Utah: Life Elevated

Coming out of Moab, we had our longest day of the trip! 121 miles north to Price, Utah.

We started right at sunrise, and everyone was in pretty rough shape after our non-restful rest day and late bedtime. Our cheer that morning sounded more like a zombie chant than a cheer. 

That day Joanna and I decided to ride in a group of 2. It was a bold move because after 121 miles you would probably run out of things to talk about. But we were both getting tired of bigger groups. The more people you have in your ride group, the less efficient you are.. it takes forever to round everyone up at water stops, you usually find your group spreading out on the road, and you have more of a chance of getting held up with flats. Joanna and I are pretty much the same speed and she is always fun and easygoing, so to avoid frustration on the super long day we decided to chill in a group of 2.

Joanna going over one of the cattle grates

Trail coming out of Moab.

The elevation was pretty flat for the day, but I remember it being hard because I was so, so tired. But at the first water stop we discovered we'd be getting treated like kings for the day! Dan and Julie were in the water van, and in an effort to make our lives easier on our super long and hot day, they decided to provide us with 5-star service!

As we rolled up to the water van Julie took our water bottles off our bikes for us, filled them, and replaced them. She also pumped up anyone's tires that needed air, like a pit stop! Meanwhile Dan was taking food orders from the snacks we had in the van. He was cutting up fruit and bagels and serving them with peanut butter, nutella, and cream cheese - all made to order. That meant that we riders could just roll in, and rest until we had food handed to us. It was pretty ideal. Dan and Julie set a new standard for water van service that day.

Due to the lack of paved roads in Utah we were on the interstate (I-70) again, this time for about 24 miles. Just a few miles in to the interstate section, we started seeing "Road Work Ahead" signs. I immediately thought, uh oh, this can't be good - envisioning the shoulder and right lane being closed, I figured there would be no way we could bike through a road work section of the interstate. There were groups in front of Joanna and me, so I expected that any minute we'd come up and see them stopped trying to figure out what to do.

That never happened - what actually happened was a pretty ideal situation! Traffic was diverted to the furthest left lane and the rest of the road was closed off to cars but was newly paved and perfectly clear of debris. So we had two full lanes of really smooth pavement all to ourselves, and tons of space between us and the cars. Woo hoo!!! (You really learn to appreciate smooth pavement on the 4K.)

That coupled with the fact that it was a slight downhill meant we FLEW through this section of the ride! It was fantastic! We were cruising easily at 22 mph for most of it. We were, however, slowed down by not one, not two, but THREE flat tires in this segment!! All from the same cause: Staples!!! Apparently in Utah throwing staples out your car window is a popular pastime. Grrrrr.

This sign confirmed that we were out in the boonies: no services on I-70 next 106 miles!

Joanna and I worked really well in our group of two and amazingly enough didn't hate each other or get bored of each other by the end of the ride. We didn't have to wait for anyone and we always knew where the rest of our group was. We found some games to play: mostly the alphabet game, where you go through the alphabet and ask questions that begin with each letter, and 4K Superlatives. It was hot but I really didn't mind Utah's heat at all. It was such a dry heat! I'd heard about "dry heat" but never experienced it until this trip. And it really isn't bad! 98 degrees feels hot, yes, but not like you're drowning in a pool of sweat and need to jump in the nearest body of water, as 98 degrees feels in Maryland.

Ok maybe we did start to go a little crazy after like 90 miles of desert and no civilization.

Pretty views!

We were making pretty good time and with the flat elevation profile and early wakeup, we made it to mile 90 before we even ate lunch. At the time that was totally normal and we didn't think twice about it, but now that I'm writing about it I'm thinking, uhhh we biked 90 miles before even eating lunch..?? Ok, maybe we are a little bit crazy.

This is us at the lunch stop huddling in the very sparse shade....

After lunch was when the distance of this ride started to hit us. A storm was rolling in and it got very windy. Not to mention I think our legs realized what we were doing to them and started protesting. The good news was the temperature dropped like 15 degrees; the bad news was we were seeing lightning in the distance and threatening rainclouds headed our way. We were literally in the middle of the desert with absolutely nowhere to take shelter for miles.

