We rolled into Milford with our water bottles almost empty and our 3 liter camel back (that we save for emergencies) drained.
Today we went 84 miles with no services. And when Utah says no services they mean no services. No water, no bathrooms, no rest stops. What Utah's Highway 21 East lacked in services it made up for in beauty.
2 down. 8 to go.
We crossed three mountain summits with long, grinding climbs, that were all followed by rewarding downhills.
The wind was the strongest its been yet. We made it 21 miles in 3 hours going at a slight downhill angle. It felt like we were pedaling through sand. Thankfully a bend in the road turned the wind in our favor for our first summit pass.
We saw our fewest amount of cars, and people, during today's ride.
Lesson #27: All that is icy, cold, and refreshing is not gold.
With about 20 miles left until civilization a black GMC that was flying down the road in the other direction came to halt a couple bike's lengths behind us. The driver stuck his hand out the window and the sun reflected off two shiny cans. Mmm, cold soda pop.
Jack and I we're excited to say the least and whipped our bikes around so quick we went right into the shoulder and into a nice patch of low lying thorn bushes.
We thanked our new friends for the cold refreshments, downed them, pulled all the thorns out of our tires and headed on our way. About 3 minutes later Jack's front tire was flat. We missed a thorn. Our streak of no flats (hadn't had one since we had 3 on our first day!) came to and end but if we had to do it all over again those cold sodas made it all worth it
Lesson #28: The desert gets you lost in your head. Quickly.
Many thoughts. Very random. I want to get lost up there more often.
Thank you to the nice strangers for the random act of kindness (Jack said when hiking the Appalachian Trail they call it "trail magic").
get lost. stay lost. soak up that "trail magic". and thanks some more for sharing it...
ReplyDeleteJackie