Day 18: Eagle to Rifle. Glenwood canyon.

July 20, 2018

Today is long and into the wind but also downstream along the Eagle and Colorado rivers.

There is a meandering bike trail through suburban Eagle but I took the main multi-lane road straight downhill to US 6, through 3 roundabouts. Then I turned right onto US 6 heading west.

I pedaled the highway from Eagle to Gypsum. Traffic was moderate and there is a narrow paved shoulder. Just past Gypsum a bike trail begins on the left. I appreciated that the trail is closer to the river and farther from I-70. The noise from I-70 was never bad because I-70 is much higher and the sound reflects up more than down.

The bike trail had nice views of the river and surrounding cliffs, but it ends after only 2 miles. A scenic trail to nowhere. Maybe they hope to extend the Eagle Valley Trail all the way to the Glenwood Canyon path someday.

The final good view of Eagle river before it flows into the Colorado river.

Back on US 6 I continued west towards Dotsero. Traffic is light because it's unpopulated between Gypsum and Dotsero.

Dotsero is where the Eagle river flows into the Colorado river. I crossed the Colorado river very near the confluence, but never did see the confluence.

There is no traffic west of Dotsero because it's a 2.5 mile dead end road to the Glenwood Canyon trailhead. This is my first time to pedal the 15 mile (24 km) trail. I've wanted to pedal through Glenwood canyon since seeing it through the window of an AMTRAK train in 1989. At that time the upper half of I-70 was under construction and the bike path didn't exist.

Colorado river and bike trail entering Glenwood Canyon.

The east end of the bike trail has basically no traffic. Pretty much everybody accesses the trail at the opposite end in Glenwood Springs.

I-70 elevated bridge in Glenwood Canyon.

Things changed suddenly at Hanging Lake recreation area. Suddenly hundreds of pedestrians, cyclists, and parked cars crowded together. It's a popular hiking trail with its own I-70 exit. So popular that a giant overhead electronic sign at the mouth of the canyon flashed "Hanging Lake trail parking full". For about a mile signs along the trail stated that bikes must be walked. I just pedaled very slowly and nobody complained.

The 1.2 mile Hanging Lake trail climbs 936 feet to a small waterfall and lake. A bit too strenuous for me today, plus the trail would be extremely crowded and slow. If I ever hike this trail it will be early in the morning when it's less crowded.

The trail is under I-70 in the narrowest part of the canyon. This part of the trail surely floods occasionally.

I saw far more cyclists and pedestrians west of Hanging Lake. It looks like most cyclists only pedal from Glenwood Springs to Hanging Lake and back.

The canyon is narrowest between Hanging Lake and Glenwood Springs. In a few places the trail was down low close to the river, prone to occasional flooding.

In a period of 10 minutes I saw 9 big rafts go downstream. I was amazed to see that the rafts floated downstream at almost the same speed that I pedaled downstream. It must be an exciting float.

The rafts floated almost as fast as I pedaled.

Railroad, Colorado river, bike trail, and I-70.

A couple miles before Glenwood Springs the trail crosses under I-70 and climbs a couple of hills, well away from the river.

Leaving Glenwood Canyon a couple miles east of the town of Glenwood Springs.

In Glenwood Springs I stopped for lunch at a Qdoba mexican grill that was right on the route. Good and fast. Afterwards I stopped in the park to look down on the big hot spring swimming pool. The temperature is 85F and rising. I can pass on the hot spring.

Hot springs swimming pool in Glenwood Springs.

Also in Glenwood I detoured to Two Rivers park to see the Roaring Fork river flow into the Colorado river. The trail bridge is for the Rio Grande trail which goes up the Roaring Fork river to Aspen.

Confluence of Colorado river (L) and Roaring Fork river (R). The bike trail goes up the Roaring Fork river to Aspen.

Unfortunately just west of Glenwood Springs I had to ride on I-70 for 5 miles in an area where I-70 is the only road. The scenery was quite good because the canyon is narrow. It was flat and the passing trucks literally pushed away the headwind.

It was much quieter when I exited I-70 for good. US 6 traffic is quite light. I enjoyed pedaling through the quaint little town of New Castle. It has some brick downtown storefronts and old pioneer homes built in low flood-prone locations.

A couple miles west of New Castle I turned right onto Peach Valley road. Now back to cycling Nirvana with no traffic and great scenery. It was very hilly, though. It probably added 1000 feet of climbing compared to staying close to the river on US 6.

Hilly but amazing Peach Valley road east of Rifle.

The last few miles took much longer than expected because of the strong headwind and steep hills. But it was great to end the tour on a scenic and low traffic route.

Today the sun was weakened by high clouds and the high was only 91F. It would have been warmer without the clouds. It was pleasant thanks to the cooling headwind. Shade was easy to find all day.

The last hill was the steepest, a 10% grade on the edge of Rifle followed by an even steeper downhill to Kelly and Jacinto's house where my car was parked for the last 18 days. I arrived at 4:20 PM, quickly packed the bike into the car and drove across town to get my $79 room at Budget Star Motel.

In the evening Kelly, Jacinto, and I had a celebratory dinner at a Thai restaurant in downtown Rifle. Another successful tour!

Today was long but relatively easy. Mostly flat until the last 14 miles. The headwind was offset by a 1000 foot net descent.

Distance: 64.8 mi. (103.7 km)
Ascent/Descent: +2014/-3001 ft. (+610/-909 m)
Average Speed: 10.8 mph (17.3 km/h)

Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 758 miles (1,220 km)

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