Day 14 - Torrey, UT to Hog Wash State Picnic Area, UT

84 miles / Day 14 of 54 / Torrey, UT to Hog Wash State Picnic Area, UT

After sleeping on the floor of a Baptist church (yes there are such things in Utah) we headed towards the nearest bike shop in Torrey because, yet again, Seth had back wheel issues. Seeing a trend here?

We met a guy named Stuart who was a real character and we grew a liking to instantly. Contracted out to help bicyclists at the outdoor store, he came and replaced Seth's spokes that had broken. Gah.

What we enjoyed even more about Stuart was his outlook on life. He had recently come off of a divorce and he explained to us how he had lost everything in the divorce. What was unique about Stuart, though, was his outlook on life. Rarely had either of us seen such a positive outlook, especially by someone who had recently been so down-trodden in his life. We talked about the natural beauty of Utah and the importance of solitude in one's life. Stuart really gave us the motivation and gusto to view our trip as such an important and exciting adventure, especially at a time where our spirits were down a little bit, what with so many bike issues. We talked to Stuart and chatted about life outlooks for over 3 hours. Well worth the late start on the bike.

Lesson #39: Your altitude in life is determined by your attitude.

Thanks, Stuart for your influx of positive attitude. It has fueled us more than you know.

Once we finally got out of Torrey, we were making a pass to what was undoubtedly the highlight of the trip while on-bike to this point. We biked through Capitol Reef National Park. Talk about beauty, how often does one get an opportunity like this? We took all the vistas, buttes and crevices in. Although only 8-10 miles wide, the national park is almost 100 miles long, so we spent the better part of the early afternoon biking through such beauty. I wish I could explain it better, and I wish the pictures did just the smallest amount of justice to the beauty we saw, but alas, it doesn't. Something you simply have to see to believe.

Forget the Bat Mobile Bruce Wayne. The Eagle Van is here to stay.

Oh, and while riding through, Seth's back spoke broke...again... make that five. However, being such a handy fellow and an excellent bike mechanic by this time (I mean how could you not with how many repairs have needed to be done already?) we took an hour or so rest to take it all in, jimmy a new spoke into his back wheel and we were off again.

Capitol Reef National Park.

We went through a weird stretch without any services for 55 miles to a small town called Hanksville and devoured a taco pizza. Side note: The time after Capitol Reef was VERY desolate and VERY eerie. There was no one within sight as we biked those 55 miles, and the land seemed as if it were the surface of the moon, a far cry from the beauty of the canyons in Capitol Reef.

After filling up on water, we were ready for the next 74 miles of no services on our way to Lake Powell. Since we got a late start, we chased the sun all the way and ended up camping at a gorgeous canyon-laced vista sleeping on picnic tables for the night.

Lesson #40:  Any night you don't have to get out the tent is a good night.

Day 13 - Escalante, UT to Torrey, UT

66 miles / Day 13 of 54 / Escalante, UT to Torrey, UT

We woke up well rested, feeling cleaner than we've felt all trip, after getting a hot shower and washing our clothes at the nicest RV park we've seen yet.

We got a quick breakfast at the local coffee shop, the owner was concerned about some big virus sweeping across the world (we hadn't heard anything about this yet) and was frantically wiping down all surfaces with Clorox bleach wipes. Glad we were protected.

We left breakfast full and feeling leery of the 26 mile and 5,000 foot climb that lay ahead. It was time to get it.

Our climb was broken into two parts, separate by the small town (pop. 205) of Boulder, Utah. The climb up to boulder was absolutely gorgeous. We hugged the Escalante River for the first part, the road leading us between towering canyon walls on both sides.

We made it to the top of our first set of canyons for the day and rode the Devil's Backbone what felt like alongside the clouds. 4,000 feet in the air with no guardrails or shoulders on either side of the road.

Lesson #35: Don't stress. Things are meant to be used. And when you use something long enough it is going to eventually break.

As we were closing in on Boulder I heard a speaking that sounded like something being tightened on my back wheel and then a pop. I had broken a spoke. Again. 3rd one this trip.

