Both Meeker and Rangely have a little over 2000 residents. However, Rangely seems much more empty and with fewer businesses like restaurants. Instead Rangely seems to have more of an isolated perspective.t

Today my route took me from Meeker to Rangely following the White River valley downhill. In total I dropped ~1000ft. There were occasional slight uphills and one mile of a longer climb. However, overall it was an easy ride and the weather continued to cooperate. There weren’t any stopping points in between. A number of side-dump trucks passed but otherwise there wasn’t a lot of traffic.

After a good breakfast at the motel, I was underway. It was just slightly warmer than yesterday. After three miles I turned onto CO 64 which I would follow for the rest of the day.

Here is route 64 starting out. I had seen signs of road construction yesterday. The repaving project appears to be complete so the first eight miles were like this with new smooth asphalt. After that, there was one spot where a bridge was under construction but the detour was quick enough so not an issue. The mystery for me was these side-dump trucks kept passing. I was trying to figure out where they were going but didn’t ever see a turn off. Eventually they stopped passing, I’m not sure where.

This was a good sign. It looks like all the extra cones and “one lane road ahead” signs had been gathered up so I didn’t have any of that on the road.

Commemorative sign for the Meeker Massacre.

Sometimes the canyon was narrower and had a few more little hills to go up and down, but this is a good example of one of the very flat and wide open sections.

A lot of these plants along the way.

A little closer to Rangely, here the road more closely follows the river.

Getting close, this is Kenney Reservoir.

The reservoir was a nice excuse for a lunch break. Stopped by the picnic tables.

From here the last few miles were past the airport and then into Rangely. I had picked a restaurant but as I passed, it seemed to be missing. The next cafe was about to close. A Mexican restaurant was closed and another restaurant was for sale. After this, I definitely got the idea of Rangely as a mostly quiet place without much commerce. I did find a grocery/hardware store. Half the aisles were hardware and the other half was a small section of groceries. Enough to get some things for dinner.

Overall, a nice ride today and a chance to see Rangely where I hadn’t been before. The town does have Colorado Northwestern Community College on the other end of town. Time for a quiet afternoon in the quiet town of Rangely.

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