I had trouble sleeping last night, similar to Escalante. I didn’t want to take another rest day, so I decided to push on. I knew it wouldn’t be as difficult riding as I have gone through the past several days.
Today’s ride was through two bowls. A slight downhill out of Cedar City, a gentle climb to about the halfway point, then downhill again to Milford, UT. The two wide, flat valleys were surrounded by mountain ranges. There wasn’t much else to see in the valleys.
There are signs that I am taking too long to get across the county. Yesterday, there was snow on the ground. Today, as I climbed up past Cedar Break, not only was there more snow on the ground, I noticed the leaves are turning yellow, red and orange.
I got rained out yesterday. Not only did the rain continue, but there were flash flood watches and warnings throughout the area, including the canyon I needed to climb next. I decided the best thing to do was to stay put for one day. I did find a motel room where I was able to dry out and stay warm.
I have been taking an awful lot of unexpected rest days in Utah. I am beginning to wonder if the ride is wearing on me. When I’m on the bicycle, I feel like I’m 20 years old again. Unfortunately, I am not. Yesterday, I had another unexpected rest day, after only two days of riding. I didn’t sleep well the night before and didn’t think I would be able to ride up and out of Escalante.
This was a short day by intention. I only planned to ride to Escalante. If I could get a motel room there, I would stop. I really wanted a shower. After Escalante, there is another climb to the next potential place to stay where I could shower. If there was no motel room available in Escalante, I would try to get to the next town.
After a rest day, I had to finish the climb up past Boulder Mountain. It was a little steeper than I expected, with 8 to 10% grades. The scent of the evergreens was strong today. I don’t think I have noticed the scent that strong since New England. It made the ride up the mountain pleasant.
Since I didn’t take a rest day in Hanksville, I decided to do so today. I hoped that my tent would provide some shade and the fly would funnel the wind into the tent so I could enjoy shade and a nice breeze. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough wind to funnel into the tent and the fly acted like the roof of a greenhouse, trapping the sun’s heat.
I got kind of a late start out of Hanksville, but hoped to make it to Torrey by the end of the day. Before I left town, someone asked about my trip. He said when I’m done I am going to have trouble getting back into the routine of normal life. He may be right. Being on the road, waking up in a new place and riding all day, has become normal life. He was from Delaware and had been to Lake Powell with some friends. I told him I rode through Delaware. He said it was probably an easier ride. I agreed. He rides a bike about 20 miles a day, but didn’t think he could do a trip like I am doing. That is how I prepared, however, by riding about 20 miles a day round trip to work. People underestimate what they can do.
I slept well again last night. As I was heading out, a man from New Zealand stopped to walk around the picnic area. He said when he planned his trip to the US, people told him he needed to go to Utah. There isn’t anything like it in New Zealand. I’ve been across this country and haven’t seen anything like it.
Today ended up being a relatively short day into Hanksville, UT. For the first 12 or so miles, I was still climbing away from the Colorado River. The climbing was gradual, however, so it wasn’t so bad.
I really slept fantastic last night. One of the best night’s sleep I have had this summer. I fell asleep about 9:30 and didn’t wake up until almost 7:00. Despite all the climbing yesterday, I felt really good this morning.
Pedaling America 