Grand Junction to Arches Nat. Park?

I'm planning a trip out to Grand Junction, CO in September. I'm
planning on doing some day rides out of G.J. thru Colorado Nat.
Monument and also a trip over to Moab and back. I'm wondering what the
road is like between Grand Junction and Moab. I'm planning on taking
Interstate 70 to road 128 and then follow 128 down to Moab. Does
anybody know if Interstate 70 has a shoulder?

Also, what are the weather conditions in mid to late September?

By the way, I'm doing the ride on a road bike.

Thanks,
Ted

I'm planning a trip out to Grand Junction, CO in September. I'm
planning on doing some day rides out of G.J. thru Colorado Nat.
Monument and also a trip over to Moab and back. I'm wondering what the
road is like between Grand Junction and Moab. I'm planning on taking
Interstate 70 to road 128 and then follow 128 down to Moab. Does
anybody know if Interstate 70 has a shoulder?

I-70 has a shoulder. My Colorado bicycle map says 4 feet, but from a
drive along that stretch a week ago I seem to remember it at least
twice as wide as that.

There was road construction in Utah, a few miles before the Cisco
exit. 128 is a beautiful scenic and sometimes winding road. Not much
shoulders on it, so hopefully you'll catch a time without much
traffic.

Also, what are the weather conditions in mid to late September?

Here is the URL from weather.com for Moab:
http://www.weather.com/activities/ot...v_unde clared

Looks like September can get plenty warm, but averages at least 10F
cooler than August. Bring enough water, this isn't a place you want
to run out...

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

Thanks for the info. It sounds like it should be rideable. From the
weather averages it looks like maybe October would be even better. I
hope to find less traffic out there in the fall, especially after Labor
Day.

Ted

Mike Vermeulen wrote:
I'm planning a trip out to Grand Junction, CO in September. I'm
planning on doing some day rides out of G.J. thru Colorado Nat.
Monument and also a trip over to Moab and back. I'm wondering what the
road is like between Grand Junction and Moab. I'm planning on taking
Interstate 70 to road 128 and then follow 128 down to Moab. Does
anybody know if Interstate 70 has a shoulder?

I-70 has a shoulder. My Colorado bicycle map says 4 feet, but from a
drive along that stretch a week ago I seem to remember it at least
twice as wide as that.

There was road construction in Utah, a few miles before the Cisco
exit. 128 is a beautiful scenic and sometimes winding road. Not much
shoulders on it, so hopefully you'll catch a time without much
traffic.

Also, what are the weather conditions in mid to late September?

Here is the URL from weather.com for Moab:
http://www.weather.com/activities/ot...v_unde clared

Looks like September can get plenty warm, but averages at least 10F
cooler than August. Bring enough water, this isn't a place you want
to run out...

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

Ted wrote:

I'm planning a trip out to Grand Junction, CO in September. I'm
planning on doing some day rides out of G.J. thru Colorado Nat.
Monument and also a trip over to Moab and back. I'm wondering what the
road is like between Grand Junction and Moab. I'm planning on taking
Interstate 70 to road 128 and then follow 128 down to Moab. Does
anybody know if Interstate 70 has a shoulder?

Also, what are the weather conditions in mid to late September?

By the way, I'm doing the ride on a road bike.

Thanks,
Ted



Mike has given you good info already. Just wanted to add that 128 is one
of my favorite roads. I've only driven on it, but every time I do I feel
like I'm lost in an old Twilight Zone episode about astronauts that
think they've landed on another planet (and are actually still on Earth).

Once you get to the Colorado river the scenery becomes awesome, ...
breathtaking.

Yes, make sure you have plenty of water. There will be very light
traffic along 128, though (in case you need any help), and there are
some ranches along the way.

I would love to ride this road some day.

There are a few rolling hills that are steep enough to present a hazard
(drivers can't see what's over them, and some people drive fast on this
desolate road, .... so be careful near the top of the "humps").

I wish I had already scanned some of my old photos from this road
(digital cameras have made me lazy. I hate scanning now). I've been
traveling on it since before they replaced the old single lane bridge
where you cross the river. You'll see it, I'm sure. It's abandoned now,
but was a classic.

Here's an artistic rendition of Fisher Towers. You'll easily recognize
it (about when you cross the river).
http://www.alpineworld.com/gallery/w...lor/fisher.htm

Be sure to get off I70 at the first exit (marked exit 212 on my Rand
McNally), or you'll have to double back at the second exit (202).

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://www.CycleTourist.com
Integrity is obvious.
The lack of it is common.
*****************************

Ted wrote:
I'm planning a trip out to Grand Junction, CO in September. I'm
planning on doing some day rides out of G.J. thru Colorado Nat.
Monument and also a trip over to Moab and back. I'm wondering what the
road is like between Grand Junction and Moab. I'm planning on taking
Interstate 70 to road 128 and then follow 128 down to Moab. Does
anybody know if Interstate 70 has a shoulder?

