Torrey, Utah to Blanding, Utah

We started out right from the hotel and rode into Capital Reef National Park.  This was another gorgeous park and one were the Mormons first settled back in the 1800's.  There were many petroglyphs (indian drawings) that you could look at and try to figure out the story they were trying to tell.

The ride today was good.  Beautiful views and no real super hard mountains to climb.  The only concern we had at the end of the ride was that there was no town for another 50 miles (Blanding) so we had to hope in the van and drive to town for a hotel and dinner:(  We did get to see the Natural Bridges National Monument which consisted of three natural bridges carved our the canyons by the colorado river...

Tomorrow, we are changing up the itinerary a bit and heading south (no riding) and going to Monument Valley (the views shown in Forrest Gump, when he was running), the "Four Corners" where Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico state lines all meet and then up to Mesa Verda National Park.  We are looking forward to the rest day and allowing our bodies to recooperate while we site see.

Tropic, Utah to Torrey, Utah

This morning, we took the time to drive through Bryce Canyon National Park and saw some of the most beautiful scenery in America.  As much as I have traveled in my life, I have never seen anything like this--see pictures of week 2.

Once done with our tour, we hopped on the bikes and began the ride to Torrey, Utah (the entrance to Capital Reef National Park).  The ride threw a bit of everything at us from 16% grades, unbelievable views, dangerous roads to high winds coming down off the mountains.  We are defintely feeling stronger with each day's ride, but we are looking forward to a break in Colorado in a few days.  We had dinner at the Rim Rock resturant which came recommended to us becuase of the spectacular views.  We were not disappointed.  The 360 degree views were only outclassed by the food.

We met a few other riders today that are doing the cross country route that we are doing but they started in Yorktown, VA and are riding to San Francisco, CA.  They have been on the road for 8 weeks and have two more weeeks to finish.  That is the biggest difference in our situation.  We only have 44 days to start and complete this ride (6 weeks), and that is really pushing it but I have to get back to my job. 

If you look at the map page, you can see were we are at on a daily basis.  As of today, we are 1/2way through Utah and on our way to Colorado.  We should be in Colorado on Tuesday.

Happy 4th of July to everyone.

Cedar City, Utah to Tropic, Utah

The day started off with a new saddle on the bike and no wind.  Although tired, I was optimistic about the day and ready to get started until I saw the map.  Once again, as we put the tires on the ground, it was nothing but uphill for the next 19.8 miles.  Once on the bike, my knees told me that they had other plans for the day and they let me know that they were sore and in pain.  As the ride progressed to the three mile point, I actually thought I was going to have to stop riding becuase of the pain.  Well, the knees finally gave up sending me the pain signal and I was off and riding and feeling strong.  The moutain threw its best at us with its 8% inclines, switchbacks, and cold air but after three hours of riding at an average of 6.9mph we concurred the mountain and made it to Cedar Breaks National Park.  WOW!!  These were the views I was hoping to see on this trip and I was amazed at the landscape(Pictures on the Week 2 page).  Once in the park, we were up and down on the trailridge road until finally coming out of the park and heading down into Panguitch, Utah.  From there we rode into the Red Canyon Park on our way to Bryce Canyon National Park.  We did a total of 85 miles today and we felt great, saw beautiful views and ended the ride on a downhill with no wind!!

I got upto 51.4 mph on a long downhill--it was awesome and scary at the same time!

The only sad thing about today is that I am missing my family.  I did get to speak with them but it is not the same as giving them a hug and kiss each day:(

Baker, NV to Cedar City, Utah

We started out the day with headwinds and ended the day with headwinds.  We were happy to get out of Nevada with the hope we would leave the winds behind but that did not happen:(  We fought all day with 20 mph headwinds and gusts up to 45mph (pictures will tell the story).   In two spots, we could not ride because it was dangerous; the sidewinds started up and the blowing caused us to move across the highway and the sandstorms caused brownout conditions on the highway (pictures will tell the story).  I took video of the winds and sandstorm and hope to post them once I figure out how to do that.

Last night, in Baker, NV, we met two guys, John and Gustavus (spelling??) who were also doing part of the route we are doing, so we talked for awhile and shared stories until dinner was done and it was time for bed.  This morning, they left earlier than us because they were fully loaded with gear and wanted to get a good start on the day.  We caught up with them about 24 miles into the ride and they were doing a great job going up the hills but I would never want to go fully loaded-across the country--at least this route!  We cheered them on up the hill, wished them luck and continued on our journey.  I can only hope they were able to make it through the dangerous winds and sandstorms.


One funny thing did happen today and that was an almost wreck with two calves (baby cows) that I scared out of the ditch.  I was looking to my left and saw two large cows right next to the road and slowed down in the hopes they would come over to me, but I never saw the babies and they bolted across the road and caused me to go 'off roading' into the ditch and back up onto the street.  After I passed, Don came along and all four cows were in the road and it was a mexican standoff in Utah.  I was laughing as Don tried to figure out a way to get by the cows.  Finally they all moved on and Don was allowed to pass.

This afternoon we made the decision to catch the van into cedar city vs. continue to struggle against the dangerous winds.  It was a hard decision, becuase we both felt good and would have loved to ride some of these beautiful mountain passes, but safety comes before pride in a situation like this. 

I was able to get a new bike seat although I am not real happy since the selection was very minimal but I hope it will finally resolve the chafing issue!

