People Cycling Rides

Colorado’s Grand Valley and Monument.

This is a Approved Ride
Moderate
Ride Info
Join Us
Ride Leader
Jacquie Hawkins
Tour Dates
10/11/2023–10/18/2023
Start Location
Grand Junction, Colorado
End Location
Fruita, Colorado
Cost (est.)
$1250 (USD + $100.00 ride fee)
Deposit
$650 (USD
Payment Due
8/1/2023
Avg. Distance
35 mi / 56 km
Avg. Elevation
500 ft / 152 m
Ride Description

Come ride the Western Slope of Colorado!  The Grand Valley is the home to Colorado National Monument, Colorado’s famous Palisade peaches, and top-rated wineries. Colorado National Monument's Rim Rock Drive is one of the most spectacular bike rides in the United States. Red rock canyons, crisp blue skies, and verdant green juniper highlight the fantastic views along the road for bicyclists. Several overlooks give you a place to stop and take in the view. If you like climbing and fast descents, this will be your favorite ride.

Palisade is a quaint agricultural town filled with peach, apricot, and cherry orchards, as well as over 20 wineries. We will access this area from a series of bike paths along the Colorado River and low traffic country roads. Our route passes many winery tasting rooms which welcome cyclists. If you decide to purchase a special Colorado wine, no worries, we’ll take care of getting it back to your hotel. You won’t want to miss Slice O’ Life Bakery featuring Palisade-grown ingredients.

The ride is fixed-base split between Grand Junction and Fruita, Colorado. Each day we will recommend 2 different loop rides. Although the valley is relatively flat, a couple of the loops will climb into the Colorado National Monument which towers above the valley. We will have two opportunities to ride the Colorado National Monument - from Grand Junction climbing the east side, and from Fruita climbin… (Join People Cycling to read more)

Join People Cycling to read the full description, and even request to go on this ride (psst, it's free to join!)

People Cycling's Ride Rating

People Cycling has four categories for our rides – Easy, Moderate, Difficult, and Challenging. It should be somewhat obvious what these categories mean, but please become familiar with the elevations and distances that define them:

Easy
Easy rides are under 30mi/48km in average distance and 1600ft/500m in average elevation
Moderate
Moderate rides are over the Easy rating but under 50mi/80km and 2460ft/750m
Difficult
Difficult rides are as over the Moderate rating but under 75mi/120km and 3280/1000m
Challenging
Anything over the Difficult rating

NOTE: This is not a strict guideline. There could be rides that have a day or two where the average elevation or distance exceeds the values given above. These anomalies should be outlined in the ride description. It is recommended that you read it carefully.

About People Cycling

People Cycling is a bicycle touring club, which you can join for free. We offer Domestic and International Cycling Tours which are led by volunteer Ride Leaders. Our tours are made up of a small group of participants (typically 15-20 or so) who want to ride an average of 30 to 55 miles a day over a one or two week period in interesting regions of the world. Our tours range in price from frugal getaways to luxurious adventures. We travel road, gravel, or mountain bike styles, and all bicycle types – including e-bikes, recumbents, and tandems are typically allowed.

Our ride leaders are volunteers and do not financially profit on tours they lead. They are also given broad discretion on how to lead their tours, and we consider them our greatest asset.

People Cycling tours are operated at cost or at lower cost (as negotiated by our ride leaders) than individuals can obtain on commercial tours. Within the cost of a tour, there is a nominal fee to support club operations and provide tools to ride leaders to manage their rides.

What are you waiting for? Join today to see what bicycle adventure awaits you in our club.

A lifetime membership in People Cycling is absolutely FREE, so please join us and become one of us – we the people, cycling together.