Day 48 - Over the Rockies and Into the Desert

 Comments about comments:

Daniel,

Glad to hear you are interested! The one I am looking at is August 8th in Cleveland. Actually, the swimmer I had in mind will not be able to do that one. But, I am sure there are plenty of swimmers reading this blog. Any of you out there interested in swimming a mile on December 8th? Post your qualifications here. Slouches need not apply. Also, where are you going to school? Are you going to be running for them?

Hey Ry Guy,

Speaking of southern softies, crossed paths with a couple blokes from London doing the western express. They were hurrying because they had a late start waiting for tires to arrive from a bike shop. I asked why they needed new tires and they said because theirs were starting to look worn. Don't they know you ride the bike, fix it when you can? Course not...southern softies. 

Also, my day off shirt is a disaster because I went mountain biking in it and now there is mud spray all over the front and back of it. Still wore it out in Telluride though. You wear the shirt, clean it when you can.

I hope all is well with you and the Ter-dog. 

Cindy,

Glad to see you are following along! Your house looked great. I saw a sliding glass door get installed on the upstairs patio. Thanks so much for getting me in touch so quickly with Ken. What a memorable couple of days! Thanks again!

Harriet and Larry,
It was a shame that we were not able to meet up. Especially because we were in the same towns just days apart from each other! Ah well, next time for sure.

Tom,
I have yet to meet another rider who has crossed Nevada alone. So, with the fact that I'm still heading there, it must mean I don't realize how desolate it is. I just can't take anyone's word for it. Got to find out.
You also pose an interesting question of which would you rather do: ride your bike across Nevada or drive an RV full of Z's across Nevada?

I think I'd choose the bike...except Zayzy is pretty cute...

Even though I slept in the city park in Dolores, I decided not use my tent. I found a pavilion and since there weren't many bugs, it was a great excuse not to. There were metal picnic tables under the pavilion and back in Haswell, I saw a fellow cyclist sleep on one just like them. I decided to give it a try and it was pretty comfortable. 

I was sleeping pretty soundly when, around midnight, the sprinklers went on. At first, I thought it had just started raining really hard. That was, until I started feeling a fine mist on my face. I laid there for a bit more until the rotating sprinkler again, got close enough to lay a fine mist over my sleeping bag and me. My first reaction was to move the picnic table more into the middle of the pavilion. That did not work. It seemed the number of degrees the sprinkler was rotating was increasing. I could have just been imagining that. Then, I decided I would need to move to another picnic table. It was not easy determining what area under the pavilion was not getting misted. The sprinklers rotated very slowly and I would just have to stand and wait until the stream from one came nearby. If I got wet, I would repeat the test at another picnic table.

After about 10 minutes of that, I thought I found one and moved my sleeping bag and pad onto it. As I was climbing onto the table I got misted. I kept searching and noted that the pavement on the other side of the pavilion, not covered by the roof, was completely dry. I slid a picnic table over there and managed to stay dry.

I would just like to point out that it's a good thing I broke that tent pole back in Kansas and didn't pick up the replacement in Poncha Springs. I would've certainly used my tent in Dolores and would've gotten the full force of those sprinklers. I need to remember to look for sprinkler heads in any parks I sleep in from now on.
Anyways, I only managed to stay dry until it started raining. By now, it was 2AM and the sprinklers were off so, I simply moved back to my original picnic table. Besides the raccoons that were interested in the garbage can closest to me, I slept pretty soundly after that.
In the morning, I hit the road by 8:30.

More sprinklers. A pretty rainbow makes them okay, though. 

After about 32 miles, I was in my third to last state: Utah.

State 7 of 9

Utah wasn't very welcoming. Notice the clouds and rain behind the sign? I raced that storm for 17 miles into Monticello. There was lightning flashing all around me yet, I was only getting a little rain. As I was approaching Monticello, I could see a wall of rain approaching the city from the other side. I wondered if I could make it into town before the rain did. Because of the numerous lightning strikes in very close proximity, I decided not to press my luck and pulled into the port of entry building 2 miles outside of town. Sure enough, within 10 minutes the storm came on full force. I was happy to be inside for it.

I had lunch in Monticello and completed my 80 mile day into Blanding by 5PM. On my way into Blanding, I caught a faint glimpse of what lies ahead. 

What lies ahead could prove to be the most difficult riding of my trip. After Blanding, I will ride 80 miles without any services to a campground at Lake Powell. At the campground there is a grocery store where I can get dinner. However, it closes at 5PM so, I need to finish the 80 miles by then or I eat Cliff Bars for dinner and breakfast. The next day, the first 50 miles are also without services all the way until Hanksville, where I should be able to find a restaurant and another grocery store. 

After Hanksville, the cities are more reasonably spaced apart for the rest of Utah so, I should not run into issues due to lack of food or water. Despite all this, do not worry because I am prepared. I went to the grocery store tonight in Blanding and got a new bottle of sunblock, a sandwich, a can of mandarin oranges, and two Gatorades for lunch tomorrow. Also, I have slowly been increasing the supply of Cliff bars I carry in my backpack. 

3400 calories right there. And look at all the flavors.

Well, I'm not going to starve to death. I guess that's not that funny...

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life=good