Montrose to Gunnison

KOA Camp in Gunnison

Making Lunch at Gunnison 

Fellow Travelers Rusty & Ray, their wives and two friends

A stiff tail wind. The guys just flew from Montrose and arrived in Gunnison about 2:30.  We intended to camp here but they wanted to keep going because the going was so easy.  So they headed out and told me to pick them up after another 25 miles.  They wanted to get as many miles toward Monarch Pass as possible, because it is going to be the highest (11,312 feet) of our adventure. The camp site was a  KOA and was relatively inexpensive.  Right next to the camp there was a white water kayaking competition going on.  The rivers along our route are full and really rushing. Phil did pick them up and brought them back to Gunnison where we met Rusty, Ray, and their wives.  We hit the sack by 8:30 in anticipation of the long climb tomorrow.
Phil

Drippings of Grace

“Why are you doing this?” is a question we hear often.  In my reading from, What’s so Amazing About Grace?  Phillip Yancy quotes C.S.Lewis:  Yancy says “I had experience the “drippings of grace,” C.S. Lewis’s term for what awakens deep longing for “a scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a time we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.””  That sounded like a description of what we are doing.  I am looking for serendipity too.

So now when I am asked that question I will probably say that we are looking for “drippings of grace”.  And we are finding them.  We are in the middle of other cross country bike tours.  One of them is going all the way to Newfoundland. I have had a couple of opportunities to dispense grace in little ways by offering a tire pump to one person and water to another person who had run out.  It’s fun dispensing serendipity too. Last night we invited Jim McTaggert, age 74, from England to share our motel room and dinner in Montrose. 

Dinner in Motel Montrose

A VERY spacious motel room in Montrose

Jim McTaggert from England joined us for a night in Montrose.

We are graced by our continued exposure to Ray & Rusty from TN.  We first met them near Fair Play CA. They are going to take a rest day in Gunnison with their wives who flew into Montrose to meet them. The wives will be following them until Pueblo and them returning home.

The ride from Telluride to Montrose was 60 miles.  Dave rode the first half and Phil the second.  Dave took the car into a bike shop in order to have the lock fixed on our car top carrier.  It was there that he met Jim.

Phil

Telluride is busy

The ride today went from Delores to Telluride abut 65 miles.  It went over a big pass and Dave and Pete had a hard slog.  We could not find a spot in the city camp ground, so we are again in a National Forest campgroud about ten miles away.  There is some kind of Festival going on so there are all kinds of people here.

What a switch!  From barren rocks and sage brush in Nevada and Utah to towering mountains and trees in Colorado. Our route today followed the Delores river for quite a ways.  Every thing is green and beautiful in a whole different way than the other states. 
Phil

Utah is behind us. Colorado is ahead.

We had to make our own hot water in a National Forest camp ground. Delores, CO

Dave & Pete crossing the line.

Pete busted by CO state police for riding on the wrong side of that white line..

Camp site in National Forest, Delores CO.

Blanding UT to Delores CO - 82 miles.  Phil rode 60 miles today.  The third time this trip.  We left beautiful Utah and entered beautiful Colorado.  A half mile into the state, Pete was busted by the CO State Police for doing 70 in a 60 mile zone. NA.  He was stopped for riding in the traffic lane when there was a wide shoulder available. We had a pleasant discussion with the officer and we assured him what we wouldn't mix it up with the semis anymore.
What a difference a day makes.  Western Colorado is cultivated.  There are green fields as far as I can see in all directions.  We can see the snow covered Rockies and we know are most difficult climbs are ahead.  We will be going over Monarch Pass at 11,300 feet in a few days.
Our camp ground was in a National Forest six miles from Delores.  We are learning that we really can get along without a shower every night.

Phil

Torrey to Blanding in Two Days

Colorado River at Lake Powell

Dusty/Rocky Camp Site. Lake Powell.

See Gary's post below about the route from Torrey to Hanksville.  They rode that 50 miles and finished by 10:30 AM.  I drove Gary to Green River while Pete and Dave continued another 45 miles to Lake Powell at Hite crossing the place where the Colorado River enters Lake Powell.  I caught up with them there and we set up camp on the shore of Lake Powell.  The camp site wasn't very nice - rocky and dusty. The wind blew most of the night.  But the stars!  It's been a long time since I could actually see a sky full and see the milky way too.

We  left Lake Powell for Blanding after cooking breakfast in a fish cleaning facility.  The route again took us through different scenery than any other days. (I wish I had Gary's talent for description.) Natural Bridges National Monument was along the route.  Here is a Google project for you.  Why are some areas called National Parks and others are called National Monuments?

