We had most everything today: cold and warm temperatures; headwinds and tailwinds; sunny skies; light snow and rain; long, grueling climbs; swift picturesque descents.
We left Montrose in the company of Fred Matheny, Fitness Editor for Bicycling Magazine and multiple PAC Tour veteran. I'm not sure if the route today was his idea, but he obviously had ridden it before. His two major pieces of advice were to eat and drink a lot during the first 30 miles of the day because we would be climbing the next 40 and to take warm clothes because the weather at the top of our single big climb could be "variable."
We rode out of Montrose on scenic back roads that took us along orchards and onto benches from which we could look out upon the greenest landscape we had seen so far. A few miles past the first snack stop, though, we made a left at mile 35. We'd not see another lengthy downhill until mile 69 and we'd go from 6000 feet to almost 11,000 feet. This was the route over Grand Mesa.
We'd been at this elevation before, but the climbs were "shorter" (only 10 miles or so). This day tested our mental attitudes, as well as physical capabilities. A second snack stop was sandwiched between the first, gradual half of the climb and the steeper second half. After almost every bend of this second half, we could look out over the huge expanse we had ridden through earlier. The top of the climb was the Ward Lake Recreation Area and road signs for snowmobile crossings and cross country ski trails abounded. Once to the top, the road continued mostly level for almost 3 miles and was flanked by snow fields and swampy areas from snow melt. Many of us encountered brief snowfalls here.
But once we dropped off the top of the mesa, what a descent there was! From mile 69 all the way to the town of Mesa and lunch 17 miles away we sped over smooth highways and swooped down steep grades, leaving snow and pine forests for fruit trees and desert scenery. The ride across the top of the mesa and this descent was a cold one for many riders. Luckily, though, the temperatures were only cool, not bitterly cold. Many of us were thankful for this and committed to bring warmer clothes the next day. After lunch, the descent continued another 11 miles, but it was tempered by a strong headwind blowing up the canyon. And, following a few miles on I-70, we turned off to Grand Junction for a 6-mile ride through this growing western Colorado city and our hotel.