The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Tour of the Moon and Beyond

June 2nd to June 9th

Ride Director: Huey Hurst
Ride Co-Director: Twain Berg
Report by: Les Schmertzler

The Tour Of The Moon bike ride was June 2-9, 2024. The ride leaders were Huey Hurst and Twain Berg. This BAC ride was named after a yearly bike race in the Colorado National Monument (CNM). Our bike ride was centered out of Grand Junction (GJ) Colorado in western Colorado. GJ sits in the floodplain of the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers. It is surrounded in the west by the sandstone layers of the CNM and the east by the basalt capped Grand Mesa which is the largest flat top mountain in the world.

Our ride leaders providing many ride options with great maps. They were great about adjusting as situations changed. There were four regions to ride with the ability to adjust for distance and challenge as well as scenery. There were scenic and gentler rides in the Valley. There were multiple options into the CNM and around it. There were rides centered around the Grand Mesa. There were rides behind the CNM out toward Utah.
The first day our group decided to start with a gentler ride together and went to the town of Palisades known as the Peach Capital of Colorado. It is named for the cliffs near the town center and is on the north side of the Colorado River and east of GJ.  Subsequent days people tended to go in smaller groups. During our tour the roadway in the CNM was being repaved and this was not known in advance.  Huey and Twain adjusted ways to get around this with options entering the CNM from the west or Fruita entrance and the east or the GJ entrance. The Fruita side was less steep and had more of the well know rock formations. The GJ entrance was steeper and perhaps more dramatic. The visitors center was filled with interesting information about the geology, flora and fauna and the history of the building of the road into the monument. 
The other ride in the Valley was on a bike path along the Colorado River from GJ to Fruita. This included cycling in the farm land around Fruita. The Colorado River was peaking from snow run off and the bike path had a couple areas under water and we had to create a short diverted route. Perhaps pontoon tires would have helped. The Hot Tomato Pizza restaurant in Fruita had very good food and many of us had a delightful lunch there.
The rides on the Grand Mesa required a remote start. The top of the Mesa is at about 10.800 feet. There was snow at the top and lakes and ponds from snow melt and the temperature was in the 60s. Some of us took advantage of that when the temperature in GJ reached 100 degrees. The views of the surrounding area were spectacular from the Mesa.
Our hotel was on Main Street in GJ. This street was developed with many restaurants and shops and many people walking and shopping. There were sculptures up and down the street. Several of us took the opportunity to be playful “interacting” with the art work. We had three group dinners. The first was at a brew pub with very good food and afforded a nice opportunity for meeting each other. Our last dinner was at Spoons Bistro and Bakery. The food was very good and the setting good for us to get together. The restaurant donated profits to the local hospice. Us older folks appreciated that.
To sum it up this bike ride was well planned, absolutely beautiful, challenging, relaxing, varied and definitely worth doing.