Mexican Hat, UT to Cortez, CO 104 miles
The beginning portion of today's ride continued through the spectacular Monument Valley. Some of the rock formations appear to defy the laws of physics and are truly baffling on how they maintain their position. The early morning sun helped accentuate the colors of the different layers displayed on the formations. Within an hour and a half, the beauty was a distant past and it was back to the nondescript landscape but with a lot of large rolling hills. To compound the situation, we faced a steady headwind. At the 60 mile mark, we crossed into Colorado. At 104 miles, we reached our hotel in Cortez, CO. Some of the riders stated they thought today's ride was the hardest to date and I attend to agree. This was my first back to back century rides. Tomorrow it is a short 44 mile ride to Durango where we will have an opportunity to regroup and enjoy this quaint mountain town.