Over the last few days I've been able to really crank out some mileage, meet a lot of great folks (including a new riding buddy), and see some of the most beautiful scenery in the entire country. I've encountered some interesting changes in weather and am down to my last 800 miles. I expect to be in San Francisco within the next 10-12 days if all goes well, but we'll see how things play out.
Day 36 - I left Nicks at around 7 this morning heading toward Blanding, UT. I grabbed a quick snack and took off. About 2 hours in, I stopped for breakfast in Dove City. My legs were pretty shot from the climbs yesterday and the short, but steep, hills today didn't really help the pedaling. Nonetheless, I was set on making Blanding because it's the last town on route for the next 120ish miles and will be my last chance to stock up on food and lots of water. There wasn't too much scenery today until the very end - I saw some beautiful mountains in the distance that I'll be seeing more up close in the next couple days. I've heard that the upcoming scenery is among the best in the entire country, but I'll have to see for myself. As I was finishing up the ride into Blanding, a car passed me and the driver was waving like a mad man - I waved back and kept climbing uphill. Once I got to the top I saw the same car pulled over and the driver standing next to the car. I pulled over and ended up having about a 20-30 minute conversation with Frosty, a fellow cyclist extraordinaire. He said he saw me riding and wanted to know more about my trip and my story. He's ridden cross-country numerous times and is about to ride the great divide from Mexico to Canada for the 4th time. He's been touring for over 40 years and has covered over 150,000 miles - yes you read that correctly - one hundred and fifty thousand miles on his bike all through the US, South America, Europe, Antarctica, everywhere. Some of his stories were amazing. He writes for a number of cycling magazines and has written a couple of books. He gave me some pointers, motivation, and his well wishes and took off. I made it to Blanding and am relaxing before heading into the next 120 miles of nothing tomorrow. The weather looks clear and warm for tomorrow - I've got the sunscreen and water ready.
Day 37 - today was interesting for sure. From Blanding, UT to Hanksville, UT there is a stretch of about 126 miles with the only services/resources about 3 miles off route 80 miles in. The original plan was to ride the 80 miles with extra water and food and go off route to camp at the Hite Recreational Area where they have water, food and camping in the middle of the desert. However, I made sure to pack enough supplies to last the full 126 miles to Hanksville. I got started around 7 and was pedaling really well and the closer I got to Hite the more I debated just heading to Hanksville. When I got to the Hite turnoff I just went for it. I had been snacking constantly and had brought almost 200 ounces of water so I knew I could make it. It was about 90 degrees or higher and a bit of a risk but I was feeling great. About 30 of the last 50 miles were slightly uphill - I should have stopped to reapply sunscreen and refill my bottles, but I was pedaling so well uphill that I didn't want to stop for fear that my legs might not feel as well after stopping, so I waited til I got to the top of the climb to refill my water bottles with my camelbak and reapply sunscreen. It worked out perfectly. I made it into Hanksville - 126 miles and my longest ride yet. As I was about to pull in to a gas station for some ice cold liquids I heard a horrible crashing noise - I thought I might have popped a tire or run over a rock or something, but I kept going. I pulled into the gas station and relaxed with some ice cold water, Gatorade and milk. I started looking at my bike and I immediately noticed that my gopro was missing. In a panicked frenzy I got off the phone with my mom and hopped on my bike back up the road to find my gopro. Fortunately, it was still lying in the middle of the road, but unfortunately my mount has somehow snapped in half - I guess that's it for my gopro footage. I was lucky that this happened so close to town and I didn't completely lose my gopro. I'm interested to see how I feel tomorrow - hopefully I won't be feeling the wrath of today's 126 miles in the Utah desert heat. I'll be camping out for the night since the weather is nice and I'll be shooting for another 80-90 mile day tomorrow as long as I'm feeling well. The weather should be nice, but I'll be getting an early start to avoid some of the heat and wind. The scenery out here is breathtaking - no words or amount of pictures can describe this place, you just have to experience it for yourself. I'm down to only about 1,050 miles left to San Francisco and at my current pace could very well be there in the next two weeks!
