Day 11 Grand Junction,CO to Montrose,CO 118 miles 7300' climbing

Today was the first day I have had any technical problems with the bike! Yesterday's heavy rain and the ultra-fine grit that came off the road and coated everything didn't help! First, I noticed my computer was not working. Then, it started working...but was not giving me accurate readings! 95 miles per hour on a 3% upgrade....I don't think so! The speedometer not working isn't a huge problem. A bigger concern is not having a working odometer! All of our directions are based on mileage.
I got separated from the group on the climb today and had to ride solo for about 40 miles...hoping I wasn't going the wrong way or had missed a turn! Next up was a new "creak" coming from my frame. Lon was great...taking everything apart to find the source of this obnoxious "creak". No luck. It drove me crazy all day! It may very well drive me crazy until next Saturday!
Chip suggested I just get an ipod and crank up the volume!

Today's route was pretty tricky with about 20 turns! We started out of Grand Junction rolling thru neighborhoods and then thru the groves and orchards that surround the city. A few miles on I-70 and we turned south towards Grand Mesa...passing the Powderhorn Ski Area on our 22 miles climb over the pass. That was my first time at 10,000+' without a pressurized cabin and a stewardess! As I pulled out of the secong SAG, there was a bear and her cub that came bumbling out of the forest in front of me. I reached for my camera and stopped pedaling, The sound of my freewheeel scared them off before I could get a shot. Still pretty cool (and a bit scary) to see them! Chip continues to rack up KOM points! Never saw him again after the road turned up! Craig's got a new bug working and was just behind me...until we got the to descent! He is fearless...I'm a big baby!

After the descent we had lunch in Delta,CO. The road into Montrose was pretty rough and we were ready for the day to be over. Especially, with rain showers just beyond town.


Tomorrow is another big climbing day...thru Silverton down to Durango, CO. Hoping my bike problems can get worked out.


Having trouble with i-access again tonight! I'll try to add a few more pics tomorrow.


















Hey kids...looks like there's some climbing in our future!


















One of several beautiful canyons we rolled thru.















and another!



















Seems my computer got whatever "virus" had infected Puddy's last week. Notice my current speed is reading 95mph...and my top speed is recorded at 140.92mph! Wow!

















Looking back toward Grand Junction from Grand Mesa...at around 8400'.




















The wildflowers are really beautiful up here! They don't get to show off for long!



















this place can get pretty rough if the weather is bad! Thankfully, we beat the rains today.


















at around 10,000' there were several of these spectacular meadows...absolutely overflowing with wildflowers!




















on the way down into the valley towards Montrose. This shot doesn't do the scene much justice! It was really pretty spectacular to look out onto such an immense valley ringed in mountains.



















a bit further down...looking towards Montrose and the mountains we climb tomorrow!




















Craig up ahead! This is about how much time he makes up on me during the descents! It took me 1/2 hour to catch him!

















the farmlands leading into Montrose.