Escalante to Boulder

Miles today: 29.02
Average speed: 7.60 mph
Max speed: 46.09 mph

Total miles: 1,002.19!!!!!

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the sunlight against my tent wall. Sung had talked about the “magic hour”, which is the hour after the sun starts coming up, and the hour before it sets. That’s when the light makes everything golden. This is one of those times that’s hard to explain, but this is what I looked at and smiled at when I woke up.

We had a light breakfast at the Escalante Outfitters, then got on the road knowing there was some climbing in our future. Not too far out of town, we stumbled across Angel and Lionel, who are working to cover all seven continents on their crazy/fascinating half-recumbent tandem bicycle.

I really wish I spoke French. At least I was able to wish them ‘bon voyage’ and ‘au revoir’. If you know more French than I do, you should check out their blog, Frog Tandem.

Seeing them do this trip makes me want to try another country after this one.. Fortunately, it seems there are a lot of countries out there much smaller than the US.

I like to stop at the little placards that show up in pull-offs and turn-outs, and this particular one was funny to me. I guess the Mormons dragged their horses and carts up and down 25-45% grades, and blasted their own path into a mountain (hence Hole-in-the-Rock).

We were grappling with a bit of a cross-wind as we rode, which caused the grass to bend in toward the road. I would like to think that this grass is bowing down to me, in purple capped splendor, as I ride past. How regal.

The other day I discovered that it is amusing to try and take pictures in my rear-view mirror. Just remember, objects are larger than they appear in my rear-view mirror.

I would like to start giving people a nickel for every time they correctly guess what has happened to me on a long list of predictable Abbi behaviors… because you all know by now that I either ate breakfast, saw a hill and thought it was dumb, met cyclists, got a flat, or set up camp somewhere. First, here are some really gorgeous flowers.

If you guessed that I got a flat, I guess I owe you a nickel.

Flats have been caused by many things, like tiny thorns the size of a molecule. Tiny shards of volcanic rock the size of… a molecule. Tiny pieces of wire. Seriously, a molecule is way too small to have feasibly caused a leaking tube. Yet somehow, tiny things cause me to get flats. This time, the culprit was one of these.

Yes, dear reader, the universe DID think it would be funny for one of these to stick in my finger while I was fixing a flat caused by the same stinking type of thorn. Ha, ha, ha. Universe, you are just hilarious.

So I pulled that thorn out, I pulled the other thorn out, and I fixed the flat, and then we kept climbing up stupid hills.

Fortunately, the tops of hills are still amazing to me. I don’t think I will ever stop being amazed by what’s at the top.

In addition to a really nice view, I found people! From the East coast! They gave me their number, and I am to call them when I get to Virginia. Unfortunately, I left the paper in my fanny pack, and it’s raining outside, and I may not remember to add their names to this entry.

 

You probably have not been riding on a heavy-laden bicycle for a month, so my sense of humor may have departed greatly from yours, but this picture strikes me as very funny.

 

If we are facebook friends, you will have seen a video in which I speak of this Glorious Descent. The road you see snaking its way down is the one Sung and I were about to ride on. Woo hoo!

 

On the way down, I stopped to look at this rock, which split apart in a neat way.

 

Alas, the fact that the road is flat-ish here means that more climbing will ensue. Fun must end sometime, right?

 

At least it’s still SO gorgeous.

 

And hot. So, predictably, when I heard the sound of the stream, I slammed on the brakes and took off my shoes and socks. The water was cold and clear, and there was a bridge for shade.

 

Not long after we left the stream to its devices, we discovered a couple fixing a flat tire on their new car. Bummer. They got lucky, though, because Sung is super strong and jumped right in to fix it.

 

I was able to feel their pain, and got nervous about my own tires as prickly things made themselves known to me on the side of the road.

 

Luckily, I didn’t get any more flats, and needed only contend with the climbing. Oh, the climbing. 

 

There were many scary turns, where I listened carefully for a car before inching my way around. It was easy to inch my way around, as I was climbing at, on average, about 3.8 mph. There wasn’t much shade to be found, so Sung and I stopped in every shady spot we could find.

 

I have been thinking about climbing up things for quite some time, and have been doing a kind of climbing of which I am not fond for so long, that I decided to do the climbing I DO like.

 

Yes, I climbed in my cycling shoes. Once I got back down, I noticed that my mirror was making a spot on the rocks.

Just like every time, I bemoan that I must climb and climb and climb, but find that my breath is taken away by what I get to see at the top.

I guess I should elaborate on this climbing a little bit. It was the most hellish climbing I have done to date. A lot of the time, I felt like my legs were going to fall clear off of my body. Other times, I ended up walking my bike. I also felt like crying a lot. When we got to the top, Sung told me to look behind me. I thought maybe that there was a cow, or a sheep, or a goat, or something I would be interested in back there.

Nope, that’s a sign for the 14% grade we just climbed for hours and hours. Suddenly, I understood why I felt like death, and why I actually rolled *backwards* at one point.

We were both hungry, so we stopped to have a meal of some sort. I went to a rock to gather my thoughts, and Sung came to offer me a cookie, and point out that a snake was right by me.

 

We aren’t sure whether it was a rattlesnake or a diamondback, but either way, I should have looked around me better. Shady spot cut short, we continued on our way. Luckily, there was a sign to point us in the right direction. I love when there is a sign with the name of the place I am going on it, because that means I am close enough for it to  be feasible for me to get there.

 

I also love looking downhill when that is the direction I am going.

 

Even better than a sign pointing the way to a city is a sign that says, “you’re here!”

Sung and I both needed showers,  so we rode clear across town, passing two “no vacancy” signs. Finally we found a place with an opening, and were happy to get off of our bikes and relax.

 

After some self-care, we realized we were hungry and had been explicitly told not to cook in the room. So we walked back down the way we came, in search of good food.

 

In the meantime, I found the makings of a good sunset.

 

Then I found llamas. They were rude, and spat, and I loved it.

 

I climbed down a hill to visit this horse, who sniffed me and then tried to eat my hand. He didn’t succeed, and I was overjoyed.

 

We were startled by this thing, which appears to be a poncho with cow bones stuck to it. Super strange. Also, super creepy at dusk.

