July 3, 2018
Day 1: Rifle to Grand Junction. Colorado river.
Today I go west to Grand Junction, downstream along the Colorado river. Mostly on low-traffic US 6 and partly on bike trails. Unfortunately 17 miles will be in a canyon where I-70 is the only road.
I ate oatmeal at the lobby of Budget Star Motel, then drove across Rifle to Kelly's house with the bike in the car. Kelly and Jacinto allowed me to park my car at their house for 18 days. Thanks!
I unloaded the bike and got on the road at 8:20 AM. It was already sunny and warm.
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I went downhill across Rifle to connect to US 6. Looked around town a bit, stopping downtown and at a large park along Rifle creek.
Rifle is a working class town. It had an oil and gas boom a few years ago but now the town is increasingly a bedroom community for people who work 80 miles away in Aspen and Vail. People have to travel this far to find homes that cost less than a million dollars.
Traffic goes down to nothing a couple miles west of Rifle. All the traffic is on I-70. US 6 is far enough from I-70 that the noise was barely noticeable. US 6 is mostly at the bottom of the valley. I-70 is much higher.
The area west of Rifle has almost no population but I passed at least 3 cannabis shops near I-70 exits. They probably cater to Utah-bound motorists even though everybody knows it's illegal to transport cannabis out of state.
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I stopped for lunch at a Kum & Go convenience store in De Beque. It was 90F already and the headwind was building. A long sit in air conditioning would be nice but there was no indoor seating and no restaurant in the area.
I knew in advance that I have to go on I-70 for 17 miles in the canyon west of De Beque. It's actually quite scenic when going west with good river views. I drove through it yesterday, so I also knew that there was a 3 mile section of construction where both directions of traffic share the westbound lanes. That section has a narrow shoulder lined with concrete barriers. Hardly an ideal bike route.
When approaching that section a woman in a construction company pickup stopped and offered to request permission for me to ride through the construction zone. I declined and said I have seen what it's like and can pedal through it. It's all level, so it's much easier and faster than a similar construction zone I pedaled through 2 months ago on I-40 in Arizona. It had a similar narrow shoulder lined with concrete barricades but I had to pedal up a 6% grade. Today I merely have a gentle headwind.
Cycling on I-70 is pretty decent when it's not under construction. Much of the time I had an unobstructed view of the Colorado river.
In the middle of the I-70 segment I escaped the highway for 2 miles. First on a bike trail very close to the river. The trail crosses under I-70 just before I-70 enters tunnels. Then the trail connects to a narrow bypass road around the tunnels. I saw only one car on the bypass road.
Near the end of the I-70 part I exited momentarily to buy 4 large peaches and some cherries from Kokopelli Farm market. Palisade peaches are legendary in Colorado. They were excellent.
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The last 20 miles to Grand Junction were slow because the west headwind was at its peak. Traffic builds as US 6 approaches the city, so it was nice to turn south on residential streets that connect to the riverside bike trails. I pedaled 8 miles on bike trails coming into Grand Junction. No road crossings or traffic lights because the trail stays in the river floodplain and crosses under roads.
Today had a high temperature of 95F, about normal for July. This is the lowest and hottest region of the tour. Low humidity and a cooling headwind made it fairly pleasant when cycling but I definitely want to stop in shade.
It was nice to enter a large town with no traffic. Paths took me all the way to downtown Grand Junction. I saw a few runners and walkers on the trail, but no cyclists.
I arrived at Hampton Inn Main Street just before 6 PM and got my reserved $149 room. Non-refundable price. Much fancier and more expensive than my typical lodging but it's the cheapest of the 3 Main Street hotels.
Grand Junction is the largest city I will see during this tour. The largest city in western Colorado but hardly a metropolis with 60,000 in the city and 150,000 in the area. The location is the "grand junction" of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers.
Grand Junction Main Street has extensive street-scaping that makes it an appealing destination for tourists and locals. Probably 4 lanes in the past, now it has only 2 lanes of traffic and limited on-street parking. Most of the wide thoroughfare is now a pedestrian space with benches, tables, fountains, sculptures, playgrounds, and landscaping. In most places a raised planter box separates walkways from the road.
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The fancy and mostly historic part of Main Street is 5 blocks long. At the west end is the modern convention center and 3 modern hotels. The east end transitions to vacant storefronts, dive bars, and tattoo parlors. I had dinner at Rockslide Brewery in the middle of the main street strip. After dinner I enjoyed walking around and exploring the area.
I paid a premium to stay in downtown Grand Junction to experience Main Street and be in a convenient location. It's very close to tomorrow's route, Monument road. All the other lodging in Grand Junction is near the airport, far from Monument road.
Today was long in distance, with constant headwind. But downstream terrain made it fairly easy and I started very well rested after a 3 day drive. The worst part was 3 miles of construction on I-70.
Distance: 70.1 mi. (112 km)
Ascent/Descent: +1223/-1976 ft. (+371/-599 m)
Average Speed: 10.6 mph (17 km/h)
Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 70 miles (113 km)
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