Day 38 - well I think Mother Nature woke up this morning and said 'hey let's make Eric's ride today super hard.' I woke up early and wanted to get an early start to give myself a shot to make Escalante if I could. Well that didn't happen - I made it about 87 miles to Boulder, UT. It was windy from the start and I felt a little sluggish. I had some poptarts and crackers to eat before heading out and I planned on stopping for food in Torrey. It was very pretty rolling through the Capital Reef National Park, but other than that the scenery wasn't as spectacular today as it was yesterday, the gloomy weather today didn't really help either. I had a couple good climbs early that turned into long gradual climbs, but I wasn't pedaling well so it took a while to get to Torrey. After about 3 hours I stopped for breakfast hoping that would help.. It didn't. I felt really sluggish after eating, but kept pedaling anyways - I was set on making Boulder at the very least. After a couple miles I felt so sluggish that I just decided to pull off the side of the road and give it a few minutes to rest. I called my mom to keep me company for a few minutes. Well the break didn't really help and also knowing that I had some tough climbing ahead (10% grade) didn't help either. Every ounce of me wanted to either walk or hitchhike to the top of that mountain. It was a long climb that was being made worse by the increasing winds. I stopped a couple times on the way up just to give myself a break and to eat some snacks. Days like today are the days where you know that if you can make it through today, then you can make it through anything. I kept pressing on and finally made the top - 9,600 ft. When I got to the top I put on my long sleeves and gloves for he descent. A few minutes later I finally arrived in Boulder, Utah. This place is tiny - had I not stopped at a convenience store when I did, I probably would have missed the town altogether. I was exhausted and wanted food and a place to sleep. The weather and my exhaustion forced me to get a motel room that doesn't even have Internet service - what is this like 1990? Regardless I am going to be sleeping like a baby tonight. I grabbed some food and am about to call it a night at 7pm. Tomorrow looks like there is a chance of rain so I'm going to try to get an extra early start to try and avoid the wind and rain. I'm hoping to make it another 80 or so, but we'll see how it goes.
Day 39 - well after 9-10 hours of sleep last night I felt pretty refreshed today. I went to bed at 730ish and slept til around 5. There was a chance of rain today and I wanted to try and avoid it if at all possible. I headed out of Boulder down into the Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument and it was amazing - my descent was pretty much a 14% grade with no guardrail and drop offs on both sides. I made it into the town of Escalante after climbing back out of the canyon and had some breakfast. I made another looong gradual climb out of town and met a Chinese cyclist heading to Virginia Beach along the way. I reached the summit and ran into a couple cyclists from Salt Lake City who were doing a quick, supported, weekend tour around the area. They were super nice and gave me some food and refilled my water. I descended down into Tropic where I ran into the same cyclists again and they showered me with food again - it was a touring cyclists dream! I got rained on a bit just before Tropic so I called my mom to check the weather and see if I had a shot at making this town called Ruby's Inn - and I did so I went for it. I made yet another climb and at the top ran into another cyclist on tour. His name is Cole and he's headed west then north from Denver to Portland. After talking and riding together for a few minutes we decided to team up for the next couple days and also decided to head to Panguitch, Utah for the day. In route to Panguitch we passed through Bryce Canyon National Park and that may have been some of the most beautiful scenery of the entire trip - the rock tunnels covering the road were amazing. We finally made it to Panguitch and grabbed some food and a cheap cabin at KOA - it was just as cheap as a tent space and there's a chance of rain tonight so it was a no brainer. He's about my age and has been stealth camping along the way. We're teaming up for at least the next couple days and heading to Cedar City tomorrow.
Day 40 - today was tough. I was excited to get into Cedar City and finish up another map, but I wasn't expecting the challenge that we encountered. We left Panguitch and immediately started climbing. We knew the road at the top of the pass was closed so we knew we would have to detour. Once we got up to Panguitch Lake we got the directions and took off - we were told to take Mammoth Creek road and at the end turn right and it goes downhill to Cedar City from there. Easy enough, right? So we get to the end, turn right and go slightly downhill to this pizza place. I ask the waitress how far it is to Cedar City and she says 'oh about 30 miles. You'll get to the top of this hill right here and it's all downhill. It's mostly downhill.' Well after about 15 miles of climbing into a snowstorm, we finally made it to the top of that 'hill' and descended the last 16 miles into Cedar City. The crummy weather made for a cold descent, but I'm glad it was snow and not a super wet rain. We climbed for about 50 miles to just over 10,000 ft and ended up riding around 70 miles for the day. The scenery was great throughout, but the cloud cover and snow made be sights difficult to see up top. The streams going up the climb to Panguitch Lake, and the lake itself, were beautiful. When we finally arrived in Cedar City we went straight to the grocery store and racked up. We're posted up at a cheap hotel for the night and prepping for Nevada within the next couple days.
http://www.ridewithoutlimits.org/goto/Eric_Johnson
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