 

The, finally, at the end of the road and then some, we found RESTAURANT, half-buried in a giant pile of christmas lights.

 

Our waitress was awesome, and I had Cajun Blueberry pie for dessert (read: cream pie with pecan-lined crust, blueberries within and pecans on top (read: heavenly)).

When we left the restaurant, it was just the right amount of dark and chilly for a brisk and starry walk back. Boulder treated us well, and I went to sleep feeling grateful that my body had held up to the 14% grades.

I am really proud of myself for not keeling over.

 

Bryce Canyon to Escalante

Miles today: 49.90
Average speed: 10.93
Max speed: 42.27

Total miles: 973.17

When my alarm went off, it was way too cold to remove my arms from my sleeping bag to gather my clothes, much less attempt to remove myself from the sleeping bag after expending energy dressing myself inside a mummy sack, so I went ahead and stayed in the sleeping bag until it was light.

Once the sun started warming the earth, it ended up looking like it would be a good day to, you know, be outside and stuff.

I took time to chat with Cher, who I had met the night before. She’s a traveling nurse who tries to do something adventurous or interesting, or at least productive in some way, wherever she happens to have been sent. Once we chatted a little, I found out that she is from Saint Louis Park, which is a neighbor to the suburb I grew up in. No wonder we got along so well.

Cher is camping by herself, which her daughter thinks is dangerous. I’m pretty dang proud of her, though. It takes guts to go and do a thing alone, especially in the middle of the woods. Go, Cher!

Once Sung and I made back out to the main highway, we got ready for some awesome riding.

The first sign that there will be awesome riding is the truck on a triangle sign.

 

We played truck-on-a-triangle for two miles, and saw some gorgeous rocks along the way.

After the gorgeous rocks, we saw cyclists! Michelle and Nick were headed up the hill toward Bryce Canyon, and informed us that we would encounter two other cyclists further down the road.

The rocks got more amazing, if you can even imagine it…

 

Then we stopped at a place called Mossy Cave. I had yet to discover just why it was called Mossy Cave, but the trail was only a half mile long, so Sung and I decided to check it out. The hike was delightful.

The mossy cave was even more delightful. It was this neat cave where the water that forms the stream in the previous picture simply drips down from the ceiling. I may or may not have slithered through a railing to get IN the cave.

 

The cave remined me very much of a fair forest, only it wasn’t a forest. I sort of wanted to live in there, only there was water dripping on me. So I left.

Like I said, it was really pretty. I couldn’t get enough of the hoodoos (those are the sticky-uppy rocks).

 

All goo things must come to an end, though, and we hadn’t had breakfast yet, so on we rode into the little town of Tropic.

 

 

They were already on the lunch menu, so I had to settle for bacon on a burger instead of breakfast. As soon as we got out of the restaurant, we found more cyclists.

Gary and Nan are on a huge endeavor that will take them all over the place–they are headed into Central and South America next. Man oh man. I’m impressed by the things I see.

After lunch, it was time to start climbing again. We started with this dumb hill that happens to crest in this really un-dumb gap.

 

The next big milestone (or maybe it was just the next sign for me to take a picture of) was the Grand Staircase… which is sort of exactly like it sounds. Except that with stairs, there is a flat surface, and then a steep surface. Once we started climbing, I didn’t see much in the way of flat. Before we tackle that problem, though, here are some pretty pictures.

 

 

Also, we found a “river”. It is much smaller than it appears that it should be. Regardless, I took off my shoes for a while and waded in the water. This is one of my favorite ways to take a break.

 

After a brief encounter in which I didn’t want to return to the road because there were bees sniffing flowers, we got on our bikes and climbed again.

 

Then we hit another nameless Utah summit. I give up on naming these suckers, because some of them are called “unmarked summit” and they are actually marked, others have names but are not marked… So I will call this one Summit.

 

We were provided great view by Summit.

 

The road flattened out after a nice descent which is always great. The clouds were amazing this day, so excuse the fact that I repeatedly took road pictures with the amazing sky in them.

 

The ride into Escalante required a bit of climbing, but we were rewarded with TWO Escalante signs, the second of which is in the background near Sung.

 

We found this really cool place that makes water wheel fountains, and spent a good amount of time just watching them go around and around.

 

We then went into a little place called Escalante Outfitters, thinking they might have Gatorade. They didn’t, but they did have an awesome owner named Steve, who was very interested in our bike trips and let us camp in the campground! We had AWESOME dinner at this place, too. I had a huge calzone, made from scratch, and Sung had a pizza, also from scratch. This is Steve and Sarah, our server for dinner.

 

I have to interject here (I know, I’m the only one talking) and say that Steve was amazingly accommodating, the showers were hot and delightful, and his restaurant and shop are full of good things. I also have to say that I am safe, Steve, and I’m sorry I haven’t been keeping up on the blog, but you were great, and thank you for calling to check in with me.

I washed my laundry in the shower, and used the complimentary laundry drying rack.

 

Oh, and at dinner I repaired Sung’s pannier, which had ripped. I will make a note that mine have not ripped, and for this I am quite proud. I am also happy that I was able to pay Sung back for his bike-ly knowledge with my own homemaker-ly knowledge.

I’ve said it many a time, but I am amazed at the end of every day when there are a zillion stars, and the air gets cool just as quickly as it got hot during the day, and I am able to listen to a small town falling asleep. Sung and I did some route planning, and I snuggled up for another night’s sleep in the tent.

 

 

Panguitch Lake to Bryce Canyon

Miles today: 46.9
Average speed: 9.97
Max speed: 37.27

Total miles: 923.27

After possibly the most physically demanding day of the trip, which also happened to be possibly the most emotionally fulfilling, I enjoyed breakfast with the guys. All seven of them. I felt a little like Snow White, seated at the head of the table, except that there wasn’t a Grumpy, Dopey or a Sleepy (okay, fine, we were all sleepy) among us.

Once we had all had our fill of breakfast, we headed back up the steep driveway to finish packing.
I found it fascinating just how much bike maintenance these gentlemen managed to perform. I will gladly grease my chain if I am feeling like it on a particular day, but I almost refuse to overturn my bicycle. Sung and I watched with mixed amusement and curiosity at what was unfolding in front of us.

