Day 2 - BTC - Ouray to Montrose, CO

Our plan is to go for the full 91 miles! We'll see...

June 23, 2008
60+ miles
Ouray to Montrose.

Getting into it! A fairly easy ride descending away from Ouray. Then to spice things up we loop to the entrance of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, climbing Jones Summit, 8,266'. From the entrance of the Canyon BTC cyclists may choose from two different options or choose to do both, or choose to cycle back to camp in Montrose. One option is coursing along South Rim Road, a seven mile ride in and seven mile out with turnouts that offer some amazing views of the Canyon. The other option is taking the East Portal Road, a seven mile descent, at 16% gradient, to the Canyon floor and seven mile climb, at 16%, back up to the rim - most likely the hardest climb in Colorado (what goes down must go up). Each option adds an additional 14 miles of Colorado cycling miles for a total of 28 extra miles to make it a 91 mile day.