Colorado has Mountains, in case you didn't know ...

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No really, there are mountains here! I found a whole bunch, propped up tightly against each other, so close in fact that nary a stream can squeeze between them.

There was this one place called 'deep river gorge' or something, I followed the signs to it, they promised the highest and longest single span suspension bridge and my gps showed a road going over it, so I left hwy 50 in Cañon and rode 4 excruciatingly slow miles behind a Floridian q-tip. Then I retraced my steps because they wanted $26 just to SEE the bridge and walk on it, as it is closed to vehicles. What a ripoff... but one of the joys of capitalism is being the consumer who can say NO! and go ride someplace else. So I did. But not before stopping a little town to buy a new bulb and successfully avoiding the salesmans attempts to sell me the $40 silver super duper star bulbs when the $9 one works just fine.

Then on my way to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. But first a smoked beef burger in Gunnison, and btw for some reason both my earbuds work today. All day.

Somewhere around here I went over Monarch Pass at 11,000 feet, leapfrogging slower cars going the ridiculously low speed limit. At the summit it was cool... 61f maybe? And once in a while I passed aspen groves changing their colors. This is the first time I have seen them in the fall, and the yellows and greens are so bright it hurts to look at them. I don't know if the camera managed to capture them...

Ok. The canyon. Wow. That is one long and steep and black canyon. I took 50 along it then went north on 92, the north rim. It was difficult to capture the whole thing with a camera so I got little bits and pieces of it. 92 itself was posted at 35 mph most of the ways which is too low, so I went 60mph most of it. Super duper twisty road with lots of 25mph corners and not much traffic. Put this on your list of roads to ride!

92 straightened out, but instead of going straight to Grand Junction I went right on CR2100 through a dumpy ass town called Cedar Orchard or something. Its the sort of town where most homes are trailers and there are broken things on the lawn and people furrow their brows when they look at you. The kind of town you'd expect skinheads to put together and be proud of. Fortunately the FJR didn't break down and the road went through to hwy 65 and I went north on that.

It took up to a Grand Mesa national forest. Beautifully smooth and curvy roads with little traffic, I could actually get a lean on as the speed limits weren't stupid low. Out of the desert into an alpine wilderness at 7800 feet. There were lakes and rec areas etc up here. Staying on 65 north it went back down right next to Powderhorn ski area, then right before it joined I-70 it took me on a couple miles of sweeping deep canyon roads.

I-70 to Grand Junction to Colorado National Monument. More super twisty 15mph corners for 20 miles hugging the canyon rims with 1000 feet drop-offs. But being a national park means 25 or 35 mph speed limit, enforcement, and tourists. And this is where I camped for the night.

I was hoping to make it to Arches National Park but that didn't happen, so I will skip Utah tomorrow and make a beeline for Nevada and California. After all, California has the best roads in the nation!