In hindsight, I’m wondering whether I should take a lesson from these guys. Maybe I’ll flip my bike on its head one of these days… Maybe.
Panguitch Lake was looking lovely, and the air was the perfect amount of crisp.

In a fashion similar to that of a big family preparing for a road trip to, say, the Grand Canyon, Sung and I struggled to wrangle my cabinmates for a pre-trip family photo in front of the house. I will remember these guys for quite a while.

Jon left a gummy bear behind, so the Duck Inn cabin now has a permanent stoop gargoyle. Until he gets eaten, at least.

We were able to head out shortly after, excited to do anything but climb the way we had climbed the day before. Again, I felt the warm fuzzies and amazement at watching seven other bikers set out with me.

As we rode, Mike told me about the rock formations, and how they came to be.

We hit a long stretch of smooth downhill, and it was a very welcome change to fly at a moderate pace, instead of either crawling up a grueling hill or flying at breakneck speeds down it.

 

Finally we hit the town of Panguitch, where some of the guys were going to head off to Hatch, their destination for the night.

The others were headed to Bryce Canyon to check it out for the day.
So I gazed upon the glorious big group for the last time. It was really empowering for me to ride with them, both because I realized that distraction is key when climbing big hills, and that encouragement from another person is priceless.
Once Herb, Kent, Kevin, Sung and I got on the road to Bryce, I started realizing that I had gone with the faster group, and I have done absolutely nothing to earn membership in that group. At first we stuck together, entertained by things on the road, like hay-bale animals.

Eventually, Sung and I dropped back from the group, and met up again at the corner where we all turned to head toward Bryce.

As we rode, a car pulled off the road in front of us. It was Kevin’s family!

We all visited a while, and then Sung and I gave the fast guys permission to be fast without us. Again, our group was split up into smaller pieces.
We rode, stopped at a little shop, and continued on down the road until the entrance to Red Canyon, in the Dixie national forest.

This was another amazing, awesome, breathtaking place.. So yet again, I’m going to let the pictures tell you what’s up.

We were very lucky to have a bike path, which kept us off the straight, evenly graded uphill road. Our awesome, up-and-down, extra curvy bike path even came equipped with a bridge.

Apparently we were climbing toward a summit. I’m pretty sure it didn’t feel or look like a summit, but hey! Check it out! A completely boring and flat summit.

I guess it was mildly interesting because the elevation is 7777. By ‘it was mildly interesting’, I actually mean that I shrieked with excitement.

We re-fueled with some beef jerky and chocolate milk and stuff at a gas station, and kept chugging. We passed an exotic animal museum, a whole lost of cars… And we stumbled across Kevin, who was the sole survivor of the Bryce Canyon mission after Kent and Herb decided to view exotic animals instead. I knew I should’ve thought twice about that museum… taxidermied exotic animals posed in their natural surroundings vs. rocks? Uhh, duh.

Unfortunately, we had long since passed the museum, and before too long, we hit our goal for the day.

 

There was a visitor’s center with a gift shop and restrooms (you’d be excited if you carried three water bottles, one or two bottles of gatorade and up to three liters of extra water), and we discovered that it also had a little museum/gallery.

The only things I really learned were that I have to climb more mountains, there are lots of rocks out there, and the clean air at Bryce Canyon is supposedly “out of order”.

Somehow this seems like a clever cover-up for a bigger problem. Pollution, or dust storms, or excessively gassy campers… I’m on to these folks.

The other thing I took away from the visitor’s center was a horse ride.

 

The gift shop was full of informational resources and kitschy souvenirs, like magnets and postcards and guidebooks and maps, and this book.

 

We also stumbled across a crossing in which the prairie dogs go from the left side to the right side, and the equestrians from the right to the left. I liked that there was a prairie dog crossing in the first place.

 

Once we finally found the campground and a campsite, it was time to find food. Sung knows many things that I do not about National Parks and Their Fancy Campgrounds, like that most every National Park and Fancy Campground also has a Fancy Lodge and Attached Fancy Restaurant.

This particular Attached Fancy Restaurant came with an awesome server named Angel from California (he was hilarious, and rolled with the punches like a champ), and a great Wait Assistant named Jesse from Washington (who refilled our water and soda with gusto, brought us more bread like he was born to do it, and generally put a smile on my face). It also happened to come with a huge bowl of pasta with shrimp in it and a brownie a la mode.

The brownie was hot, the ice cream was cold, the chocolate hit all the right spots, and eating ice cream did absolutely NOTHING for me when we attempted to complete the ride back to camp in the cold night.

The stars were amazing, and I think I made out five or six constellations before disappearing into my tent and passing out. Yet another amazing day.

 

 

Cedar City to Panguitch Lake

Miles today: 41.22
Average speed: 7.29
Max speed: 43.51

Total miles: 876.37

It was yet another beautiful morning in Cedar city. Breakfast was at the same place as the day before, but this time a little less ridiculously portioned.

As Sung and I sat at the table, we bemoaned the elevation profile’s depiction of what was on the day’s docket.

We were to climb 4,500 feet within the first 18 or so miles… If we made it there. It’s fascinating to see how slowly I put sunscreen on when I know I have to climb all day.
Town looked nice as we left it.. Perhaps too nice to leave. But leave we did.

As soon as we were beyond town, we saw our first omen.

An 8% grade is SUPER fun to go down, but going up it is just not fun. We kept pedaling, knowing it was going to get harder. Fortunately, the scenery was amazing.

The rocks rose up on either side of the road, making for a fantastic distraction from the climbing taking place. Even more fantastic a distraction was the creek I spied. Obviously, I had to stop and get my feet wet.

The creek disappeared around a bend, and you can see where erosion exposed the layers of rock.

Climbing didn’t seem THAT horrible, with all of the amazing views.

Imagine, if you will, that you were riding along, and that an undefined number of loaded bikes were puttering along ahead of you, some un-catchable distance away.
This is how we rode for quite some time, having seen slow-moving spots in the distance with the tell-tale brighty colored B.O.B trailer flags waving behind them. But alas, they were always up, around some corner, seeing every gorgeous view before we did.