We pulled over and started unpacking the gear so we could fix the tire. Before we could even pop off the back wheel a Subaru pulled over with a full size bike pump hanging out the window.

Side note - the difference in ease between pumping a tire with a hand pump and a full size pump cannot be articulated fully with words. In terms of time and effort saved by using a full size pump its the equivalent of traveling by horse drawn wagon or cruising in along in a smooth and reliable '93 Ford Taurus.

We trued up the back wheel as best we could and crossed our fingers we could make it the remaining 50 or so miles with a bum back wheel to Torrey where there was a bike shop.

Lesson #36: There isn't a lot of diversity in Utah. At all.

Thank you Sanjay and Carol!

Sanjay and Carol, our new full size pump lending friends, have lived in Utah for the last four years. They told us about how they loved the scenery, beautiful parks and trails and incredible landscapes but were excited to move to Colorado next month. Carol told us her and Sanjay were the only inter racial couple in Cedar City, Utah.

We downed a few burgers for a late lunch and jumped back on the road for the final 16 miles of climbing. As we were pulling out an old man yelled - "You're heading that way!? Get ready for a few hours of hell." Great.

The climb was long, and hot, and we took many frequent breaks every few miles. As we were approaching the summit there was a large herd of cows on both sides of the road, and throughout the forest.

Growing up in Iowa we've been having staring contests with pigs since day one. These cows didn't mess around. They stood right on the shoulder of the road and kept a firm, emotionless stare that didn't break. Ever. Stone cold stunners up there.

We crossed the summit, relieved and back wheel still intact.

We flew the last 20 or so miles downhill into Torrey and stopped at the local gas station to reload.

The man behind the counter turned out to be the pastor of the local Southern Baptist Church in Torrey. He generously told us we could stay there for the night and use the restrooms there. It was a small church that was left open and  unlocked, 24/7.

Thank you to the pastor.

Here's hoping to quick repairs tomorrow morning at the bike shop and full day on the road. Utah is gorgeous.

Day 12 - Paguitch, UT to Escalante, UT

70 miles / Day 12 of 54 / Paguitch, UT to Escalante, UT

As beautiful as yesterday was, today had to have topped it. Our prettiest day yet.

After hiding behind gravel for the night, hoping not to have some overly-ambitious farmer coming after us with a shotgun, we made quick haste this morning and got out of Dodge (well, Paguitch). I was specifically excited about today, as we would be biking through a national park and biking through a national monument as well.

After 25 miles of hilly roads, we were in Red Canyon with absolutely gorgeous views of red painted bluffs, spires, columns and down thrusts. It set us up nicely for what was to come with Bryce Canyon National Park.

We decided to take a few hours off of the bike and tool around the National Park for a little bit. The canyon is named after farmer Ebenezer Bryce, the first inhabitant of the area who exclaimed "this would be the toughest spot to lose a cow" and the rest was history.

We took the shuttle to two different vistas where we got out and took pictures. It was nice to get away from the bikes for a few hours and refresh.

Lesson #34: Don't be overly ambitious. Take a little bit at a time, rest and renew yourself for the journey ahead.

Two random thoughts I had while at Bryce Canyon:

1. The influx of Asian and European tourists at the national park. After thinking for a while, I was really glad that these visitors chose a national park of all places to spend their time while in America. Much better than shopping in New York City, South Beach or Hollywood in Los Angeles. Getting to see America in its truest and most beautiful form.

2. I met a touring group of older adults who were from Ohio (!) and taking a bus around the West to visit many national parks. The majority were 70+, many with canes, wheelchairs or oxygen tanks. I started to reflect on being at the same spot as these older adults at the same time. It really made me appreciate my health and ability to continuously pedal across the country. Extremely thankful for this opportunity, and despite sore legs at the end of the day, fantastic health. And I hope when I'm older, I'll still be able to scoot around like they did and appreciate nature.

