BikeWNC

On Wed., we left my brother's house and headed down the hill to meet a friend to do a long ride over and around the Colorado National Monument. Our plan was to do a climb of the East grade and down the West side back over the East side and up to Glade Park back to the house. When we met our friend she said that they were in the process of resurfacing the road into Glade Park and so our plans changed.


On the way to meet our friend with the target in site, Colorado National Monument.


Starting the climb on the West grade. My brother's friend is a 61yo hottie and a great rider.


Red rock everywhere. We're looking up to the left at a golden eagle nest.


As we climbed out of the desert the vegetation started to change.


Awesome view with the Grand Mesa in the distance.


Still climbing on a beautiful day. It was in the mid 60s.


Starting the descent to the switchbacks on the East grade.

I love this ride! It has everything one could want with nice climbs, incredible views and technical descents. Even the last 15% grade back to the house wasn't too bad on this day. This is one of my favorite rides anywhere. Stats were 47 miles with 3800' of climbing in 3 hours ride time.

Beverly

Thanks for the report. Those pictures are great....what a fabulous place to ride.

I didn't see any vehicles in the pictures. Was there any traffic at all?

BikeWNC

Just a few cars in the Monument itself, but generally the traffic was very light throughout the whole ride.

Hermes

Very nice pics. I like the colors and the ruggedness of the terrain.

oilman_15106

Great place. I have a framed pix of a juniper in my office from there. My son lived in GJ for 2 years.

Don't go over the side however. When he lived there some car went off the edge and it took 3 weeks to find it.

RockyTopBiker

Great photos. We rode through the Colorado National Monument last June on our way to Moab, for a canoe trip on the Colorado River. Fantastic views and very few autos.

jppe

Well, it is definitely not Sylva!!