As we entered a construction zone, we saw them. Taking a rest. And we kept approaching. We were catching the cyclists!! I hollered out when I was within hollering distance, and not too shortly after, we caught up.

It was Jon, Mike and Dennis (from left to right). They informed us that there were three more cyclists behind us, who had gotten a later start than they.
They were thoughtful enough to take a picture of me and Sung while we rested and got to know each other a little.

As was standard, the view was spectacular.

When we got rolling again, it was in a line of five. Five cyclists in a row! It felt awesome.

Further up the road, we stopped to have some lunch, and wait for the rest of the guys. I climbed up a little trail, and got a higher-up view of the road, and shortly after I came back down, some more bikes showed up. Herb and Kevin were first, and Kent showed up not far behind.

After another while of resting, all EIGHT of us got back on the road. The group eventually broke off due to some quick bikers and some comfortable bikers. I enjoy a good long look at things, and I’m not made of superhuman muscles, so I stayed comfortable. As comfortable as one can be while climbing steep hills on a heavy-laden bike.
The leaves are starting to change, so we had some amazing quaking aspens cheering us on in yellow and orange splendor as we rode.

If you aren’t familiar with quaking aspens, the leaves shake in the breeze and make a wonderful rustling noise. On top of that they’re gorgeous.
We stopped again to rest after Kevin rode *down* the hill to tell us there was drinking water at a little rest stop up a ways. Considering the difficulty I was having climbing, I’m amazed that Kevin would even think to ride down what he had already climbed, only to have to do it again.
We stopped there, refilled our water, and I took advantage of a picnic table bench for a bit.

We’ve been in and out of the Dixie National Forest for a while now, so I’ve seen its sign many times.

The views, as I already said, were spectacular all day. I won’t waste words on them, but let you look instead.

I’ll interrupt your ooh-ing and ahh-ing for just a moment to reiterate that riding in a group was AMAZING. Dennis was genuinely interested in my story, and kept me entertained with his own, and took special care to be sure I was in front of my camera lens sometimes, since so often I’m behind it. Mike, a soil geologist, told me what the pretty rocks I picked up were (flint and agate! I thought it was just pretty road rock)–and had a description of the formation of the rock faces that rose around us. Kevin and Sung had a good time talking about computers, because they both know the same jargon.. And I enjoyed listening to their jargon without understanding a word of it. Jon kept my spirits up with his perseverance, and had stories to tell and smiles to share. Herb was a breath of fresh air with his good sense of humor, and an inspiration with his legs of steel.

In short, I loved riding with these guys. Kent had left us in the dust, but we were still 7 strong. The real grand finale came when we hit Cedar Breaks, which appeared to be a little turnout at a short break in the climbing.
Surprise, it was one of the most amazing places I’ve seen. Ever.

The view, you guys. Seriously.

After a full day of climbing, we hit 10,500 feet. Everybody was relieved and ready to start down the other side.

You’ll notice my max speed… 43.5mph. We FLEW. It was COLD. We had to put on pants and jackets and long-fingered gloves and hats.. And I caught a couple of blurry shots as I flew. The ride down was just as beautiful as the ride up, with miles and miles of changing Aspen leaves, rolling hills and a feeling of exhilaration at having conquered the mountain.

After a brief encounter with some tiny up-hills and a not-so-brief encounter with some tiny midges (read: midges. In my mouth, my nose, whacking me in the face, all over my clothing and hair…), we reached Panguitch Lake.
The guys had invited Sung and me to stay at the cabins they had rented for the night, and because we hadn’t made any solid lodging plans and the guys were amazing to ride with, we accepted.

We arrived with less than an hour to spare before the restaurant closed, and wolfed down dinner before climbing a steep rock driveway to our cabins. After an amazingly long and empowering day, it was amazing to settle in and talk about maps and lives and bikes with some wonderful guys.

A Day in Cedar City, in Which There is a Real Bike Shop

I woke up with the sun casting a dull light in my tent and no idea what time it was. Glorious start to a day of rest. When I finally got out of the tent, I realized what a good setup I had.

Being under the peach tree meant that the occasional windfall thudded to the ground near me, but it was the perfect spot in the perfect little Utah neighborhood.

Once I had gotten my things inside the tent packed up, I unzipped the door to see four little faces come out the front door of Enoch’s house. The kids and their neighbor Melanie were curious about what I was up to, and as soon as I started unclipping the tent from its poles, I had four little hands taking down the tent.
Then Catie, the youngest, approached me with a hairbinder. She had discovered that I know how to French braid, so we had an 8:15am hair appointment.

Mornings like this are in every way fulfilling. After getting all packed up, I got on the bike and headed to town to meet Sung for breakfast.
On the way, I discovered that Homecoming Week is coming. First I saw a car covered in ‘Caution: Do Not Enter’ tape, which I’m sure involved some kind of homecoming dance request… Then I saw this.

That kid has guts, broadcasting his question to all of Cedar City!
Breakfast was a Sin-a-Yum roll, split with Sung, and the hugest chicken fried steak meal I’ve ever seen.

I have no idea how it happened, but my appetite has tripled since this trip. It makes sense, given the whole bike/gear thing, but man! I’ve never wolfed down this much in a sitting.
Being with Sung the last few days has also opened my eyes to the art of restaurant eating. I’ll have to go back to cooking my food as much as possible once we part ways, but it has been nice to eat food that other people make. 🙂
After breakfast, we headed to the bike shop, where Sung was having his brakes bled. His fancy-pants German bike has fancy-pants hydraulic disc brakes, which when squeaky apparently need treatment I thought only possible on motorized vehicles.
While we were there, I scoped out more tubes and maybe another tire, their jersey selection, and cold-weather gear. I left with a LOT of tubes, arm warmers, long-fingered gloves, and long pants (they are made to be toasty, wind resistant and have reflectors!)

I would definitely recommend Cedar Cyclery not only for their selection of products, but for Brian, who repaired Sung’s brakes and sold me my stuff–an all around nice guy with an awesome dog named Mimi.
Sung headed off to get a haircut, and I headed to the post office for yet another shipping box (yeah, I’m still finding I have too much stuff). On my way back, I stopped at this neat little antique/craft store.

