Rifle - Grand Junction, CO: Down river all the way, baby! - The cat named Chevy won't stop this tour, and neither can COVID

May 27, 2020

Rifle - Grand Junction, CO: Down river all the way, baby!

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1,280 feet elevation gain

I slept well last night, with the aid of some ZQuill. I did not have any first day jitters, probably because I was riding home territory. Wait until we are in Tucson, facing that furnace oven heat!

We had spent the day yesterday sorting and packing. The bike was basically ready to go. I pumped the tires up on my bike yesterday. Jacinto was waiting for today, to get maximum inflation . . . . I was awake at 5:30 and out the door at 7:10. I will have to tighten up my times. Tom and I are leaving Tucson at 6 AM, the better to race the heat.

Jacinto had offered to carry anything I didn't want to. It was certainly tempting to hand all sorts of stuff off to him, I'm sure he'd be griping at the first sustained climb. I restrained myself, giving him the usual oatmeal fixings, and chain cleaning equipment. He had to note that the cleaning stuff was only for me, as the Rodriguez bike has a belt drive. Jacinto won't be cleaning any chains this tour!

My bike felt heavy wheeling it out the door. This was my first time out this year while fully loaded. I mentally ran through my pannier contents. I suspect the weight came from water. I had five bottles and one full Hydro Flask on board. Over kill for today, but probably not enough for Tucson.

It was quite nippy on the first downhill. The weather was 50 degrees and overcast. I had the morning downslope tailwind. I planned to make the most of it. I kept moving, stopping briefly a few times for photos and a couple of potty stops. I noted that I look around more when I have a journal to write and need interesting photos.

Today was a long day in miles, 65. This was especially true for a first day. I was hoping to get most of the way to town before the wind switched directions. I succeeded! It ended up being a very easy first day. Perhaps too easy. I need to go through the panniers one more time and see if I can leave anything behind with our daughter. I'm sure that second set of underwear is an extravagance.

I rode Highway 6 to DeBeque. Then I had to get on the interstate for ~20 miles. The shoulder was usually quite wide and relatively clean. I just had a text from Jacinto that he had a flat already. I suspect somewhere on the interstate. I'll update this when I find out. That's not a good beginning to his tour. Jacinto took the DeBeque cutoff that heads up toward Grand Mesa. That gave him an extra 8 miles and 1,000 feet of climbing. You know Jacinto, he never met a climb he didn't want to ride.

Back to my day - close to the tunnels there is a bicycle path around. It was extremely overgrown with sagebrush, service berries, grasses, etc. I was happy to have tights on to protect my legs from the branches. Even though riding on the interstate hadn't been a problem, it's not that exciting of riding. I enjoyed the couple of miles respite from the highway noise.

At mile 50 for the day, I saw the Palisade exit. Ah! 15 more miles to go. I was following spoken cues from Bertha (my name for ridewithgps). I hadn't paid much attention with today's routing. My error there. Once I got to Palisade, I knew it was possible to take some backroads. But Bertha had me staying on Highway 6, which turned into F Road, with one more name change to Patterson. There was a marked bike lane the entire distance, but it's the same story. I didn't have the most peaceful ride possible. At this point the temperature was warming up and the wind had changed directions. I was ready to get to town. I forged ahead!

I followed Bertha down 27 1/2 Road. I had to laugh at myself. I remember distinctly struggling up this climb on an organized bicycle ride, Tour of the Valley. At the time, I was riding a tandem with a child stoker . . . .

I had been debating with myself about stopping at the Aztecas Restaurant, which was across four lanes of traffic. Or staying on my side and going to Wendy's . Lucky for me, at the moment of decision, the road was clear. Mexican it is!

I pulled up to the door to make sure they had dine in eating. Yes, they had a sign on the door. There were only a couple of tables occupied and it was right at noon. Ouch. Things are not normal yet. I hope they can hang on. I was quite a sight in the bathroom mirror, with my head gear, and a mask. No beauty contests were won today.

I ate half of my food and saved the other half for Jacinto. Alison, look at me be brave- eating at a restaurant all by myself! We are going to dinner tonight at Olive Garden with our daughter and her boyfriend. Tomorrow we pick up a rental minivan to drive to Tucson where the real riding starts! It was nice to get an extended day of riding in before the long drive. Plus, we have one more chance to go through our bags. I'll see if Jacinto has changed his mind about carrying so much stuff.

Start photo - you can't see it, but I have on a Halo head cover, recommended by dear friend Spoon. It wicks sweat and protects my neck/ears.

It was 50 degrees and overcast as I left home. Perfect cycling weather!

It's a little late for Memorial Day. Seen in Parachute, CO.

I gave this brave little flax flower a drink of water. I might not be so generous once we start riding in Arizona temperatures!

I think CDOT needs to do a little trail maintenance. There is a bicycle detour around the tunnels on the interstate. It's obviously not well used. I called and left a message with the Grand Junction office. Let's see if it gets to the correct person. On the right, I believe is a service berry bush. That's a favorite of bears. Although I doubt there are many this low of elevation.

I'm riding the interstate down river. It's not a bad view, for interstate riding!

Palisade is traditionally known for it's peach trees. In recent years, there have been a number of vineyards developed with accompanying wineries. Mt. Garfield is in the background.

Here's a better view of my Halo head cover. It looks pretty scary in combination with the required mask. No small children cried. But I didn't see any either!

Lunch at the Aztecas restaurant on Horizon Drive in Junction. Wayne, this is where we ate. It was excellent, as usual. Now it's 25% capacity. The waiter was happy to have customers and was solicitous.

Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 65 miles (105 km)

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