Loma to Rangley, Hwy 139

---------> Camp site on Hwy 139, sunset thru the door.

There is a lonely road in the northeast corner of Colorado that connects Grand Junction to Rangley. 73 miles long, due north. Up and over Douglas Pass (8300 ft). A perfect bicycling road.

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We've started a new tradition, (thanks to Kiki since she has the watch and the will power). That is to wake at 5:30 and be rolling by 6am. No official breakfast till the first 10-15 miles (we'll eat a powerbar or something at the tent). All this is our ploy to beat the heat. If we can get most of our ride done by noon, it's smooth sailing after that. If fact we were brainstorming names for our plan. The best we could come up with is the "High Noon Five-Oh", meaning by noon we'd like to have 50 miles done. Then you can shack up somewhere from 1pm-5pm and then cycle 20 more after it cools down. We have this same tradition on long-distance hiking trails, though modified for walking we call it a "Ten-by-Ten".

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That's how we arrived into Fruita. A high-noon five-oh and then straight to the library. I love libraries!!! They are my favorite place even when I'm not travelling. They are just so nice to hang out in and so welcoming!

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Resupplied, we head out of Fruita to get closer to Rangely and make Douglas Pass more doable. Did I mention it's hot! Somehow we miss the scenic drive I'd planned out of Fruita to Hwy 139 and instead end up on the hellaciously busy Hwy 6. Trucks flying by, little shoulder. Not a fun road, but we only had 5 miles of it, so we decided to just stick with it till we got to our road. I notice my bike is getting a bit squirrelly and finally realize that I'm getting a flat front tire. The worse part is that there is no shade to be had anywhere. This is not good because when you do stop cycling, the heat factor jumps by 10 it seems. So we stop and I douse myself with water just to make dealing with this situation survivable. I decide to pump up the flat and see if we can go 1/4 mile more and find shade. The plan works as we make it to a Conoco station (me pushing the last 200 yards); the perfect flat changing location. In my book, if you're going change a flat, might as well have a fountain drink with lots of ice.

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We made it 9 miles north of Loma before pooping out. Good part about this country is you can just camp anywhere you feel like it. We found an old jeep road and camped only about 200 yards off the main highway. It's pretty desolate out there. No buildings, nothing really. Just sage and spiders. This was probably one of our best campsites yet (see above). So close to the road and yet such a remote, private feeling. We could see the Colorado Nat'l Monument to the south and a spectacular sunset dazzled us as we tucked in for the night.

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Heading out that morning, we knew Douglas Pass loomed ahead. We'd have about 30 miles of pedalling until we crossed it. The first 25 were not so bad, but that last 5 had us pedalling at 3 mph. It was a toughie, but no tougher than we'd already done, so we were well prepared.

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The thing about our "High-Noon Five-Oh" plan is that it make us very nappy. We pretty much have to have a nap or we'll become non-functioning or worse, hurt ourselves. Lucky for us we cruised into a recreation area right as we were both needing some down time. It had a picnic table but better, it had a shelter for shade. We immediately put ourselves down for a 30 minute time-out.

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I think that's all I really need these days. Picnic tables and shade. Give me those two things and I'll be completely satisfied. We cruised into Rangely and went directly to the Subway (2nd day in a row!). I'm way into the Meatball sub for some reason. I've lived my whole life never ordering a Meatball sub, now it seems I can't fathom life without one. Sometimes I think that bicycle touring makes you similar to a pregnant woman. You just start craving certain things and you don't know why, you just do and whoa to he who might get in your way of fulfilling that desire!

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We'll be out of Colorado tomorrow and into Utah for a day or two (Vernal) before we get to the Flaming Gorge area of Wyoming.