I can’t talk too much about it, on account of potentially bought gifts, but it was a neat shop!
Once Sung and I met back up, him looking super spiffy with a new ‘do and me with the same old braid I sport every day, we stopped at a drugstore to look around. I found some gummy candy and treats for my family, and I also found a dino mascot named Abigailosaurus.

Alas, I did not buy it. It was tempting.
I was getting goofy, and rode a tiny train (okay, not for realsies).

Because rest days aren’t all fun and games, we DID have to get back to Sung’s hotel room, also known as the bike shop with a bed and bathroom and one of those weird coffee machines. Sung had bought a new saddle and was trying to fit himself for it in the doorway.

I had just begun to look at a couple of things I needed to do when I got a call from Enoch. He, his wife and the kids wanted to say goodbye, so they headed to the hotel.

It was nice to see them all again, and Catie’s braid even stayed in all day at school!

After we had said our goodbyes, Sung and I headed to dinner, where our milk was not chocolatey enough, and the waitress finally brought over the syrup.

Dinner was great, but I still had bike things to do.
I finally installed my Bar Phat, which is a set of gel pads that go on the handlebars, and some black handlebar tape that is made to dampen vibration from the road.

Those are the gel pads, and this is my very first bar taping job.

I’m pretty dang proud. I was so proud, and excited to throw the other tape away, but I had to have a curly haired photo shoot first.

Once that was taken care of, I had to troubleshoot the slow leaking front tire I discovered the day before.
I finally found the tiny thorns that punctured the tube…

Then it was time for a patch. I am grateful to Sung because I can now correctly install a tube patch, and that’s a pretty big deal for me, queen of bad tire luck.

I forgot to mention that I also got a new air pump at the bike shop! The one I had been using tuckered my arms out a lot, so I found one of the same brand that works a little more like a foot pump.

Overall, a productive rest day and a good time in cedar city.

Milford to Cedar City

Miles today: 57.91
Average speed: 8.83
Max speed: 28.73

Total miles: 835.15

When I woke up, Sung informed me that I snore. Whoops.

We took our time packing, knowing that it was a much shorter day than the one before. Hungry for breakfast, we finally cleared out, leaving behind the comfy beds and air conditioner/heating unit (we required both at various points).

Hearty breakfasts are becoming the norm with me, and I had a great egg, hash brown, toast and ham dish for a really good price. Sung enjoyed pancakes with ham and eggs.

We then pet some puppies, which seemed to just be roaming around town. As I remember it, Baker had roaming puppies, too. Maybe this is a small-town thing.

We then got out of town, and enjoyed more empty roads, and even a turn onto a new road!

On this new road, we encountered my favorite thing. Goats.

They were apparently Sewer Lagoon Goats, which are a rare type of goat that live in small-town Sewer Lagoons. The Keep Out sign was unneccessary, because they are brutal and vocal. I think their alpha male was angry at me for trying to talk to them, so we moved on.

I really like this new state, because it seems greener in many areas. There were cattails and milkweed, and a little stream, and green fields of some kind of plant.

We left Beaver County, and entered Iron County.

It’s been really great to have Sung riding along, because he is much more entertaining than me talking to myself.

We had one pass, which was unmarked and unnamed, so we got ready to go downhill when it seemed like we might have reached it.

Our downhill was extremely disappointing, because it was, in the most appropriate descriptive term, rolling.

It was a gorgeous day, but I was honestly ready to get to town.

We hit the town before the town we were actually aiming for, which happens to have the same name as the Warmshowers host I’m staying with in Cedar City.

I had pretty much lost all motivation by that point, and Sung was kind enough to move at a snail’s pace for me for the rest of the ride. I trudged along, ready to cry, my legs whimpering from too much climbing in a headwind, rolling down and up and down the hill in a headwind, moving forward in a headwind.

Somehow we made it to a gas station, and I got chocolate milk and gatorade with protein.

I have to laugh a little every time Sung takes off his helmet, because he gets this wacky helmet hair…

I let Enoch know that I was in town, and immediately called to see where I was. His family was at his parents’ house having dinner, and they had just put it on the table, and he wanted to come pick me up and bring me over. So minutes later, a truck pulled up, I was driven to a nice home-cooked dinner of stroganoff and potato salad and chips with homemade rhubarb salsa and apple cole slaw, complete with Enoch’s dad Keith asking me for a rating of his dishes.

After a very entertaining dinner with Enoch, his mom and dad, his wife Tasha, and their three kids, I got a ride to their house for a shower.

Ahh, blessed shower.

Then I put in my laundry! Never before have I been so happy to see agitation.

My bike had a safe garage to sleep in for the night in a lovely neighborhood,

I had a place to pitch my tent under a gorgeous peach tree (and a peach to eat!)

And I ended another awesome day. Sung had a motel room, so he probably had an awesome day, too. I got to participate in evening prayer with the Seegmiller family, and fell asleep happy.

Baker to Milford

Miles today: 84.76
Average speed: 9.79
Max speed: 34.52

Total miles: 777.24

I woke up at 5:45, knowing there was a long day ahead. I heard Sung’s phone go off a few tents over, and knew that he was thinking the same thing. Fortunately for me, Sung and I were planning to head in the same direction for a few days–we seem to go at the same pace, both enjoy resting once in a while, and seem to have the “stop and smell the roses” attitude down pat.

Alex, Cooper and Eamon were up shortly after us. It was probably difficult for them to stay asleep, given that Eamon’s tent was a few feet from mine, and Alex’s head was a few feet in the other direction after a night of open-air sleep. I tried to be as quiet as possible, but it’s hard to tear down a tent in silence.

The sun was still working on rising when I crossed around to the front of the cafe to wait for it to open, and it was a beautiful, crisp morning.

As I stood out front, I started to hear the humming that I had so fondly observed the night before. Four hummingbirds flitted around the two feeders, butting each other away from its plastic flowers, doing mid-air acrobatics, and most impressively, stopping to rest on the eaves of the roof.

Everybody had a good, hearty breakfast, and we all did our final bathroom runs, water fill-ups, and last-minute preparation for departure.

