July 4, 2018
Day 2: Grand Junction to Fruita. Colorado National Monument.
Today I pedal from Grand Junction to Fruita. The direct route is only 11 level miles along the Colorado river. That route is a popular bike trail but I prefer to do a long hilly detour through Colorado National Monument.
Colorado National Monument has been on my wish list for years. Today I finally do it. It's the 4th of July holiday so I won't be alone.
There are no services on today's route so I stopped at City Market to get some food for the road. I started with all the water bottles full. Today has a big and mostly shadeless climb. It will be hot.
I left Grand Junction at 9 after an excellent hot breakfast at Hampton Inn and the supermarket stop. Monument road begins 1 mile away, across I-70 and the river.
Monument road leads from Grand Junction to the monument with wide open vistas. No big trees to obstruct the view. Monument road gently climbs 300 feet to the park entrance. The grade is much steeper after the park entrance. I could see the cliffs ahead but couldn't see how the road gets to the top of the cliffs.
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At the park entrance the road name changes to Rim Rock drive. The bicycle entrance fee is $5. I suppose local road cyclists buy an annual pass.
The map shows that the road is very winding but it doesn't portray how often the road hugs the edge of cliffs.
I was passed by at least 10 high-energy road cyclists who climbed at double my 4 mph pace. I saw even more cyclists going down. Probably 50 cyclists going the opposite direction.
The climb has a few views looking back towards the Colorado river valley. But it doesn't have spectacular canyon views or monument views.
The best views are from the top along the cliffs, and during the descent to Fruita at the other end of the road.
Rim Rock road has 3 short tunnels. All 500 feet long or less. No lights needed.
Of course the road has many switchbacks working its way up 2000 foot cliffs. The grade was a relentless 6-7 percent. There was no shade. The wind was very light. It was hot.
The views generally look to the north, so the sun angle was good all day. My direction of travel seems optimum for sun angle. In the morning the cliffs were to the west, in morning sun. In the afternoon the cliffs were mostly to the east, in afternoon sun.
The top of the cliffs is forested with juniper and piñon trees. The trees are barely big enough to provide shade. At lower elevations the best available shade is the occasional cliff that blocks the sun.
I got to the summit at 1:10 PM. The temperature was in the upper 80's. It didn't feel like a cool mountaintop.
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There was steady traffic on the road. It's Monday, the 4th of July, a public holiday. But it was never congested. Never a motor home followed by 10 impatient tailgating cars.
The road is narrow and winding. The speed limit is 35 mph and few places are straight enough that it's even possible to exceed the speed limit. It never seemed like a race track.
Only a few motorcyclists went by and they didn't go super fast. I expected to see more motorcyclists. Maybe they avoid the road on holidays because it's too crowded.
I also saw only a few motor homes. Maybe they need to avoid holiday crowds because there's no place to park. Parking areas at the overlooks were not full, but it's hard to park a motor home long before it's full.
I noticed license plates from states all over the U.S. This is a major park and it has extremely easy access from I-70.
After the summit the road stays relatively level for 10 miles, mostly along the edge of cliffs circling around canyons. There was one notable descent followed by a 300 foot climb to a second summit.
The first several canyons have awesome red cliffs, but were just a warmup for Monument canyon.
After Monument canyon Rim Rock Drive begins the descent to Fruita. The descent has many switchbacks, 2 tunnels, and more impressive views than what I had when going up.
Local cyclists all have the good sense to do this ride as early as possible to beat the heat. I saw no other cyclists after 2 PM. I was the only cyclist foolish enough to be out during the peak afternoon heat. Local cyclists aren't seeing the park for the first time and probably last time, stopping 50 times to take pictures and enjoy the views.
The wind was surprisingly calm considering I was mostly on the edge of cliffs. I wished the wind was stronger to give more cooling.
On the bike I have the luxury to stop anywhere to take a picture.
I had to brake almost continuously during the winding descent. The grade was 5-6%, slightly gentler than the grade I went up.
The final stop in the park was to take pictures of balanced rock, the namesake of tonight's lodging.
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Not surprisingly the temperature climbed to 97F when I arrived in Fruita at 5:30 PM. Peak of the day, lowest elevation of the tour. I checked into my reserved room at Balanced Rock Inn. 2 blocks west of downtown Fruita and 1 block from City Market. $120 for 2 nights. 2 nights at Balanced Rock Inn cost less than 1 night at Hampton Inn in Grand Junction.
I expected the town to be extra-busy for the holiday but it wasn't at all. Most of the restaurants in town were closed for the holiday. I went to 5 or 6 restaurants before finding that El Tapatio (local Mexican chain) was open. It was good.
Today was a great day. The ride through Colorado National Monument was a rewarding detour. It was hard work but short enough that I had plenty of time to stop and enjoy the views.
Distance: 33.8 mi. (54 km)
Ascent/Descent: +2376/-2557 ft. (+720/-775 m)
Average Speed: 7.2 mph (11.5 km/h)
Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 104 miles (167 km)
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