Originally Posted by
Wildwood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The
Grand Mesa is a large
mesa in western
Colorado in the
United States. It is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world.
[1] It has an area of about 500 square miles (1,300 km2) and stretches for about 40 miles (60 km) east of
Grand Junction between the
Colorado River and the
Gunnison River, its tributary to the south. The north side of the mesa is drained largely by
Plateau Creek, a smaller tributary of the Colorado. The west side is drained largely by
Kannah Creek, which is received to the west by the lower Gunnison River. The mesa rises about 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above the surrounding river valleys, including the
Grand Valley to the west, reaching an elevation of about 11,000 feet (3,400 m). Much of the mesa is within
Grand Mesa National Forest. Over 300 lakes, including many reservoirs created and used for drinking and irrigation water, are scattered along the top of the formation. The Grand Mesa is flat in some areas, but quite rugged in others.
a stretch if you're centering in on grand junction, co but have at it if you wanna. durango. cortez. telluride. silverton. aspen. otherwise, you'll be fine not going much higher than 5k.
the best advice will be the accumulated miles and the form after riding down from seattle. should be in pretty decent shape where altitude in the 5-6k range isn't formidable/even noticeable.
if you're poaching 10k altitude territory, that's completely different training/territory. everyone experiences altitude differently tho.