Overall Summary

Any bicycle ride through the San Juan’s is a special ride, but throw in the Colorado National Monument, the Grand Mesa, and Wolf Creek Pass and you have the makings of an awesome ride.  This year’s RTR will not be short or easy, but it will be beautiful.  The short warm-up day through the CO National Monument will help you get the kinks out of legs in preparation for the grand climb over the Grand Mesa.  The third day is a perfect recovery day and will offer your legs a chance to recover before you attempt the three climbs through the heart of the San Juan’s.  Day 5, though not easy because of rollers, will allow a bit of recovery before Day 6’s Wolf Creek assault and descent into the banana belt.  And Day 7 will be a pleasant day’s ride through the San Luis Valley with a fairly easy climb and descent into Salida. Note, RTR is calling this 533 miles. Unless I'm missing something, this ride is only in the 480's. Still long, but not as bad (and I used the routes that they showed on their website).


Because of the mileage (around 500 miles), and the two grueling climbs (Grand Mesa and Red, Molas, Coal Bank), plus Wolf Creek and Poncha Pass, (total climbing approximately 27,000 feet) this is one of the harder rides RTR has put on in recent years.  Make no mistake, the Grand Mesa will test your endurance and Ouray to Durango attacks Red Mountain from the hard side.  If you attempt this ride, make sure you train hard for it…  there are a lot of miles and a heck of a lot of climbing facing you.  But, you know what, it will also be a rewarding ride.  Happy 25th Anniversary RTR.

 

Day 1- Colorado National Monument

38 Miles and approximately 2500 feet of Climbing.  I really like this as a first day ride.  It’s just shy of 40 miles (assuming the High School is the starting point) and gives you a good amount of climbing and ALL day to enjoy the monument.  No need to get up at sunrise.  You don’t need to take down your tent and set it up someplace else (unless you neighbor snores too loudly).  Even by sleeping in, you can start and end the ride before the heat of the day.  Neat concept and a great way to start a tour. 

The Monument is a beautiful ride with stunning vistas, switchbacks, tunnels, and scenery.  The climbing can get steep in a few areas, approaching 9% on the southern end, but the extreme grades are fairly short.  There are plenty of places to pull over, take a breather, and enjoy the views.  Please note, there are very significant drop-offs here, so if you don’t like heights, the roads may cause your heart to flutter a bit.  The park also claims to require headlights and tail lights in the tunnels (which is a joke because they are so short), so be sure to have them with you.  

 

Day 2- Grand Junction to Delta

85 miles and approximately 6500 feet of climbing.  The Grand Mesa is one of the must do climbs in Colorado.  Rather than repeat what I have already written, click on this link to bring you to my Grand Mesa write-up in this site.  Please note, the write-up is from Cedaredge to I-70, so just reverse it as you read.  The first 30 miles out of Grand Junction are fairly flat and uneventful.  You are on city streets to Palisades, I-70 for a few miles, and then in a spectacular little canyon with impressive rock overhangs and cut outs until you get to the town of Mesa (about mile 31).  From there, it’s up.  And the up is relentless and grueling.  This face is steeper, but a touch shorter, than the Cedaredge side. It will more than likely be hot so bring extra water…  It’s a long hard climb and this IS the hardest day of the ride.  Sag wagons will be in short supply.  Just plan on it being long and hard.  Scenery, on the other hand, will blow you away.

 

Day 3- Delta to Ouray

58 miles and about 3000 feet of climbing.  While there are some interesting sights and scenery along this route, mostly on the approach to Ridgway and definitely into Ouray, by and large, this is a ride through 5000-6000 foot high arid treeless terrain.  Delta to Montrose is a bit of a bore if you like alpine scenery.  The road has a number of rollers, trending upwards, and is wide open.  With the Grand Mesa shrinking behind you over your left shoulder, there is not a whole lot to look at.  As you approach Montrose, traffic increases and you’ll have access to a lot of food and refreshment.  The DQ on the north side of town is great on a hot day (and it will be hot, so try to get an early start). 


Once past Montrose, the view of the San Juan’s  become more and more clear.  The jagged peaks are striking against the skyline.  You are also getting a bit higher and the land is turning, ever so slightly, more green.  The closer to Ridgway you get, the hillier the land gets. Just before the Ridgway Reservoir, Hwy 50 descends toward Dallas and you get one of my favorite photo-ops in Colorado:  the road falling away against a backdrop including the San Jaun’s rock face and Ridgway in the foreground.  You’ll know it when you see it.  Ridgway can be a good stop for food and beverage.  It’s a small little town with a cute Main Street off of 50.


After Ridgway, you come face to face with tomorrow’s nemesis, Red Mountain.  While you’ve been climbing all day, this last segment is steeper and more prolonged than the rest of the day combined.  You’ll gain almost a third of your elevation gain in the last six miles of the day.  The valley you are in is closing in on all sides and you face what is looking like a solid wall in from of you. 