I loved Bryce Canyon, and it was amazing to see God's beauty and majesty spread out before us. From Bryce Canyon, we continued east and biked the rest of our 40 miles through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Talk about beauty... The newest of the national park monuments, Bill Clinton signed into law that the area would be preserved as such, and I'm sure glad he did. We had a terrific climb back up to 7500+ and saw painted mountains and spires set out before us for the duration of our ride. Simply gorgeous. Also, we reached a point that was the last discovered point in the continental United States back in the 1870's thanks to our good buddy Major John Wesley Powell, who was also the first to raft down the Colorado (Lance). It was literally the last place to be drawn on the map of the U.S. It was just a hole in the map before.

Great day riding and we ended up in Escalante, a cool little mountain town where we get a shower (two in the last five days?!?  Crazy talk. And a laundromat...now we're living too comfortably.

Blessed by another beautiful day and ready to climb again to 11000+. Whew!

Day 11 - Cedar City, Utah to Panguitch, Utah

58 miles / Day 11 of 54 / Cedar City, Utah to Panguitch, Utah

Lesson #32: Make the most out of balling on a budget.

We wanted to get every penny out of our $40 splurge for our motel room so we slept in, showered (twice), grabbed the extra TP for the road, and checked out 1 minute before our check out time.

Hard to tell, but take our word for it, this was a crazy climb.

We had a big big climb ahead of us. Today was our biggest climb in Utah in one day. We started at 6,000 feet and were going to be above 10,500 for first time all trip!

Feeling a little intimidated by the climb ahead we distracted ourselves and loaded up with sandwiches and cookies at local bread shop before heading out of town.

Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Lesson #33: There are a lot of honkeys in Utah.

Well, we need to check that last lesson but there were white people crawling all over Cedar City. It felt very different. Everyone looked so happy. Kids on kids everywhere.

Started from the bottom...now we're tired and trying to catch our breathe, stuck somewhere in the middle.

After drinking as many cups of free ice cold water we could we left Cedar City and ventured east towards the looming canyon ahead. Today was by far the prettiest Day. It took us 4 to 5 hours to climb the 26 miles to the top of the canyon wall. Most of our riding was on narrow roads with a minimal shoulder. The cars, trucks and semis passing were more than patient with us on the steep mountain climbs and switchbacks. Jack and I stopped often to grub on some granola and catch our breathe.

At the top of the pass was Cedar Breaks National Monument. Below was a gorgeous valley or orange and red rock that had been eroded for the past few million years. Quite breathe taking.

Our reward for the day was the ride down other side. Had our first crash of the trip, took a turn way to hard and fast and landed bike and all in the shoulder as a result. Thankfully I fell into sand and the bike and I were fine.

Jack and I stretched the final few miles longer than we planned so we could enjoy the extra sunlight on this summer solstice.

We pitched camp in what looked to be the start of a roadside construction zone. We pitched the tent behind the cover of a fresh gravel pile, out of the view of the main road and fell asleep to shotgun shots off in the distance that seemed to come from the ominous road behind the gravel pile.

Bryce Cannon and Grand Staircase National Monument on deck for tomorrow. Excited.

Day 10 - Milford, Utah to Cedar City, Utah

56 miles / Day 10 of 54 / Milford, Utah to Cedar City, Utah

We've been pretty lucky throughout our first nine days with lodging, weather, etc. Today was a real testament to our willpower and our grit.

Lesson #29: Even your best laid plans can and will fall through. Don't let it get to you.

We woke up early after tenting in an abandoned parking lot on the edge of town. We only had 56 miles to go today and one mountain pass. Our plan was to get into Cedar City (yes, an actual city with 25,000+ people early in the afternoon, find a bike shop, get repairs and relax all afternoon. Our first real short day since Day 4.)

First things first, Seth had a punctured tube and first thing in the morning we had to replace it. Look for the trend here.

Once that was repaired, we were on the road through a country valley and I got a thorn in my tire 5 miles down the road and popped a tube. Had to re lace the tube. Flat count for the day = 2.

We were ascending our pass for the day and Seth blew his back tire. Flat count = 3. Once that was repaired, we got over the summit and on the descent, Seth popped ANOTHER tube on his back tire. Flat count for the day = 3.