I convinced Terry to take a picture of us out front. It’s pretty dang cool to see five loaded bikes in one picture, and to think that this originated as four separate trips, narrowed down to two for a while.

I asked Terry to pose for a picture, too. His well-loved LeMond was in back, so he posed next to his other bike.

Sung and I headed in one direction, Alex, Cooper, and Eamon in another, and Terry went back inside to help his customers. The road was pretty empty once we left town, and Sung and I got to talking. I could tell it would be a good day with his company.

Unfortunately, the “Scenic Route” ended when we switched roads. Fortunately, I consider the landscape to have gotten more scenic after the scenic route.

I was overjoyed when we hit the state border. After a prolonged (15 days) stay in Nevada, I could say hello to a new state!

Now, you’ll notice that Utah doesn’t look much different than Nevada. It is somewhat different in that the highways appear to lack rumble strips, which makes the shoulders more accessible. There are equal amounts of prickly plants, rocks and nothingness in both states, though.

It was cool to hit a city just over the border–it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen multiple cities in one day. Garrison may have a post office and nothing else, but it still counts as civilization spaced closer than 80 miles apart.

We saw a lake, which is cool because Nevada didn’t have much water just lying around.

Then we saw more open road. Hello, open road.

Something that amused me today was watching Sung’s methods for doing things. He has a dromedary (a water holder) just like mine, only bigger. He uses it like a drinking fountain, whereas I use mine like a faucet.

He is also willing to pose for pictures. I endlessly appreciate and enjoy this. This was taken at “Morman Gap”, which is actually nothing. It is unmarked, and it doesn’t really appear to be a gap. However, it was on the map, so we figured we should document its existence..or something.

I’m pretty sure that the Gap they’re referring to in the ACA maps is that little space between molehills in the following picture. I’d like it a lot better if they sold corduroys and polo-style shirts and comfy sweaters, like the Gaps I’m used to.

The rocks here look more volcanic and bubbly, if you were wondering.

After a long, gradual climb, we reached our first summit of the day. Halfway summit doesn’t seem like a summit at all, and it is unnamed on its sign. We soon found out all summits are this way.

At least there appears to be a downhill following it. And the mountains beyond are pretty.

For some reason, both Sung and I were amused by entering Beaver County, UT.

I was less amused when I got yet another flat. It was an opportunity for me, though, because Sung showed me how to properly apply a patch to a tire. We waited in the unrelenting heat for the glue to dry, and discussed my track record with tires.

The flat had been caused by a tiny shard of volcanic rock, the same crap I thought was soooooo pretty just minutes before.

So there I sat on the road, trying to put my wheel back on after fixing the flat, when my brake pad popped off. You can’t really see it in the picture, but this is the perspective I had when I watched it drop to the ground.

Luckily, Sung was quick to grab the pliers out of my toolkit, and prevented a meltdown by fixing it right then and there!

We got back to our slow, gradual climbing, and I began to loosen up again and notice the rocks. Ooh, pretty.

It was a good day, and the clouds began to come out, which means that shade is potentially on the way.

Alas, the clouds refused to come near us, and we were forced to take refuge in the shade of a nice-smelling evergreen tree.

In the shade with us was a tiny, fat lizard. I tried to take his picture, but he was also very wily and tried to escape. You can see him in this picture if you look very carefully. He is in the upper right quadrant of the photo, but I will tell you no more.

We were overjoyed when we hit the top, and saw the best sign ever, which is the steep downhill sign!

Then we saw our unnamed summit sign. The summit is called Wah Wah, and we debated about whether it’s Wah Wah like a child whining, or Wah Wah like the noise teenagers make when they are entirely nonplussed by something (also known as Womp Womp).

Once we got down the side of this hill, we were both starving. So we found a spot with less prickly plants than the spots surrounding it, still managed to sit in prickly plants, and made dinner. I had peanut butter and banana on tortilla, gourmet style.

Sung had a bagel with Goober. If you aren’t familiar with Goober, it’s that nasty junk that comes in a jar, all striped with too-sweet peanut butter and too-sweet jelly. He likes it. Gross.

We had lost all hope of getting to Milford by sundown, so decided to just enjoy the ride. The sun was setting beautifully, and we were getting too exhausted to even think about hurrying.

Apparently I was missing my flat tire so much it heard me, and I encountered low pressure in the back AGAIN. In the dark. It seemed to be a slow leak, so I gave it some air and we kept riding. I haven’t reached the point where I’m willing or ready to go at a flat in the dark.

Once it had gotten good and dark, and we had all of our safety blinkies and reflectors and headlights going, we reached the summit. You can tell that this summit, Frisco, is not the same because it is a different time of day. They just happen to have the same elevation.

Down, down, down the hill we went! The 14 miles into town seemed like, oh, a zillion. It’s hard to ride downhill in the dark without thinking every little shadow is an animal crossing the road, though in reality Sung encountered a mouse and that’s all. Cars could see us from a mile away, so they gave us a wide berth. We called ahead to the closest motel we could find, and rolled into town after 9pm.

The diner attached to the Oak Tree Inn is open 24 hours a day, so we were able to get a decent Penny’s Diner meal for late dinner. It was great to have a little salad, amazing to have some veggies, and beyond perfect to have a big chocolate malt with extra malt.

Once we got to the room, I took care of my priorities. First, I got in the hot tub for a while. Then I took a shower. Finally, I worked on my tire. It turns out the patch we had put on earlier failed and was leaking from all sides, so I had to chuck that tube and patch a different tube that I had kept on a whim, despite it having a little hole in it.

The new patch held, so I’m back in business, at least for a little while.

I fell asleep approximately 14 seconds after I got into my bed. The end.

Majors Station to Baker

Miles today: 36.51
Average speed: 10.14
Max speed: 29.59

Total miles: 692.52

It was delightful to wake up in an RV, and I took a long time getting ready to leave. I had to say goodbye to Lisa and Andy, the dogs, the goats, and the RV that may have tried to kill me.
I set out toward another open road, onward to another tiny city.

It was another scorching day, so I moved slowly and sought shade for much of the ascent.
Unfortunately, I only found it at this house.

So I stayed in that shade for a good twenty minutes, until I was absolutely (not really) ready to face the heat again.
As if it was placed there to taunt me, a tiny stream trickled down the side of the road.