We didn't have much choice but to keep moving, which we did until we saw lightning too close for comfort. We got off our bikes and climbed into a ditch on the side of the road, putting our bikes a good 20 yards away from us. Another group soon came up behind us and joined us in our hiding spot. Although it was a ditch it really wasn't much protection at all and it was pretty scary.

We sat in the ditch for a bit, staring at the storm.... which somehow wasn't moving. It didn't seem to be getting closer or further so we didn't really know what to do. No one had cell service so we couldn't check the radar. #4Kproblems. Eventually we decided we were probably just as much at risk in the ditch as we were on our bikes so we got back on and kept riding. Just another day on the 4K. Those last 30 miles were brutal.... but we made it! 

That day we stayed at Utah State University and got to eat in their dining hall for free which was pretty exciting. We kind of went to town on the unlimited cereal.... We don't eat a lot of cereal on the trip because we can't keep milk, and I guess we missed it.

The next day we were headed 75 miles to Provo, Utah. Again heading north. This section of our route was a bit strange because we went so far south to go to Moab so we spent a few days going north.

The day started with a pretty difficult climb but was rumored to be all downhill after that. Here's the first water stop, which took place in the middle of the climb:

The water van is not there because it was going to pick up Nitkin who was on his third flat of the day and needed a new tire. If the water van needs to leave to help someone, it leaves the water, snacks and water van passenger at the stop.

Desert-mountains?

In keeping with the previous day's excellent water van service, Sarah and Meredith served us food and also set up this sign to remind us to wear our sunscreen, using this poster of Jared that we got in Ohio and still put on display all the time.

 

Although this was supposed to be an "easy" day at sub-80 miles, it turned out to be really challenging. I think it was partly the fact that we were coming off of an 120-mile day and partly the crazy headwinds we were experiencing. There was a lot of downhill but it seriously felt like uphill with all the wind!! When we were going downhill, if we stopped pedaling we would come to a stop. It was ridiculous! Winds make a hugeeee difference for better or for worse when you're on a bike.

Wind farm ahead..... BAD SIGN!

As we were nearing the end of the ride, we passed a shaved ice stand and my ride group wanted to stop and get snow cones. However, we had less than 10 miles left and I wasn't feeling a snow cone; instead I just wanted to get to the host. I went on alone with the approval of my group. Usually we aren't allowed to bike alone due to safety, but since there were less than 10 miles to go and I'd be ahead of my group rather than behind, it was a fine idea.

I put on music and was going pretty fast, enjoying my rare time to myself. UNTIL, not even a mile down the road, I ran over something ridiculously sharp and heard a large BAM as my tire blew out. I immediately knew something was very wrong but I never imagined my tire to look like this:

Whatever cut my tire went clean through the entire inner tube and also straight through to the base of the tire. I thought it was glass, but our mechanics said glass wouldn't have been able to cut it that cleanly and that deeply; they think it had to be a 2-inch razorblade or something. I really have no idea because whatever cut it flew off the road and I heard it clang somewhere off the side as it landed.

I considered patching the tube and going on. Just kidding, there was no way this tire was getting repaired. I needed a new one. So I had to call the water van and get picked up. I then had the lovely project of replacing my tire ahead of me.

Provo was right next to mountains!! It was pretty. Luckily we didn't have to go over them.

We did a Wal-Mart run and saw a sign for Las Vegas!! Wooo!

The next day we had a SUPER short day at only 50 miles to Salt Lake City! I was in water van and it was pretty uneventful. I did have to reroute riders to a parallel street for about 5 miles of the route because there was a parade going on. Oops. We should've just joined the parade.

We were in suburbs the whole day and there were countless places for riders to stop for food, water, and bathrooms, so we were almost unnecessary. Riders did decided to stop whenever they wanted for all of the above and that resulted in everyone getting really spread out along the road, which was the only part that did make our day difficult. Most everyone got in before noon which was fantastic!!

After showering we went to deliver our second scholarship of the trip! We were all pretty excited because we had a great time doing that back in Cincinnati. Tiffany read the essay that she won the scholarship with and then we presented her with a giant check! 

