A couple of years ago I took a day off and went on a relaxing all-day ride. Because of a crazy work schedule last summer, I didn't get to do one last year. Yesterday I decided to head out to see the Black Canyon. When I left the house, civil twilight had just begun. After avoiding a skunk and later, a coyote chasing breakfast across the highway, I pulled over and watched the Sun come up.
Nice scenery in the valley after Kenosha Pass:
Near Buena Vista
At the Curecanti rec area, you see the south end of the canyon:
Then a few more miles up the road, you get to the south entrance of the National Park. Unfortunately, they were repaving the road so I go to wait about 25 minutes in the heat, but at least they didn't charge the entrance fee. My pictures of the canyon simply cannot do justice to what you see with the eye. The walls of the canyon are vertical and reach nearly 3000 feet. For those of you who have ridden PMP, that's about the length of the main straightaway.
I only spent a couple of hours there but there are many hiking trails and you could easily spend the whole day taking in the amazing sights.
This was the original ride plan:
but a huge thunderstorm developed to the southeast behind me as I was coming up 133 to Carbondale. It clearly was not a good idea to head down 82 towards Aspen into the heart of the storm, so I decided to head north to I-70 and slab it back home.
I still got into the outer parts of the storm up until about Gypsum. Going down the tunnel just east of Glenwood Springs, I could see the rain going sideways across the highway. I thought "Oh, boy" and when I exited the tunnel, it felt like a semi hit me. It was good that I was ready for it, because it might have blown me right off the road. It would have been really nasty trying to go over a mountain pass in the central part of the storm. And I-70 out that way is pretty scenic. I mean, it's not like going up I-75 through the middle of Florida.
Despite some rain and annoying crosswinds on the highway, it was a great day of riding. I covered 603 miles in 14 hours or so.