Total Distance:  600 miles
total time44 hrs, 49 minutes
avg pace:  4:31 per mile
avg speed:  13.3mph
Max Speed:  47
calories burned:  34058
avg hrt rate:  147
Max Hrt Rate:  250
Total Adcent:  30725ft

Austin, NV to Eureka, NV

Today was a much better day than yesterday.  After the terrible day yesterday, Don and I both were questioning our training and if we had done enough for this trip...but we came to realize that we can only train so much on 1,000 ft hills in Michigan and that only digging deep and keep conquering the mountains out here will whip us into shape.  The 1/2 day of rest did wonders for the both of us and we felt ready to go today.

Starting out of town we had a 3 mile climb waiting for us at the driveway of the motel we stayed at but it was no problem.  We pedaled away the miles and stayed together today for many of the first 70 miles of the trip; joking around and talking about whatever.  We stopped a few times to take pictures because the views were the best yet on this trip.  The mountains (still with snow) and the cloudless blue skies made for some awesome views.   During the latter part of the 70 miles, I had to stop and make an adjustment on my bike and Don saw this as an opportunity to get ahead of me and make me chase him down.   Well, I was up for the challenge and he gave it a great effort but after 6 miles of all out effort, I caught him and all he could do was laugh as I tried to catch my breath.   We stopped in Eureka, NV for lunch (70 miles into the ride) and decided that we needed to stay here for the night since their was not another town for another 70 miles.  Rod (driver) and Sal (Navigator) found us a nice hotel and Don and I completed the last 30 miles of the day. 

As we climbed out of Eureka, NV  we hit the headwinds straight on.  This is one of a bikers worst nighmares becuase of the effort that has to be put into making any headway.  The gusts knocked us all over the road, and at one point, I was only 4.6 mph and pedaling as hard as I could just to stay up on the bike.   It was not as fun as the first 70 miles.  Once we made a curve around one of the mountains, the wind turned to help us and we had a nice tailwind for the last few miles of the ride.  It was nice to ride at a quick pace of 24mph with minimal effort.

After 100 miles, Don and I were picked up by our saviors, Rod and Sal, who transported us back to the hotel for food and a shower.  We could not do this trip without them and it has been fun listening to them talk about the trip from their perspective. 

I had to buy a seat cover for my saddle (at Walmart) since we have not seen any bike stores for hundreds of miles:( 

Some have asked, so I will post it here:  People want to know about what I am riding:

Giant OCR 2 (all carbonfiber frame and fork)
Ultegra Components throughout
Triple Crankset (52, 39, 28)
Cassette (11-27)
Allay Seat (Racing Pro)
Ksyzium S
Garmin 705 bike computer (this is the most important thing--it tells me the daily route and everything else I need)

Fallon, NV to Austin, NV

Started the day with a flat tire (in the hotel room) and it only went down hill from there.  Not a really hot day but we have tired legs after climbing these mountains the first few days of the trip.  Yesterday's very high temperatures took  a lot out of us and we felt it today.  Chose to end the ride early and rest up for tomorrow's big push from Austin, NV to ????    We are traveling "America's Lonliest Road" which is 150 miles of nothing.  Other than this small town we are in tonight, we have only seen two cars all day!

P.S. When I picture Nevada, I always think it is flat--I was wrong...really, really wrong!

Mindon, NV to Fallon, NV

We got in 101 miles today in pretty good time--less than 6 hours.  The problems were the temperature--98 degrees with a hot wind blowing..picture it this way--take a hair dryer and put it on high, and put it close to your face for two hours.  

I did get up to 47 miles an hour on a downhill today and that was pretty exciting.

I had two tires blow out on me  which was not fun to change in this heat. 

Tired and going to bed!

Back again:  We did pass through Carson City which is a nice mixture of old west and new.  We rode past the "Bunny Ranch" and the "Kit Kat Club" which are popular destinations for a some people but we did not stop to peruse the options! 

On our ride out of town there was a coyote sitting by the side of the road watching us.  To borrow a phrase from a friend of mine, I think the coyote was 'trying to figure us out" and whether or not chasing us was worth the effort.  Thankfully, I can I out sprint Don, so I was not to worried about getting bit. 

Stayed in Mindon, NV

This morning we wanted to get an early start on the ride but had to backtrack 50 miles to get to the starting point.  We found out the hard way there are not many hotels/motels in this area!  We left the hotel at 4am inorder to get on the bikes by 6am.  Once we got riding, I noticed that I was getting a hotspot while on the saddle and found that the stitching busted and is now causing a painful rub that I have to get resolved ASAP, so that I can continue to ride without any discomfort (I know to much information).

The whole ride was a 7% grade with a few 12% grades thrown in just to irritate us.  It was  a day of grinding up hill and we climbed 8,190 feet during the ride.  Ouch. The first 53 miles were all uphill and then the last 27 were downhill or level which was a good reward for the effort we put in all morning.  I was able to get up to 45.3mph on the downhill which was fun, but I then started to think about tires blowing out or brakes not working, so I decided to slow down before I became a statistic.
Hoping for a level ride tomorrow!

I have received a few emails asking what I eat on a day like this, so here is the listing:

B-fast:
Waffle with sryup
Bowl of Captain Crunch Cereal
1 cup of apple juice
1 cup of O.J.
Cheese Danish

During Ride:
4 Power Gels (chocolate or Straw/Bananna)
3 cans of V8 Juice  for the sodium and potassium
3 water bottles of water
3 water bottles of gatorade
1 lunchable (Ham and Cheese)
1 capri sun drink
1 Milky Way bar
3 pickles and juice (sodium)
1 box of raisins
1 twinkie

After Ride:
1 bottle of Chocolate Milk
1 can of Coke
1 box of raisins

Dinner:
Farmers Omlete
2 pieces of Rye toast with butter
1 large order of hashbrowns
2 large glasses of water with extra lemon slices

As you can see, I eat alot but I am burning a lot of calories on these rides...the dinner is really "feeding the machine" for the next day.