Tiffany holding her scholarship check :)

We then hung out with her family for a little while and we may have accidentally eaten all the snacks we brought before we could share them with her family. Oops. #4Kproblems

Before dinner we had a little bit of time to check out the Mormon temple in Salt Lake. It was awesome!! You aren't allowed to go in the temple unless you're Mormon but there is an adjacent museum that we checked out.

Our hosts in Salt Lake were my aunt's uncle and his church and family. Even though I've only met them once, at my aunt's wedding 15 years ago, they were still sooo nice to us and took great care of us. They made us an awesome dinner and breakfast and made sure all our needs were taken care of. They also took out photos of 6-year-old me at my aunt's wedding and embarrassed me to my teammates :)

From Salt Lake, we headed into Logan, Utah! We started out the morning being held up by a train... the train wasn't moving.

4K traffic problems.

For some reason it took us 20 minutes to realize that there was a bridge over the tracks like a quarter mile away. None of us were really thinking straight at that hour of the morning. Eventually we took the bridge...

Pretty views!

My group was me, Joanna and Dan, and we were frustrated with several flats that day, but we kept a good attitude. We had a lot of time to talk and we came up with the idea to play 4K singles, a dating game with the team (as a joke). We spent a large portion of the ride coming up with how we would do the game. 

We had a pretty significant mountain to climb that day -- nothing like the Rockies, but still not a joke. I think it was about a 6-mile climb. It took us quite a while and we were definitely hangry when we reached the top. Luckily there was food waiting for us :) Thank you food van!

Approaching the mountain

That night we stayed in dorms again and I was a very happy camper!!! I had my own room all to myself and a lovely bed to sleep in. It's the little things :)

We really enjoyed Utah... mountains, canyons and desert all in the same place was pretty neat. "Utah: Life Elevated" is the slogan on Utah license plates and refers to the high elevation of the entire state. The next day we were off to explore new territory: Idaho!!

From the mountains to the high desert: casually biking through canyons

After hearing some really bad news on the home front, I haven't felt up to blogging for a while. Then I realized many people are enjoying following my blog and I can't just leave you guys hanging. Plus, I like writing and it could bring me enjoyment. I may or may not write a blog post on the news at some point, but for now I'm going to keep it to the trip, which has been awesome as usual.

Our last day climbing in the Rockies brought us up McClure Pass: a short but very steep mountain! This is what our elevation profile looked like:  

Hmm.. wonder where the mountain is??

As you can see, we spent the first 20 miles approaching the mountain, then 3 miles climbing it and 3 miles descending it, both at steep grades of 8%, and then the entire rest of the day was downhill!

At the base of the mountain. McClure Pass Summit: 3 miles!
A 3-mile climb isn't very long, but this was really steep.

Picture-perfect view of the valley on the way up

Becky on the way up, and Zach in the background! Zach is one of the best climbers on our team and we call him King of the Mountain.

Arrived at the summit!

At the summit, we all reconvened and celebrated finishing our last mountain pass of the Rockies. It was also a sad moment, though, because we really really loved the Rockies. Yes they were challenging, but they were so much fun. 

We also met some guys that were doing a bike trip themselves, a shorter and more laid-back one but McClure Pass was certainly not laid back. They were actually carrying all their stuff on their bikes. I can honestly say I would never do this trip without support vans. Anyway they were just chilling at the top of the mountain hanging out. I talked to a few of them about our trip and they told me I had "cyclist legs" and to not get married anytime soon. Thanks for the advice, random guys! I gave them my blog link so they might be reading this.

The descent from the mountain was crazy fun because an 8% grade means you can go super fast. Of course I am a very cautious rider so I watched my speed but it was still really fun anyway. Also, we were all in good spirits because it was literally downhill for the entire rest of the day. 

We stopped close to the bottom of the mountain and Dave found a skeleton, we think of a cow. We now have a piece of this skeleton hanging from the water van rearview mirror...

Views for the rest of the day were gorgeous!

"Hotchkiss: 24." 

Seeing these signs is one of my favorite parts of everyday 4K life because each time you pass a sign there is less mileage to your destination. Ok, that's obvious, but it's just cool to see the mileage gradually go down and feel like you are nearing your destination. Just one of the things I look forward to each day :) 

We passed through the town of Paonia. We were losing elevation!

