Day 3 - Gunnison to Mt. Crested Butte

The "A" Group preparing to leave from Montrose

Tuesday morning we started out from our hotel in Telluride at about 6:30 am for a long drive to Montrose, where we dropped off a few riders who were planning on riding the whole stage to Mt. Crested Butte.  The majority of us opted to skip the first two big climbs and were dropped off at the top of the 2nd climb, still leaving us 70 miles of biking to the stage finish in Mt. Crested Butte.

Steve

The ride started with a fast descent on a very wide highway, with big sweeping turns that went alongside a reservoir for many miles.  It was brilliantly sunny, but the temperatures were cool, a huge difference from the desert rides of Saturday and Sunday.  It was a mostly flat ride through dry country, with a lunch stop alongside the road just before Gunnison..

The Garmin map & profile of the ride shows the beginning descent, the flat part and then the long, gradual incline to Crested Butte, with the final steep climb to the stage finish in Mt. Crested Butte.

Shortly after lunch, we turned left and headed north towards Crested Butte, and a bit up the road, to the stage finish.  More long flattish miles through open country with beautiful vistas, mountains & ridges in the distance.  By mid-afternoon it was hot and dry, and we just wanted to get to the finish!

Through the town of Crested Butte, the road climbed up quite a bit more steeply, until the final km across the finish line, a tough finish to a long day.  I arrived just as they were closing the road to the public, but managed to get this nice video of the last stretch and riding across the finish line.

The excitement was just starting.  After leaving the bikes in a valet parking area, I went up and met Louise at 150 meters before the finish line.  The riders were arriving in Crested Butte by then, so it was a short wait for them to arrive and flash by, with Tejay VanGarderen taking the win.  

A couple of minutes later he came riding back down, high-fiving the crowds alongside the street.

There was a big tent village set up below the finish line, with tents displaying bikes, clothing, equipment and gear, with a few food booths as well.  We were a bit too far away to see the podium ceremony, but we wandered around the village for a while & I bought the obligatory biking jersey (only one, so far).

Finally, we reclaimed our bikes and made the short but fast descent back to the Town of Crested Butte, where we checked into our hotel, changed and had a big group dinner.  It got quite cool during the evening, and we all turned in for some sleep before the big Wednesday ride to Aspen.