Then, as if there to sympathize, some black cows grazed, no doubt wilting, or becoming medium-rare, or something, under their hot hides.

I hit Sacramento Pass ready to blast down the other side, ready to feel the amazing wind in my face.

As I blasted down the side of the mountain, I realized that it wasn’t all that much cooler, and that I really had to stop and use the restroom. Fortunately for me, there was a rest stop halfway down! With a tree! And a bathroom! And a picnic table!

So I leaned my bike up against the tree, found an enclosed latrine full of flies (yuck. I’m lucky they wanted to escape when I opened the door), and spread my map and lunch on the picnic table.

The breeze started to pick up as I looked at my map. So much so, in fact, that I had to use my lunch as a paperweight. Once the bees took notice of my food, I decided I was full and packed up. Goodbye, shade…

And hello, new road! Finally, I got to get off of 50!

If you were wondering, highway 487 looks pretty much the same as highway 50, but with awesome new blacktop, and signs every once in a while that say “Scenic Route”.

I didn’t much notice a change in scenery, either, but maybe I’ve just been looking at high desert for a while. I thought highway 50 was plenty beautiful.

I knew I was getting close to Baker when I saw the sign for the Great Basin National Park. It was a little off route, and I sort of just wanted to get some dinner, so I stopped at the visitor center for a bit instead.

The visitor center is where I discovered some cool Night Sky playing cards, with a constellation (or an asterism, as I’d soon find out) on each card, arranged by season according to suit. I figured I could play solitaire AND learn about the night sky, so I bought them, and some cool postcards.

I then went outside and discovered…drumroll, please… another flat! My tire had lost pressure  between the time I went inside and the time I came back out. This seems in keeping with my current tire/tube luck.

I put some more air in the tire, prayed it’d hold til Baker, and got to biking again. No more than five miles later, I was there!

The lady at the visitor center had told me there were two restaurants to choose from, and I decided to swing past the Lectrolux cafe first. The man running the place, Terry, let me buy some chocolate milk, and told me I could camp out back so long as I bought a meal there. Luckily, I had already planned to buy a meal there, so I took him up on his offer.

When I went back out to my bike, I discovered this pretty kitty hanging out outside. She didn’t have a name, and Terry told me she was a stray that he fed. She was skinny but seemed happy, and ready to purr and rub my hand.

After getting my tent set up and grabbing some gatorade at the other restaurant, I had an amazing conversation with a man named Chris. He had gotten off route en route to home (I forget where home is…), and was eating a sandwich before getting back on the road. We talked life, and loss, and expectations. Our ideas about the unpredictability of life and the impermanence of plans were on par, and I felt refreshed talking with someone who had experienced the feeling of being okay with things changing, or at least trying to be okay with it.

I felt refreshed after our conversation, and played another round of solitaire while mulling over the things we had discussed. Right around that time, another cyclist walked in. Sung and I had dinner and chatted about our respective routes. I was happy to see another biker in Baker, and happy to have my chicken quesadilla.

Then, wouldn’t you know it, two more cyclists walked in. Alex and Eamon were waiting on *another* cyclist, Cooper, who was a few miles behind them. I informed everybody that there was free camping out back with the purchase of food, and suddenly a small community was formed.

Cooper showed up shortly after, and we all sat around the big wooden table in the middle of the restaurant talking about our trips. Alex, Cooper and Eamon are westbound (you can check out their blog at Go West, Young Man), so we talked about what was ahead for them, and for us.There was a nice couple from Germany, Esther and Jörg, who were planning to head up the mountain. We chatted, then they headed out, and then a nice Dutch couple showed up!

Greet and Hans were also out sightseeing, and were absolutely floored by the fact that five cross-country bikers sat at the next table over. We talked about how flat both the Netherlands and Minnesota are, and they wished us all luck.

By the time we finished discussing, it was starting to get dark. Alex took up a spot on the stoop and played with the cat, and we all kept talking outside.

Alex got out a guitar, Eamon, Cooper and Sung kept on relating their adventures, and I got out my bike tools. There was still that pressing issue of the slow leaking front tire…

I got it fixed for the time being, in the dark, and only lost track of tools a couple of times. We eventually headed to the backyard to set up camp, and a good night’s sleep was pursued by all.

Ely to Majors Station

Miles today: 27.67
Average speed: 10.29
Max speed: 36.53

Total miles: 656.01

This riding day followed two days of rest. I’d blog about them, but I’m already behind enough, and writing about not feeling well and bumming around town and a motel room doesn’t really seem productive. So here’s the actual content. 🙂

Even though it was to be a short cycling day, a good breakfast was in order. I was extra hungry, and I’ve learned that extra hungry warrants a big breakfast.

Everybody loves a good Garvy on their biscuits, so I went for that. Look, they even typoed twice.

Mmm, Garvy.
The day, short as it was, was chock full of interesting things. Like passing a prison.

I can never seem to actually *see* the prison, but knowing it’s there allows me plenty of time to think about bandits and robbers and cops and stuff.
In addition to being unable to see the prison, I apparently missed the forest, too.

Although those things look like trees, they’re really more like shrubs, and also I feel that there should be more of them to constitute a forest. I guess I don’t understand Nevada yet, after all.
I started climbing my pass for the day, which was plenty grueling, as I still wasn’t feeling 100%. The ‘forest’ started to thicken a bit, which entertained me to a small extent.

Fortunately, there were more entertaining things on the road. Like my shadow.

I climbed and climbed, and then I saw the most entertaining thing of all! The sign that says I get to cruise down a hill!

I was surprised to see this sign, because I didn’t see a sign for the pass I had just conquered. Looking behind me, I saw the one coming the other way. So, here’s Connor’s pass from the back.

My stop for the day was Major’s Station, another all-in-one. It was bar, restaurant, and RV park/campground.
I was happy to pull up and see kitschy things like a beer can airplane, a tin can man, and this sheep crossing sign.

Then I discovered the dogs. Maggie is the one in the foreground, and she can normally be found acting fierce, teeth bared and all.

I squealed with joy when I discovered that in addition to dogs, there are goats. They ran up to me, but ran off when they figured out that I didn’t have food for them.

