DAY 16

ROUTE:Green River,UT to Grand Junction,CO	DISTANCE:94 miles	WINDS:Strong crosswind from the north
WEATHER:Overcast, but dry!	TERRAIN:Rolling	CLIMBING:About 2,500 ft total

Monday, June 21. A very wise relative recently said, "Sit soft in the saddle." And that's exactly what I was finally able to do today! Yay! My backside seemed back to normal and I rode pain-free...well, as pain-free as one can be on a 95 mile ride! Because of the long mileage today, we ate breakfast at 6am and loaded luggage at 6:45am. During breakfast, the sky was looking a bit threatening and we could tell that the wind was really strong...unfortunately, it was strong in the wrong direction. :/ The day started with a 25 mile steady climb which was made tougher by the crosswinds. Still, the first 23 miles were fairly fast. The scenery early was wide open spaces with canyons and rock formations lining the background. I never get tired of looking at that! David from Syracuse was in front of me and stopped on the side of the road...when I caught up to him, he had picked some wild sunflowers for me to put in my seatpack...I have to admit that it styled up my ride for a bit! After the first SAG, we had 40 miles scheduled before the second SAG, which promised pb&j sandwiches. My stomach started talking to me about those sandwiches about 5 miles from the SAG...you can't believe how good pb&j is when you're running low on fuel! I ate one of those and got back on the road. I stopped for the obligatory picture in front of the Colorado Sign....three states down and 10 to go! The last 40 miles of the day were long rolling hills....long easy climbs and GREAT downhills! I rode by myself for those last 40, and I really enjoyed that. At one point, I couldn't see anyone in front of or behind me, and I had this thought: Here I am in Colorado riding totally by myself! Of course, I'm never totally by myself, but it feels that way sometimes, and it's kind of cool! As I cruised into Grand Junction, I rode along the Colorado River all the way to the hotel. Way cool! My roommate Sue lives in Grand Junction, so she opted to stay at home tonight and also offered to do my laundry! How good is that??! Sue had a bit of trouble with the Chicken today. She had the chicken taped to her seat rack, and I guess he fell off or something. She recovered the Chicken, Joyce found the helmet, but alas, the doo-rag is lost. The Board ALMOST voted to give her the Chick for a second day, but instead awarded it to Steve, since we are in his home state of Colorado. Oh yeah...several riders got pulled today by the Highway Patrol and warned for riding two abreast. The shoulder is plenty wide enough to do that, but it's only legal if no cars are within 300 feet. :::shrug::: It's amazing what you might see on the road as you ride: single shoes (where are the mates?), lots of bungees, various dead critters (saw an elk today), pieces of tools, bottles of urine thrown out by truckers (when ya gotta go, you gotta go!), and believe it or not, a GOLF BALL. I think someone must have a pretty bad slice! Tomorrow we journey 68 miles to Montrose,CO. Sue mapped out an alternate route for the first 17 miles on a bike path along the Colorado River. We have about 2300 feet of climb tomorrow, but it should be a fairly quick day. We're all looking forward to our rest day on Saturday in Pueblo. An old friend of mine, Jimmy Pitts, lives in Colorado Springs and is going to come to Pueblo on Saturday to visit. It'll be good to see him and catch up. Hope all of you are doing well...thanks for following me across the country! See you tomorrow!

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