By Lennard Zinn
Nick and I and Cleo, the Zinn Cycles shop dog, woke up on Saturday, October 7, 2023, to a cloudless and rapidly warming Colorado bluebird day at our campsite near the Little Book Cliffs. The Grand Mesa, the largest flat top mountain in the world, was bedecked that day with giant golden splotches of aspen trees in full fall foliage. It beckoned to us to cross the Colorado River and Interstate 70 and head south toward it. We did exactly that, on an idyllic gravel road.
At Roan Creek Cyclery, across the street from the Reckless Roadhouse in central Debeque, we met up with a crew of other riders to explore a gravel road heading directly toward those golden aspens. Some were customers of ours on Zinn or Clydesdale bikes and e-bikes. Once on V Road, we did not see another person, much less a motor vehicle. The gravel on V Road varied from smooth dirt to walnut-sized black gravel, so we were all glad to have at least 40mm tires on. The road weaves up and down along canyons, some lined with the kind of sandstone rock formations that part of western Colorado is famous for. After a glorious time spent on V Road, enjoying the views, the solitude, and the terrain, we crossed Plateau Creek and climbed up to the little town of Mesa on the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway for an ice cream in its warm and welcoming general store.
The return ride to Debeque on 45-1/2 Road features some nice climbs among red rock pinnacles and formations resembling teapots, followed by wonderful, sweeping descents on a perfect road surface with cars being a rarity. We rejoined Cleo at the Colorado River, where she was doing her favorite thing—playing in the water. A nice lunch on the outside seating adjacent Road Creek Cyclery was the fitting end to a beautiful 45-mile loop ride, close to half of which was on gravel.
