Days 51-53 - The Ups and Downs of Utah

Not too long into the ride past Hanksville, I entered Capitol Reef National park. It was a beautiful ride. 

A cooperative hawk. 

Twin Rocks.

There were lots of tourists in the park so, riding through it with brief stops was satisfying enough for me. Upon leaving Capitol Reef, the climbing started. I had a couple miles of 8% grade and then it was up and down all the way into Torrey, where I ate some lunch. I rested for a bit because I knew then next 35 miles into Boulder could end up being the toughest 35 miles of Utah, and perhaps the entire ride. 

The riding was reminiscent of Virginia on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Immediately, I had 1.5 miles of 10% grade followed by 1 mile of 8%. Not only that, but I was drenched in a short, but windy and powerful, rainstorm. The thunder was rolling and I was gritting my teeth climbing at 5 mph in raindrops that felt like they were shot out of a BB gun. It was dramatic.

Once I made it on top of  the mountain, just like Blue Ridge, it was up and down some more before making a final, long descent into the town of Boulder. The views from the top were a bit more mesmerizing than in Virginia.

Up on the ridge, look at all those beech trees!

I spy a deer.

The descent was nice into Boulder to finish off the 80 mile day. Once there, I went straight to a restaurant for huge dinner and then to a hotel because there was no camping within 10 miles. I think after such a tough, long day, it had taken a toll on my mind. In my hotel room, I was lonely and homesick. I wondered if I was getting tired of riding and maybe I could end the trip. It was still quite an accomplishment what I have already done.  I thought of all the money I could save if I stopped. It would be so nice to sit on a couch in air conditioning and drink ice cold lemonade and take showers whenever I wanted to. 

Then, I thought about how this is part of it. Did I really think this would be easy the entire time? Anything worth doing is not going to be easy all the time. I went to bed early and did not sleep very well. 

I woke up slowly and not in much of a better mood than when I went to sleep. I took a long shower and walked outside. 

It was a beautiful day. The sky was blue, the birds were chirping. The night before, I had left the Marin outside leaning against a table and as I laid my eyes on her in the morning, she looked to me like a smiling dog wagging it's tail and wanting to play. I couldn't resist but smile back.

I was in Utah! I rode my bike here! I was going to Bryce Canyon National Park today and tomorrow I was going to take the day off from riding to walk around the park. How could I not be excited about this?!

Once I packed everything up, I said goodbye to the French family in the adjacent room and hit the road "happy as Larry". The day began with some of the most exciting riding I have ever experienced. The road is called the Hogback. It is called that because you are on the rim of a canyon and there are no guardrails and there are steep cliffs on both sides. I was bombing down into the canyon at around 30mph. The view from up top made me slow down a bit. 

After descending into the canyon, I had to climb back out of it. Here is a particularly curvy and steep stretch. 

After all this, I was approaching Escalante excited with the idea of eating some food. About 5 miles out of town, I was resting on the side of the road when a local cyclist coming from town pulled over and had a brief conversation with me, then turned around to head back into Escalante. I could've sworn he said, "Let's race." but, I could've imagined it. He was over 60 years old so I gave him a 30 second head start. I passed him within a mile. 

As I coasted into Escalante, I pulled into the first gas station I saw. As I was removing my lid, the man who I had just toasted rolled up next to me and asked me what I liked for breakfast. I said I eat anything and so, he told me to follow him. 

A few minutes later we arrived at his house. His name was Frank and was about 5 foot 8 inches and spoke in very short sentences. The best word to describe him is intense. He invited me in and we ate his wife's homemade granola with strawberries and bananas and raisins. While I was eating the first of my 2 bowls of the stuff, Frank never stopped talking. I'm stuffing my face and he is going 100mph giving me the pitch for his company called Fitness Revolution. He is a nut about fitness, which explained the intensity. 

He had his laptop in front of me showing me his website and how it worked. In the middle of explaining things he would notice that I was looking around his large and beautiful home. So, he would intersperse comments about what I was looking at. 

"I built this house myself."

"That wall has local stones in it."

