7 Day Colorado Bike Tour from August 2004 (long)

[surlypacer]

Bicycle Tour of the Uncompahgre Region, Colorado
August 2-9, 2004
Shelly Nelson and John Hodge

We are 30-something college students (both geology majors). We were taking the month of August off until classes start on the 23rd.

John’s bike: “Inertia” is an ’03 Trek 520. Ultegra bb, Ult cranks, 52-39-24 chainrings; 105 fd, XT 12-34 cogset, XT rd; DA dt shifters; Blackburn front lowrider rack, Jandd Expedition rear rack. Jandd Mountain and Mini-Mtn Panniers. Conti TT 2000 front tire (IRC Duro Tour rear tire – bleh) He carries tent and fly (REI Taj 3) in front panniers, food and kitchen stuff in back panniers. We didn’t know what kind of supplies to expect in the small towns along the way so we had a campstove and a few rice-packet dinners, along with lunch stuff and munchies. Sleeping bag/pad in top of rear rack. 90 lb bike (?)

Shelly’s bike: “Greene” is an ’02 Trek 520. 105 bb, 105 fd, 52-42-24 chainrings; XT 12-34 cogset; LX rd, DA dt shifters; Blackburn front lowrider rack, Jandd Expedition rear rack. Jandd Mountain and Mini-Mtn Panniers. Conti TT 2000 front tire (IRC Duro Tour rear tire – bleh) I carried shoes and med kit in front panniers, clothes in back panniers. Sleeping bag/pad in top of rear rack. 70 lb bike (?)

See photos of our tour here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/173027421aWqlWC

Day 1 – We left our home in Grand Junction, CO on our loaded bikes. Original plans were to ride Hwy 50 from Grand Junction to Delta, CO and then on to Montrose, CO. From Montrose we would ride to Ridgway, CO, then to Ouray, CO, up and over 11,000’ Red Mountain Pass to Silverton, CO. Then over Coalbank and Molas Passes to Durango, CO. West to the Mancos/Cortez area, then a long 50 mile climb to Lizard Head Pass and into Telluride, CO. Then to Placerville and west to Norwood and Naturita. Then north through Gateway, CO and through Unaweep Canyon and home to GJ. We thought this might take 2 weeks. Plans are made to be changed…..

Highway 50 to Delta was great. Usually in August this road across the “Stinking Desert” is pretty awful (hot). This day it was overcast and calm. Great weather and a 12 foot wide shoulder made for great riding on this road that has heavy traffic. We stopped at a farm market and had a peach. (The local peaches, Palisade Peaches are a bit famous.) Ten miles out of Delta there was road construction that provided us an entire side of the highway that was still closed to traffic. Delta was at mile 40 and we stopped for a meal. Then we continued on to Montrose and a good campground we knew. The 20 miles to Montrose was a haul. There was a headwind and it was a slight grade the whole way. We finally arrived in Montrose, wiped out. 65 miles.

Day 2 - We decided to take a day off in Montrose to recover and decide whether to turn back or make something of our trip. (We were really beat and not in good morale) We spent the morning walking around Montrose and had breakfast at Starvin’ Arvins. We visited a great bike shop, Cascade Cycles. The owner has toured a lot in the past. Spent the afternoon snoozing in the shade at the campsite and splashing in the pool. We decided to shorten our tour and shorten our riding days.
We decided to go on the Ridgway, CO the next day. 0 miles.

Day 3 – We felt much better starting out on the 24 miles to Ridgway. Hwy 550 had a good shoulder for most of the way with heavy traffic. A few miles of it had no shoulder and the big trucks were scary. The shoulder reappeared by the time we got to Ridgway State Park. We inquired at the park entrance and found out the there is not entry fee for bikes. Walk-in campsites were $12. There are 2 campgrounds, we chose to stay at the one closer to Ridgway. It was way up on a hill. We got a great site that overlooked the reservoir and the San Juan Mtns. Mid-afternoon, we set up camp and offloaded the bikes and rode down to Ridgway. There is a paved bike path all the way into town. Along the way there was a house with llamas, chickens and dogs and cats all over. The people there saw us and invited us to meet the llamas. **** and Emmy used to own bike shops in Illinois and toured all over. After feeding grain to the llamas, petting the dogs and cats and seeing their backyard pond we rolled into downtown Ridgway. We checked out some stores and had great pizza at Panny’s. Then we rode the few miles back up to our campsite. We took a shower (coin showers and laundry) and hand washed some clothes before going to bed. 25 miles.

Day 4 – We woke to light rain and a rainbow over Ridgway reservoir. We had breakfast. A man who was camping with his family nearby came over to visit and was very happy to help us out holding our bikes (human kickstand) while we loaded them up. With our bright yellow raincoats on and our bright yellow pannier rain covers on we headed towards 9000 ft Dallas Divide, about 10 miles away. I hadn’t ridden my bike a whole lot all summer and certainly hadn’t ridden any hills. The road stairstepped up for a few miles, in and out of rain showers. Then the real climbing began, several long switchbacks up to the summit. We stopped to rest a few times but made it to the top! We hoped for a sign at the top announcing the summit, but there was only county line sign. It was dry at the top but dark clouds were ahead. John left ahead of me. He always descends faster than I do. It was a long straight descent. I just coasted on down the 12 miles into rain showers. There was a lot of traffic but there was a good shoulder. I think I went up to 36 mph on that descent. It was raining as we pulled into Placerville. It’s just a wide spot on the road to Telluride. There is an overpriced general store there. The little park there had covered picnic tables but signs that said NO CAMPING. I noticed I had a flat tire so we went over to the picnic area and decided to have some lunch too. The sky was looking threatening and I suggested we hang out there for a while if it was going to rain. Soon the storm rolled in and it rained really hard. We were glad to have a dry spot! Something happened up the road during that time. Emergency vehicles with sirens and lights blaring went by, some of them from Mtn. Village and Telluride. When the rain let up we headed down the road to try to find a camping spot along the San Miguel River. We found a place where there were some RVs parked and there was a little walk-in spot for us. It was still raining but we put the tent up as quickly as possible. We threw the rain tarp over the wet bikes and went into the tent. In dry clothes and in our sleeping bags we dozed the rest of the afternoon away. We could hear the San Miguel River just behind of campsite. It rained off and on all night. 30 miles.