The owners, Lisa and Andy, were amazing. They even offered up Andy’s brother’s RV to sleep in for the night, after a guy backed his RV trailer into the building in the exact spot where I was going to pitch my tent.
Actually, he backed into the building in that spot twice. I gladly accepted the RV offer.
I had a blast talking with regulars, met a man named Mitch working on a wind farm project a ways out, and enjoyed delicious wings for dinner. Lisa and Andy even gave me some biscuits for the morning, so I’d have breakfast if I left before they opened.
I think I’ll be back to Major’s Station if I’m ever back out this way.

Eureka to Ely

Miles today: 80.22
Average speed: 11.56
Max speed: 35.22

Total miles: 628.34

The morning started very early, due to a 5:30am breakfast date with Jesse and Royal.
Knowing I had a long way to Ely, I figured an early start was good, a hearty breakfast was even better, and I definitely couldn’t pass up one last hurrah with Jesse and Royal.
This time you can be shocked, because I ordered my usual.. with ham.

I was bummed to say goodbye to the gents, because it was pretty fun having three goofy bikers all in one place.
But alas, it had to be done, and in opposite directions we went.
I caught one final look before leaving another great small town, and started pedaling uphill.

It was a beautiful morning, and I enjoyed watching the sun begin to hit the hilltops as I rode.

The first sign I saw indicated that a herd of cows, or maybe even a stampede, could cross my path at any moment.

This sign didn’t faze me, since I’m totally fearless (not true. I just figured the cows aren’t out to pasture much these days). As I continued on, I admired the open road, sans traffic!

I was climbing as soon as I left town, just like every other morning. After a while, I hit my first pass of the day.

Because a pass means a subsequent descent, into darkness I plunged again. The sun finally peeked its way over the hills, and I was thankful because it was somewhat chilly.

I saw a city named strawberry, and thought about how good some fresh fruit would be..

And then I got a little update on my progress. 62 miles to go, and it was still morning.. I can handle that!

After a fairly decent climb, I hit the second summit.

It’s called pancake, but it’s definitely not that flat.
I was feeling pretty good. Jesse and Royal told me to watch for a girl riding in the other direction, and as I was headed toward my next pass, I saw her!

Kathrin, from Switzerland, is riding from Moab to San Francisco on a Bike Friday folding bike. It was wonderful to see another solo female! If you’re up for a challenge, her blog is in German.. And you can find it at El Viaje de Kathrin.
We chatted for a while, commiserated about being solo female cyclists, and continued in our opposite directions. She seemed to be enjoying her descent from the pass, which meant I was about to enjoy my ascent to it. Not.
I began the long and curvy climb, and bemoaned each turn. Whenever I go around a curve, I get nervous because folks approaching me can’t see me sometimes. Could you see somebody around this?

At times I walked the bike for safety’s sake, just a hundred feet or so, in the gravel off the road, until I felt the sightline for a driver would be good.
I have come to appreciate my slowness because it allows me (maybe forces me) to look around at things like rocks.

I’ve been in love with the colors and variety of rock I’ve seen in Nevada. Whenever I pull off to the side of the road, I see a bit of Jasper, or something with cool bands or striations, or a sparkly stone.

I passed a guy walking to Bakersfield after his job harvesting pine nuts fell through, and was able to give him some trail mix and granola bars. It felt good to help him, but I felt bad that he had to walk in the heat.
After a few more curves and rests, I hit the top!

Of course the top means descent, just like always, and this descent was a blast. It wove back and forth down the mountain, and I maintained 25-35mph for quite some time. Glorious.
I saw an elk crossing sign, and though I hoped to see elk, I did not. Maybe it’s for the best, because I have a feeling I’d be more scared than anything.

As I rode, it got hotter and hotter. I tried to distract myself from the afternoon sun by looking at the things on the side of the road.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much. I did see some cool old structures that were in the process of giving themselves back to the land.

There was also this little house, or maybe just a shed. Either way, I wished I could take refuge from the sun in it.

My only relief from the heat could not be gained from shade trees nor awnings.
In fact, shade is so sparse in this area, I could only get it by placing myself carefully near road signs, which only occurred once in a great while.
I never thought I’d be so grateful to look at the back of a sign…

Climbing in the heat is one of my less favorite things, but I had yet to be done with the passes for the day. Being sick of ascents, I tried really hard to distract myself with thoughts of the upcoming bike shop in Ely, of meeting my host Lora and her family, and of a nice cold bottle of chocolate milk.
Finally, I hit Robinson.

From there, it’s mostly downhill to Ely! As the miles crept up, I got more and more excited to see civilization, which manifested itself first in the form of mines.

I found out that miners put the tailings into a pile so that it can eventually become a mountain again.. Or something. They still confuse me.
Before I knew it, I was flying down a hill, nearing the 80 mile mark. I saw a cool railroad track that crossed under the highway and into a tunnel in the side of the mountain, and then BAM! Ely!

The town looked promising.

Who am I kidding? Any town that occurs on a downhill looks promising. My first stop involved liquids and a choco taco.

I continued on, knowing there was a sports store somewhere. Meanwhile, Lora got in touch with me. Her husband, Will, was just finishing up his shift for UPS and could pick me up from town in his pick-up. They lived several miles out of town, and with my 80 mile day complete, I was happy to have a ride.
Will’s truck was acting up, so it was actually Lora who showed up to get me. We hoisted my bike into the back of her truck (uff-da, I hope I don’t have to do that many more times) and headed home.
I then got to meet everybody! They have several horses, a pony named Wild Will, two german short-haired pointers, two cats and an ewe.
There’s also an adorable 1 year old, a cutie pie in the middle of her terrible twos, a 13 year old named Sierra (happy late birthday, Sierra!) and a 16 year old named Dylan.
Here are the pictures I snapped while enjoying this wonderful family.

This house seems like another little slice of heaven.. It is through a gap in the mountains, so it’s sort of separated from the rest of the world.
Passing through the gap was beautiful in every kind of light.

Of course, one of my favorite kinds of light is the kind that is about to disappear or reappear, so as the sun set I felt blessed for yet another successful day of travel.