradual. It was also really beautiful, the canyon walls were carved by the little stream running along the road. We left the interstate with about 16 people in our pace line, but guys would go up and take a pull, then just drop off the back. I got dropped a couple miles from the first rest stop and the group that dropped me was just 3 guys. From mile 33 to mile 53 we climbed about 6000 feet and topped out at 10,829 feet above sea level.
I was pretty much the last one over the climb. I booked down the other side and when I got to lunch, I just filled my bottles ate a little pie, and jumped back on the road. The pie might need a little explanation...A couple days ago Susan asked me what kind of pie I liked. I said, "Apple." She went out and bought it, so I had to at least have a piece, but I skipped the rest of lunch. It was 99 in the shade and it was getting late, so I rolled out right after John Lake. I was feeling ok, just really hot, so occasionally I would squirt water from my camelback (which was iced) onto my legs to cool them down. Our route into Montrose followed a charity bike route, we could see their turns and they had written slogans on the pavement. The rough sections of pavement were dubbed "the cobbles of Montrose"
It was a long day, my bike computer said I was in the saddle for 8 hours and 45 minutes.