I-70 in that area is kind of an ugly road. Scenery, nil on the Utah
side of the line, lots of long hills, drivers going like winged mammals
from the infernal realm. Get a rear-view mirror and wear hi-vis clothing.
Nary a drop of water when you're away from the Colorado River. Also,
according to very prominent signs by the road, there is a possibility of
very nasty sand/duststorms.

SR-128,though, is stunning.

Good luck, and be careful,
Bill

__o | Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live.
_`\(,_ |
(_)/ (_) | -? Mark Twain

All of my riding on 128 has been close to Moab. Yes, it's freakin
beautiful country. But in my IME, it's a narrow, twisty, unsafe road
with no useable shoulder. The only good thing about it is drivers are
very used to seeing bikes on it.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young soldiers to
a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning
them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it
could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater
instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 13:49:48 -0600, Chuck Anderson
wrote:


Be sure to get off I70 at the first exit (marked exit 212 on my Rand
McNally), or you'll have to double back at the second exit (202).

Good suggestion. If you wait until Exit 202, you'll miss Cisco! ;-)


jeverett3ATearthlinkDOTnet http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

Ted wrote:
I'm planning a trip out to Grand Junction, CO in September. I'm
planning on doing some day rides out of G.J. thru Colorado Nat.
Monument and also a trip over to Moab and back. I'm wondering what the
road is like between Grand Junction and Moab. I'm planning on taking
Interstate 70 to road 128 and then follow 128 down to Moab. Does
anybody know if Interstate 70 has a shoulder?

Also, what are the weather conditions in mid to late September?

By the way, I'm doing the ride on a road bike.

Thanks,
Ted


How about S. on 550 to Ridgway, W. on 62 to Placerville, and across that
way?

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado
remove "mydebt" to reply

"Anyone who isn't confused really doesn't understand the situation."
Edward R. Murrow

I wish I had the time to go riding across the mountains of Colorado and
then over to Arches, but I won't have the time to do it. I'll only have
1 weekend to go over to Arches and then back to Grand Junction. Oh
well, a short visit is much better than no visit at all!

Hi Craig, I remembered your name from last year when I was asking about
CR 250 out of Durango heading north. It turned out to be a great way to
go, I thought much better than going on Hwy 550. At least once you come
back out onto Hwy 550 you're far enough away from Durango so that the
traffic isn't bad. The scenery was also great! I ended up having a
great trip around the San Juan Skyway loop.

Ted

Chuck Anderson wrote:

Ted wrote:



Aha, the same Ted, I see ( DIA to Boulder)

I'm planning a trip out to Grand Junction, CO in September. I'm
planning on doing some day rides out of G.J. thru Colorado Nat.
Monument and also a trip over to Moab and back. I'm wondering what the
road is like between Grand Junction and Moab. I'm planning on taking
Interstate 70 to road 128 and then follow 128 down to Moab. Does
anybody know if Interstate 70 has a shoulder?

Also, what are the weather conditions in mid to late September?

By the way, I'm doing the ride on a road bike.

Mike has given you good info already. Just wanted to add that 128 is one
of my favorite roads. I've only driven on it, but every time I do I feel
like I'm lost in an old Twilight Zone episode about astronauts that
think they've landed on another planet (and are actually still on Earth).

Once you get to the Colorado river the scenery becomes awesome, ...
breathtaking.

Yes, make sure you have plenty of water. There will be very light
traffic along 128, though (in case you need any help), and there are
some ranches along the way.

I would love to ride this road some day.

There are a few rolling hills that are steep enough to present a hazard
(drivers can't see what's over them, and some people drive fast on this
desolate road, .... so be careful near the top of the "humps").

I wish I had already scanned some of my old photos from this road
(digital cameras have made me lazy. I hate scanning now).


I finally got around to scanning in some*old* photos I took on highway
128. That was back in the days when I drove my truck everywhere -
before I discovered bicycle touring.

I wanted to get some of these photos scanned in at some point anyway -
and the old single lane bridge is a bit of history now.

The quality is pretty bad on some of them, but I think you'll get the
picture (ô¿Ô¬ D'oh!).
http://cycletourist.com/highway128

I should also add that the road is probably all in better shape now, too..

The photos jump from near the river on 128 to 50 miles south of Moab at
my favorite (secret) camping spot on BLM land near the Needles Overlook.

(Btw, the photo "package" is from a gallery making script I wrote - and
am still developing - with Php.)

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://www.CycleTourist.com
Integrity is obvious.
The lack of it is common.
*****************************