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Day 56:
I had my heart set on a 100 mile day, but my body was saying the opposite. Exhausted, I pulled into the Natural Bridges National Monument to camp for the night. There was a really cool 9 mile loop road where I got to lay eyes on these babies:
Rattle Snake!
That night, I met two really cool archaeologists who were basically living in the park. Everyday they would drive out to some obscure place in Utah and just go exploring. Not a bad gig if you ask me. It also just so happened the guy used to bike tour and race...this comes in handy in the morning.
Miles Covered: 70
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Day 57:
Short back story:
Before leaving Moab, I got my bike looked over by Jim, another awesome mechanic at the bike shop. Basically, he told me my rims were all banged up, and 28 spokes is not nearly enough to tour with. He was surprised I made it all the way to Utah, but said I could keep riding them until spokes started to break (more on this later). So did I heed his warning and replace them? Of course not.
Anyway, I woke up in the morning and my back tire (the tubeless one) was flat...of course. I headed over the archeologist's’ camp and got a hold of their air compressor. Attempting to still run my tire tubeless, I switched it from the back to the front...no dice. Turns out both rims were so banged up, they would no longer seal the air in. Back to tubes we go.
With the tires finally holding air, I departed, headed towards Hanksville. The ride was 100 miles. 100 miles of nothing (although, there was some pretty amazing scenery). It was also all uphill. That was not fun.
Hows this for open miles?
And a glimpse into Lake Powell:
Three miles outside of Hanksville my rear wheel failed.
Long story short, I pushed in to Hanksville, called everyone that mattered (Swan Cycles, the shop in Moab, and my parents), and started plotting how on earth I could finish this trip. More kudos to the incredibly awesome Poison Spider Bike Shop in Moab - Cullon was planning on building up a new wheelset for me and actually driving it out to Hanksville.
Long story short, I was about to buy a campsite for the night in a disgusting mosquito-infested campground when a family came up and started talking to me about the bike. Turns out they were on some crazy National Parks tour of the west and were headed to Moab...so I hitched a ride. They also offered to buy me a hotel room, gave me about $80 worth of free food, and invited me to the hotel’s continental breakfast. If you ask me, that’s making the best of a bad situation.
And there it is - two horrible things happened to me in one day, but they were both immediately followed by two incredibly and unbelievably lucky events. Not to mention they both could have stranded me in the middle of nowhere had the timing been right. There is definitely someone is looking out for me.
A HUGE thank you to the Hastings family for diving me and my broken bike to Moab. You basically saved my life, and made that evening forever memorable. Plus the car ride flew by with such
great company. Thanks!
The rescue squad:
Miles Covered: 100
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Day 58:
Needless to say everyone at the bike shop was in awe when I walked through the door first thing in the morning. We all immediately went to work, and had the bike up and running by the afternoon. Thank you everyone for all the help and for letting me take over your shop. Definitely the greatest bike shop around.
Sporting two shiny new wheelsets, the bike runs like new. Much more fluid, and no more wobble. Plus, they’re tubed rims, so I’ve officially gone back to basics. No more fancy tubeless wheels, just a regular tried-and-true setup. I couldn't be happier.
So...how do I avoid backtracking over 150 miles of crazy mountains and a desolate desert? I’m getting pretty good at this hitchhiking thing....Hanksville is a really small town in the middle of nowhere though, so getting a straight trip back was a little harder than I originally thought.
Step #1:
A guy hired to fly down to Texas, pick up a repo truck, and drive it to northern Utah gave me a ride to Green River. I camped in an RV park for the night.
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Day 59:
First thing in the morning I went to a gas station to try and hitch a ride further.
Step #2:
Two guy replacing highway signs drove me 12 miles on the interstate to route 24, which leads to Hanksville.
Step #3
I slowly started riding down the road, trying to flag down any large car that passed. Eventually a family stopped who gave me a ride the remaining 35 miles into town. They even gave me some cookies too. Got to Hanksville by 10:00...not bad, eh?
I began riding out towards Capital Reef National Park on what two different people told me would be a flat road. The road was not flat. Also, when I finally got to the park I was caught in a huge thunderstorm. There was hail...it was interesting.
A few scenes from the park:
Slowly making my way though the park I ran into Nina once again, who joined me for lunch and gave me some helpful tips regarding the upcoming (and dreaded) trek though Nevada. We parted ways at the start of Route 12 though, where she decided to stop for the day...and for good reason.
Route 12 is one of the most scenic roads in Utah...mainly for it’s crazy mountain passes, canyon meandering, and sheer cliff drops. In short, the entire thing is uphill, passing through some incredibly beautiful scenery. The road kicked off with a brutal climb up to 9,600 feet. It was steep, relentless, and quite horrible overall. To cap it all off, I also got stuck in a hail storm at the top.
Here's some views from the pass:
I can remember very few moments in my life then I though I was going to die. This one is now at the very top of the list though. With no shelter, I bolted down the mountain wearing every layer I had, getting slammed by hail and watching lightning crack overhead. It was by far the scariest moment of my life.
I finally descended into a town called Boulder and found some shelter to warm up. For some strange reason I had an urge to push on though, and started riding again shortly after. Two mini mountain passes later I rolled into a town called Escalante at 10:00.
This is called a hogsback...it's slightly dangerous:
Is this legal?
Commence the night ride:
I was absolutely starving and managed to find the only restaurant in town that would still serve. I got some food, found a campground, and passed out for the night.
Despite the weather though, the ride was one of the most beautiful that I can remember. It was reminiscent of a mountain pass in Colorado, but right in the middle of a desert. The views were incredible, and once I settled down in Escalante for the night, I was left with an incredible sense of accomplishment.
Miles Covered: 110
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Day 60:
Can you guess what the riding was like today? Yup...uphill. I hit one pass at 7,400 feet right out of Escalante, and pushed up to about 8,000 towards the end of the day. This all was also while facing a headwind. The cool thing about the road though is that it's lined with awesome sights. Here's the Grand Staircase National Monument:
The highlight of the day was definitely the detour into Bryce Canyon National Park, which is a huge canyon filled with tons of magnificent rock formations. Take a look:
Check out that spandex!
The last of the Route 12 views were the Red Canyon. There was also a bike path that ran next to the road, keeping me out of harms way:
Right now I’m in Panguitch, Utah, chowing down on a quart of ice cream. The double stuffed Oreos were $5 so I held off, but hopefully I’ll get to that one day. A women at the Bryce Canyon Visitor’s Center told me I looked to skinny...I thought this was the best solution.
Tomorrow I’ll be starting my detour south to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I’ll get pictures up soon...hopefully.
Look at that Beard!! haha. Ps you definitely need to eat more ice cream. You better not be skinner than me when I get back. I'll even pitch in on food for you to get fatter! just kidding (you'll probably never be fat). Be safe pleaseee!
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