After putting a new tube on his back tire, we were descending and Seth popped his back tire AGAIN. For those of you keeping score at home, that's 3 flats for Seth in a 30 mile stretch. You can't make this up, folks. At this time, we had no more tubes. Who would've thought that we would have four flats in one day? So, we tried patching an old tube and covering up the hole and that tire blew. Flat = 4 for the day.

It was getting to a really irritating point with so much bad luck and such a short distance to go that day.

Lesson #30: Sometimes your best medicine is laughter.

That's about all we could do after such a ridiculous day. Laugh it off and hope we could make it to Cedar City. After all, we have had such an amazing trip that it would take more than a horribly bad luck day to bring down our spirits. We had one more broken tube that we patched with super glue and Seth had to pump up his tire three times to prevent a slow leak and so we could limp to town.

Finally, we saw town about 12-15 miles away and then the winds came. Blowing in our face at 25-30 mph for the rest of our ride, it took us 2.5+ hours to make it that last 12 miles or so. Cedar City apparently REALLY didn't want us to come.

After such a crazy day we laughed about it, cut our losses, ponied up and bought our first cheap motel room of the trip for the night. We ordered pizzas and watched game 7 of the NBA finals. Author's Sidenote: Timmy Duncan how do you miss the bunny? Tony Parker why are you on the bench during crunch time? Manu Ginobli, why are you trying to make any passes down the stretch? Ugh,

It was good to shower, relax and get a bed for the night. Which brings me to the wise words of Aziz Ansari -

Lesson #31: Treat yo' self.

Day 9 - Baker, NV to Milford, Utah

84 miles / Day 9 of 54 / Baker, NV to Milford, Utah

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").

Day 8 - Ely, NV to Baker, NV

63 miles / Day 8 of 54 / Ely, NV to Baker, NV (Great Basin National Park)

After a great night with our hitchhiking friend Jeff, we found ourselves at a bike shop in Ely after Seth's back wheel and tire became reminiscent of a Stephen King novel.

We met Colton, a college- aged guy who definitely knew what he was talking about with bikes. In just a few hours time, he rebuilt Seth's back wheel, changed the spokes, installed a new back tire, added his fender, fixed his rear brake...and at the same time checked my bike for any major issues. Sure enough I had a hidden broken spoke on my tire that was going to ruin our day at any moment, and Colton rebuilt my wheel as well.

Thank you Colton.  Bikes went from broken to fixed thanks to you.

At a normal bike shop, these types of repairs would have cost anywhere north of $100, per bike. Together, they cost less than $20. Way below market value. It's amazing how much Colton discounted everything. He could see that we were eager to keep going at a minimal cost, and came through in the clutch.

Lesson #25: Mom and Pop stores trump corporate megastores.

We appreciate you, Colton, and will continue to go local with bike shops!

After a Mickey D's stop... (Side tangent, we've become really good at a few things on this trip. 1. Looking for free wifi and 2. Finding public outlets to charge our stuff. Mickey D's ranks #1 on our depth charts due to high visibility outlets and always free wifi. More to come.) we were on the road shooting for Baker, NV.

It was another beautiful day on the road, but with no services for the next 63 miles we made sure to stock up on our water supply. Hit two mountain passes and got to our first National Park, Great Basin National Park. Thought of you, Ted Behar, hitting our first National Park...more to come!

Got to Baker, population 58 with the sun setting behind our backs on 13,0000+ ft peaks in the national park. Was pleasantly surprised with our campsite, including laundry (!) and showers (!). First laundry stint of our trip, much needed. First shower for Seth in a few days, I won't tell you the last time I showered.

We finished our night at a beautiful bar/restaurant/motel combo. Fantastic pizza and drinks. Reminded me of a little Saxapahaw, great microbrews, wines and artwork for sale.

Lesson #26: No matter where you're from, there will always be people who love their hometown. Embrace it and learn something from them.

Spent the night learning about the history of this 58 person town and fell asleep to the sound of owls hooting and crickets chirping. Life is good.