The days ride covered 79 miles.  Tomorrow we say goodbye to Utah and hello to Colorado.
Phil

A Tribute to Gary

A Tribute to Gary

On Monday, June 20, we said goodbye to Gary.   He has become a part of the team, and it feels like something is missing.  Tonight I had to cut the lettuce for the meal, something Gary always did.   So what can I say about Gary?

In so many ways, Gary is like me.  He is a strong Christian, and that defines our lives.  He is a strong family man, and can articulate real family values.  Like me, he is a social worker.  So many of our beliefs about life and living are in sync. Issues of politics and poverty are important to us both and this carries over from our professional training and life experiences.  .

We both love bicycling.  That’s where things part.  While I am not strong on a bike, Gary excels.   He has the unusual ability to appear to ride effortlessly, especially when climbing hills.  He earned the nickname “mountain man” from gliding past Pete and me on the steep mountain passes, and does this in much higher gears than normal people could tolerate.  He has this remarkable combination of stamina, leg strength and conditioning as a runner that enables him to be the outstanding biker that he is. 

As for me, I have to try to use every little edge I can find.  Things like drafting, which means riding in the slip stream of a bike ahead is necessary for me, but for Gary is a nuisance that interferes with the joy of riding and a better view of the scenery.  I speed up on a downhill to get a better run at a difficult up hill ahead.  For Gary that is unnecessary, as he simply glides up the hill.  He has a different style that comes from strength, mine from weakness.

Gary also has a remarkable memory.  Things like “where did we stay three nights ago” are so much easier for him than for me.  Bits of trivia are a part of his life, and when I asked him who was on a winning world series team from 50 year ago (1957 to be exact), he named the starting players without a hitch.  Who else would remember Henry Aaron, Warren Spahn, Del Crandel, Johnny Logan, Joe Adcock, Bobby Thompson, Billy Bruton and Eddy Matthews of the Milwaukee Braves?   And, the positions they played!!  What can I say?

So we say farewell and God bless, and hope to get together to share pictures and stories together with our families when we return to Grand Rapids.  . We hope he has a wonderful vacation in Colorado with his wife and family and a safe return to Grand Rapids. 

Submitted by Dave G.  

Innocent survives

I am ensconced in a comfortable room at a Motel 6 in Green River, UT, with my ride complete. But the others are now at the quarter pole, or a little further, in their ride across America.

No need to talk about yesterday as Phil has done a blog that well describes a very tough day of riding.  Yesterday’s miserable weather having cleared out, and with a very pleasant tailwind pushing us along, we rode this morning in three hours from Torrey to Hanksville, a distance of 75 kilometers. We rode so fast today that we arrived at Hanksville before Phil in the support vehicle. It was again spectacular riding, with canyon vistas when we looked down and mountain ranges when we glanced up.  And the terrain and light traffic today allowed those looks longer than normal.

Usually riding near the brown Fremont River, we cruised past 200 to 500 foot “chimneys” and “castles”, and 1,000 foot “cathedrals” of rock, in Capitol Reef National Park. They elicited worshipful emotions and thoughts.  The valleys looked particularly verdant, surrounded by the red, rose, and yellow rock, with purple mountains in the distance. In talking with my wife Pat this afternoon, to arrange a pick up in Green River tomorrow, I assured her that sometime soon we will take a motor trip on the Adventure Cycling route we have biked the last two weeks.

In some areas orchards lined the road and river, with high fences keeping the deer out of the recently established ones. We saw deer in the abandoned orchards, busily eating their breakfast.

Another interesting stop was at an old school house, built by Mormon families at Fruita. The school building was in use from 1912 to 1943. It has been well preserved along the roadside. We stopped, looked at the inside that seemed to be in shape for a school day, noticing even an apple on the teacher’s desk.

While Pete and Dave biked south toward the north end of Lake Powell, Phil drove me an hour north to Green River. Riding alongside the San Rafael cliffs that once gave shelter to Butch Cassidy and his gang, we chatted about the ride and its demands and satisfactions. There were patches when one simply wished to be off the bike, but more often a sense of satisfaction and sometimes of wonder.

It is difficult to leave the other adventurers. Feelings of completing what I planned console me. I learned more about what it takes for a successful adventure of this type. Only because of Phil’s planning and constant attention is this trip possible. Thank you Phil. And thanks, too, to Dave and Pete for the companionship established during the past three weeks. – gary