Day 3 Preview: Delta --> Ouray

The third day of Ride the Rockies will be a lot easier than the previous day over Grand Mesa. We'll start in Delta, CO and ride 66.6 miles up into Ouray, CO. The route profile posted by the Tour Director says we'll start out on some country roads that will be rough. I'm just looking forward to an easy day of riding after two hard days. The route is mostly uphill but we will only climb 3,235 feet on the way to Ouray (click for a larger version):

The first 30 miles will be on small country roads and then we'll pull into Montrose. From there it's a straight shot up into Ouray, CO. As we leave Montrose we'll be treated to views of the San Juan mountains and Uncompahgre National Forest. It will likely be hot day so I'm sure a stop at on eof the ice cream shops in Montrose will be a nice break. As we approach Ouray the valley will narrow and the road will steepen. After going through the narrowest part of the valley, we'll pull into Ouray:

cc photo by flickr user maryn0503

I'm looking forward to spending time in the hot springs in Ouray and resting my legs for the next day's ride to Durango!

Update: I forgot to include the link to the MapMyRide profile for the stage. The last six miles on the google earth 3d tour looks pretty awesome. Going to be a beautiful ride.