Another great ride near Grand Junction, Colorado. Rode with Mike Gettinger, of Glenwood Springs (he rode with me on the first ride) and Kevin Wilson (former Leadville 100 winner) of Carbondale. Mike rode over 6,000 vertical the day before and he still rode like a champ! I didn’t know about this ride until I started researching the GREAT AMERICAN ROAD BIKE RIDES about 6 months ago. If you to climb, you’ll love this ride! Over 6,000 feet of vertical gain in just 31 miles. This is one of the 20 most difficult climbs in the U.S. You can start 31.8 miles east of Grand Junction in Debeque, like we did, or you can start at Hwy 65, 17.8 miles east of Grand Junction. It’s about the same distance either way- just slightly different scenery the first 10 miles or so.

Grand Mesa is the largest mesa in the world. The top of the mesa is 10,839′.

A great climb, and a very fast descent!

Wait until mid-June if you want to be sure of no snow on the mountain. We went a little too early in the year- lesson learned.

Road bikes can be rented at some of the bike shops in Grand Junction.

Mesa General Store

Locals

Powderhorn Ski Resort

Up, up, up

Spring hasn't sprung...

Almost there

The summit!