Overall, this will be a fairly easy day.  The climbing is long but shallow (for the most part… there are some steep but short parts).  It’s a good day to relax a bit and recover from the Grand Mesa.  When you get to Ouray, it should be fairly early in the afternoon.  Take advantage of the hot pools and eat well.  You’ll need the muscle relief and the food reserves for tomorrow.

 

Day 4- Ouray to Durango

 

72 miles and approximately 6000 feet of climbing.  If the Grand Mesa was the hardest day, this one is a close second.  Not only are you climbing the hard side of Red Mountain, but after that climb, you still have Molas Divide and Coal Bank Pass to contend with.  This is going to be a very hard day. It’s very very very scenic, especially the front climb up Red Mountain, the switchbacks at the top of Red Mountain, the descent down Red Mountain into Silverton, and the view of Silverton climbing out of it.  Every turn will bring  new vistas that you won’t soon forget.  Also, given that you start climbing the second you leave Ouray, you should be able to complete all three climbs before the afternoon rains move in (providing you don’t sleep in until noon).  Get an early start for this day, it is long and hard.


So I don't have to repeat it here, see my write-ups for Red Mountain and Coal Bank for more details on the route itself.  Silverton is a nice place to stop for a rest and a quick bite to eat. You may be tempted to take the train back from Silverton, but take my word for it 1) you'll beat the train back from this directio, and 2) you'll miss fantastic scenery.

Day 5- Durango to Pagosa Springs

86 miles and approximately 3200 feet of climbing.  Kudos to RTR for keeping people off of 160 for much of the day. Hwy 160 is a major east west road with heavy traffic and minimal scenery (especially near Durango). The route choosen is safer, more scenic, and just plain a lot of fun. No passes today, but you will go through the burn area from a few years back. It will be interesting to see how the plants and trees are taking hold again. You will still have a nice healthy climb out of Durango as you head east, and in fact, it will be the steepest climb of the day and will last a few miles as you summit the ridge surrounding Durango. Expect a 15 mile climb from the start and, once you peak, it will be a 3 mile descent to Columbus (nice and steep for some speed). From Columbus to Arboles you will have a more or less 40 mile downhill run to the Navajo State Park and Navajo Resv. The rest of the day will be climbing at a fairly easy pace (1% to 3%) with a few steeper rollers built in, but the scenery is fine and you realy won't mind the climb much at all. A nice descent will great you as you approach Pagosa Springs. 

  Take it easy today.  Us the day as a recovery ride.  You have the most daunting days behind you, but you still have two passes to go.  Eat well and drink (water or sport drinks) frequently. 

 

Day 6- Pagosa Springs to Alamosa

 

Almost 90 miles and 4000 feet of climbing.  The good news!  Except for 22 miles, this is a really flat or downhill day.  In fact, after mile 22, you can put your bike on cruise control and watch the scenery fly by.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your level of sanity), the first 22 miles will be challenging.  Please see my link to Wolf Creek Pass for details, but in general, you will have 13-14 miles of shallow 2% to 3% climbing through mist shrouded green valleys before you hit the final 9 mile 7% to 8% non-ending merciless climbing.  The scenery, especially looking back to Pagosa Springs is breath taking.  It can rival what you saw in the San Juan’s.  Once at the top, it’s almost 70 miles downhill to Alamosa.  Note, however, the ride into the San Luis Valley can be hot and windy.  If you are graced by a headwind, with will more than negate the advantage of the shallow 1% downhill.  May the appropriate sacrifices to the wind gods so the trip to Alamosa does not become a windblown nightmare.

 

Day 7- Alamosa to Salida

81 miles and approximately 1600 feet of climbing.  You will have 50 miles of virtually flat roads as you head north out of Alamosa.  The San Luis Valley is a wide expanse of ranch and agricultural land at 7500 feet.  It is flat.  It is typically dry.  It has fairly cool mornings. It can have searing hot days.  Towns are few and far between so be sure to carry water.  If it weren’t for the fact that the valley is surrounded by beautiful mountains, I’d say we were in eastern North Dakota or southern Texas.  It doesn’t get flatter than this.  Hope the wind is not coming from the north.


After mile 50, you have about a 20 mile climb up to Poncha Pass.  The grades on this pass don’t exceed 7% and spend most of their time in the 4% to 5% range.  In other words, this is a good pass to complete after six days or riding.  It will provide nice scenery, good views of the valley, enough of a climb to keep the climbers happy, and shallow enough climbs to keep the tired moving forward without super human efforts.  It’s a great way to end a long trip and should not prove to be too difficult.  Enjoy Salida… it’s a cute little town with good food.  Congrats.  You made it.