Day 5 – It was clear and sunny when we got up. Everything was still wet. We loaded up and headed down the road. The canyon of the San Miguel River is just spectacular! Red rock walls (Permian Cutler Fm?) and lots of trees. It was mostly downhill with some truck traffic. We came across a car that had run off the road. It had crossed the center line and hit some rocks. The windshield had a spot where a head had maybe hit it, the airbag had deployed and was tucked over the steering wheel. No one was around. John looked around and there were footprints so someone had helped the driver out. It didn’t seem like much of an accident for all the emergency vehicles we saw the day before. We stopped at a sunny picnic area to have breakfast and lay some of our stuff out to dry. Up the road a way we came to the foot of Norwood Hill. It’s a grade about a mile long. A real grind with lots of truck traffic. We made it to the top without incident. Norwood, CO was a mile or so from the top of Norwood Hill. We were hungry so we saw a restaurant with outdoor seating and stopped in. I was very surprised to find several vegetarian options on the menu. Baily’s Rockin’ R has the BEST homemade veggie burgers! The cook/owner, Becky came out to talk to us. She had grown up in San Diego. John is from there too so they had common places to talk about. We really needed to fill our water bottles and containers and she offered us all the good cold filtered water and ice we could use. We also got some information on camping areas in the towns just up the road. It was 3 pm but we decided to go another 20 downhill miles to Naturita, CO. The park in Naturita allowed camping and we could resupply at the market there. The ride there was wonderful, downhill with light traffic through broad farmland and grassland with sweeping views. The Uncompahgre Plateau was to the north, the La Sal Mtns and the Abajo Mtn in Utah ahead of us to the west. Behind us to the south was Lone Cone, an extinct volcano of the San Juan range. We found the park in Naturita and one of the locals came by to advise of the watering schedule. As we were setting up camp a couple young residents came by to see our bikes. Cody and Rio were 11 yo boys who were bored in Naturita and regaled us with stories of places they’d been, such as Salt Lake City and Alaska. It was quite stormy to the west as we went to bed. A lot of lightning, a little thunder and rain. The storm didn’t come through though. 35 miles.

Day 6 – We woke to clear skies again. We packed up and found the only breakfast place in town. Sandy’s Café served a great breakfast. Across the street was a motel so we stopped by to check the rates (for future reference). Then we headed toward Uravan and Gateway. This was a lovely ride with light traffic. The terrain was semi-rugged high desert. Sage brush, pinyon/juniper forest. Mostly downhill with a few short climbs. Uravan is an abandoned mining town (Uranium-vanadium). It has been remediated and no one lives there. A road sign said 90 miles to Grand Junction. Here we started to get into red rock canyon country. We left the San Miguel River and followed the Dolores River through its beautiful red rock canyon. There is a flowing spring in this canyon that we knew of and planned to stop at. We had lunch there and filled up our water bottles and containers. This was the driest stretch of our trip. We’d need water for our camp too. After lunch a headwind sprang up and it was tough going. It was mostly downhill and the scenery was beautiful but we were getting fried. We finally got into Gateway, CO. It has a few spreads owned by fabulously wealthy people, a few regular houses and few run down houses. The school has seen better days and the local café there was closed (I’m not sure when it was open last.) From Gateway the road starts climbing again. We needed a place to camp. Our water was hot and yukky. We stopped by a house and the folks gave us some fresh water from their hose. We went a little ways up the road and saw a BLM road heading north off the main road into a desert area. We went a short way up it and found a level spot to pitch the tent for the night. I had another flat tire (goathead thorns) 60 miles.

Day 7 – Clear and cool when we woke up. Got up and packed the bikes. We planned on breakfast at a place we knew just up the road. John fixed my flat tire. (We may have camped there but we were fried and didn’t know how much climbing it was to there) It was a picnic area with a nice stream nearby. We got out the water filter and filled up our bottles and had breakfast. Then we headed up into Unaweep Canyon. Unaweep canyon in unique in having 2 mouths. It has a watershed divide in the middle. West Creek (where we had breakfast) and East Creek flow out of it. The canyon walls are Pre-cambrian crystalline rocks. The mile-wide-or-so floor of the canyon is talus or soil. There are different opinions on how the canyon was formed. The Gunnison River flowed through there in eons past, but it may have had a more complex history than that. It’s very green with farms and ranches. It was a long climb up to the divide, but very beautiful, with light traffic. John had a flat tire so we stopped to change it. At the divide we met some day cyclists who took our picture. It was downhill from here! But the wind sprang up and some of the descents were a little tricky, trying to hang onto the bike. The long descent down Nine Mile Hill was fun, but could have been faster without the headwind! We were now back on Hwy 50, 10 miles from home. We stopped at a farm stand to have a peach. (The same local farm stand we visited on the first day). Then it was a bit of a climb over Whitewater Hill (with a headwind) then we rode through the local farms and neighborhoods to our home! We came home to 2 cats who probably thought we died. Shower, pizza, soft bed…..62 miles.

See photos of our tour here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/173027421aWqlWC

[SadieKate]

Thanks for sharing the view from the pavement. We saw it from the dirt. Just a spectucular area.