I never really said much and just listened to him, trying to keep up. My mouth was full of granola most of the time, anyways. He was also a devout Mormon and had a very large LDS bible on his kitchen table to go along with the religious paintings on the walls throughout his house. I'm not sure if I had ever met a Mormon before him. It was a very interesting breakfast.

As I was leaving Escalante, I noticed a cyclist ahead of me going the same direction. I was gaining slowly on the rider but, eventually, they saw me and slowed down so I could catch up.

The rider's name was Daniela. I had actually met her and her friend/fellow cyclist Jocelyn at Lake Powell a couple days earlier. They did not spend the night so, I only spoke with them briefly before they continued on ahead of me. Jocelyn was not with her at the moment because she has developed a cyst on her tailbone making it impossible to ride a bike. Two guys, who they had met and I had also briefly spoken with in Torrey the previous day, had agreed to drive Jocelyn to Bryce where Daniela and I were headed that day. 

It was nice once again to have a temporary riding partner. We chit-chatted and the conversation was good the whole day. It certainly made the miles go by faster.

Seven miles short of Bryce Canyon, we stopped at Mossy Cave which is a short little walk away from the road by a waterfall, stream, and, of course, a mossy cave. While Daniela went off to swim in the waterfall, a nice guy named John who was with his parents struck up a conversation with me. John, his father, Ron, and his wife were very interested in my ride. We walked and talked and even had a beer together. They were very kind people and I was happy to have had a chance to meet them. I gave them a link to the blog so we might even get a comment!

Pictures courtesy of Ron.

After Mossy Cave, the last 7 miles were tough. Daniela and I made it into Bryce Canyon national park and over to the campground that the 2 guys who drove Jocelyn had already bought and were set up at. The two guys were named Peter and Andreas. Both were Greek; Peter was full-bred and Andreas half. They were from a city in Florida near Clearwater. I think both were around 40 years old. Andreas told me he was 37.  They were driving across the country very cheaply and slowly. Andreas told me they had been on the road nearly 3 weeks and only spent 1100 dollars.

After I set up camp, we walked over to a scenic overlook to watch the sun go down.

That tent doesn't look so bad.

I "joey-rigged" it. 

Peter was an extremely friendly guy. He has spent a lot of time in Greece and a year in England where all his money was stolen! He had to sell fake goods on the streets of London to get by. As soon as we arrived at the overlook, Peter was taking pictures for all the tourists there. 

Andreas was a material engineer and worked for Lockheed Martin right out of college. Then, he joined a bio tech company and worked for them for 9 years. Now, he is starting his own company because he has very specialized knowledge in a certain field of bio tech. However, despite working in the corporate world for so long, he has still managed to travel all over the world and has stayed in all the states except a few. He said while he worked, he lived very cheaply and didnt feel the need to buy a house or a nicer car or fancier clothes. Instead, his priority was to spend money on traveling and that is what he has done. 

Jocelyn, Peter, Alyssa (girl from campground next to ours), me, Daniela, and Andreas.

After the sun went down, we went back to the campsite and made dinner which included chili in mac and cheese,  indian food with flatbread, salted potatoes, and an onion. They didn't want me to pay for a thing. The only thing I could do was wash the dishes when it was all over. Peter and Andreas were so generous.

I slept extremely well. In the morning, Andreas and Peter drove Jocelyn to the hospital in Panguitch and Daniela will ride her bike there. I, however, am staying in Bryce Canyon and am currently enjoying what will most likely be the final rest day of the trip. 

Before Peter and Andreas left, they told Jocelyn, Daniela, and I how great it was what we were doing. They told us how wise we were to appreciate how wonderful traveling and meeting new people is. They said it took them much longer to figure out what we already know. They were not only generous with their campground and food, but with their compliments as well. It made me feel great because the whole previous night I was envious of the experiences that Peter and Andreas have had. Then, to hear that they were envious of us...well, I was proud.

After everyone was gone, I went for a hike and then cleaned out the all you can eat pasta buffet.

Tomorrow, I plan to ride 80 miles to Cedar City. I am predicting just 2 more weeks left.

The moon after the sunset from Bryce Point. 

View Where is Joe? in a larger map

The mood can change as quickly as the grade of the road.

life=good