Ride the Rockies Day 2 Grand Juction to Hotchkiss

There are no words that can describe the misery that was Ride the Rockies Day 2 Grand Juction to Hotchkiss. I went up, and up, and up. And what goes up must come down right? Yeah for like 5 minutes. All I can say is this was a hard ride, one of the most difficult I’ve ever done.

The day started off well. I got up and decided that I wanted some coffee.  Lucky there was a Starbucks on campus in Grand Junction and I waited in line for about 10 minutes. A good cup of joe was well worth it. I packed fairly quickly and hit the road little after 6.

Leaving Grand Junction was a nice ride. We ended up in Palisade and it was cool to see all the wineries and peach trees. I was halfway tempted to stop and taste some wine. And that was the end of the pleasantries.

The climb up the Grand Mesa started and it did not stop. It just kept going. Each aid station I came to I thought we must be close to the top. But I went through 3 stations and one pit stop and I was still not to the top. It was painful, very painful. Beautiful though, I will admit that much.

Once I finally reached the top, I was excited to descend. After all I earned it. I crusaded down and it was over like that. It went by way to fast. I worked for hours and was done in minutes, not fair. Once the decent was over I stopped at the aid station in Cedar Ridge. Seemed like a great Colorado town. I wanted to get this ride over with, so I didn’t stay too long.

Leaving the aid station, there was more climbing. I was not prepared for this. I made this though though, but it hurt. The last few miles were downhill, which was a nice treat. I finished the ride, pitched the tent and showered. Oh what a great shower. Now on to evening festivies.