93.3 miles 6922 feet of vertical 16.1 mph average.
Today we climbed over the Grand Mesa, which sits at 10,839 feet and is the largest flat top mountain in the world. The second photo is actually looking back at the mesa after the descent. Yes, we climbed up there. We had a monster of a climb today. In 19 miles we gained 4800 feet with an average grade of almost 5 percent. Just as it is impossible to describe the scenery out here, I can't really think of a way to convey what it is like to go uphill for 2 hours. I climbed at a 10 mph average and passed 521 people. It took most people at least 3 hours and some longer. Many of the people who have done this ride and live out here said it was the hardest climb they had ever done.
With all of that, it was still well worth it for the views, the challenge and the downhill. Yes, the best thing about climbing for that long is that you get to go downhill for 20 plus miles. I hit 48.2 mph on the descent and covered 21 miles in about 35 minutes. That made it all worthwhile. One guy said that next to sky diving that is the most exciting thing you can do.
The other thing that made the day interesting was the variety of scenery and the different ecosystems we rode through. We started out riding through ranches and canyons. As we climbed higher we rode through alpine forests and past lakes. On the other side of the mesa we saw dessert canyons and rock formations. We are currently very close to the Utah border with hot weather and dessert landscapes.
I know this has been a long post. Thank you for reading. In the next few days, I am going to bring you a series on what it is like to do a tour like this. If you have any questions, please send them to kylewilliams1024@gmail.com. And please be sure to check out the flickr photos, as i have put quite a bit of time into downsizing them etc. As a side note you might be interested to know that most of the pictures were taken while riding.
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