Rose Pedals . . .: A Trip Down Brontosaurus Boulevard

Friday, September 12, 2014
Vernal, Utah to Rangley, Colorado
57 miles
2,177 ft. of climbing

Today was sort of a "recovery" ride of only 57 miles, with only 2,000 feet of climbing, which was much-appreciated after the strenuous ride we did yesterday. It was sunny all day, but the air stayed very cool; the temperature was only in the low 60's while we were at altitude, but warmed up a little as we dropped down into Rangely. It was a very pleasant ride. At mile 33, we crossed the state line into Colorado, where, incidentally, marijuana for recreational use is legal under certain circumstances (see Colorado Amendment 64). We then rode into the town of Dinosaur, which, as you might imagine, is dinosaur-themed. For example, several of the streets are named after types of dinosaurs. We rode into town on Brontosaurus Boulevard, off of which are Stegosaurus Freeway, Ceratosaurus Circle, Tyranosaurus Street and Allosaurus Lane. I'm not kidding. The town of Dinosaur is also home to the Dinosaur National Monument, a beautiful national park where visitors can hike, camp, go river rafting and see petroglyphs and dinosaur fossils. Art & I, and several other riders, took a side trip into the park and rode around to see some of the sights. From there, it was a quick, mostly downhill trip into Rangely. We arrived in Rangely about 1:00 and, because it was a short day, PAC Tour served us lunch there in the city park. It was nice to have some down-time to do laundry and relax. Ed & I played a couple of games of Scrabble. He won both games and promised me a rematch. At 7 p.m., we gathered for a PAC Tour ice cream social. What a great day; I got to ride my bike, play scrabble, and eat ice cream - three of my favorite things!