The remainder of the day was pretty uneventful and went by quickly. It was mostly easy cruising and we got to take in some beautiful views of the remaining smaller mountains and lakes. It was a Sunday and there were many vacationers out on the lake in their boats.

Just before getting to our host, we noticed this storm just to our left:

Just then, less than a mile out from our host.... Dave got a flat. As he started to change it, this threatening storm was approaching. Dave changed it quickly and we hopped back on our bikes as fast as we could. We were racing this storm for sure. The winds had picked up and the temperature had dropped, but we were so close to the host. We kicked it into full gear and raced to the host. A few raindrops had just started falling when we pulled in, but we beat it!

That night we were at Hotchkiss High School and I was slightly terrified because a scorpion was found inside the gym we were sleeping in. I found a spot far from the doors and luckily did not get attacked by any scorpions. I did check my cleats in the morning. Thankfully also scorpion-free. 

Becky, Chelsea and I went out to look for breakfast donations before going to bed. It was a really small town with only about 3 open food establishments. So we didn't have much luck, but we did end up getting a $25 gift certificate to the local grocery store. We have gotten pretty good at feeding a team of 25 on a budget of $25. We got bagels, cream cheese, juice, and some fruit.

Somewhere between Carbondale and Hotchkiss, the scenery had taken an undoubtable change back towards desert rather than mountains. We were in for more desert the next day.

Leaving Hotchkiss and heading for our last stop in the great state of Colorado, Grand Junction, we had the Rockies in our rearview :( 

Mountains behind us, desert in front of us.

We actually had a fairly short day that day at 60-something miles, and it went by quickly due to great weather, playing games with teammates, and a FANTASTIC tailwind! Here are some pictures from the desert!!

Water stop panorama

Jared, Gina, and Dave at the water stop

4K water van in the desert

Casual desert cliffs

MESAS!

Bighorn sheep!!! Ahh!!!

In Grand Junction, we were welcomed by Colorado Mesa University, aptly named for the millions of awesome mesas surrounding it! Also, dorms = BEDS!! 

Since we got in pretty early, Ashley and I went out and looked for grocery store donations in preparation for our two days in Moab, where we knew it would be hard to get donations because of its touristy nature.

Mesas surrounding the town

Kei$ha, our water van, had been yelling at us for the past few days with warnings that she needed to get an oil change. So, Ashley and I being good citizens and having the utmost car knowledge (....), we decided that while we were out we would take her to the doctor.

Kei$ha getting her teeth brushed.

By explaining our cause we were able to get a 50% discount. Thank you Grease Monkey!! They also offered to vacuum the inside of the car. We just looked at each other and asked if they had seen the inside of the car. Kei$ha is so packed with stuff that there was about 1 square foot of carpet for them to vacuum. Oops...

That night we decided to make use of our extra free time by going bowling! There was $2 bowling at a nearby place so we all went, and I thoroughly embarrassed myself as I usually do when coordination is involved. 

The next morning we had 108 miles to ride which meant no daylight to waste! However, it took us forever to get moving for two reasons: one, it was a mail drop, which always means chaos, and two, whenever we are all separated (i.e. dorms) it takes us forever to reconvene in the morning because people think they can sleep an extra 5 minutes, which turns into an extra 45 minutes (...not saying I'm not guilty of this either).

Anyway, we finally got on the road and suddenly we found ourselves in Utah!!! 

We were sad to leave Colorado, but excited to be in a new state. We were really looking forward to Moab and especially our rest day there!

Above was typical of our scenery for the first half of the day. Desert, desert, and more desert!! Also, no cars and no civilization. We saw a wild antelope prancing about and that was pretty exciting. We also were introduced to what "open range" means. It means cattle can graze wherever they want. There are cattle grates on the roads to prevent the cattle from going on the non-open-range road and these can be very dangerous for bikes. Any time we came across one we were instructed to get off and walk so our tires wouldn't slip into the grates. Unfortunately we didn't see any cattle, or any living things for that matter until like halfway into the ride.

That day we also rode on the interstate for the first time. In Utah it is legal to bike on the interstate except for in some metropolitan areas, and in our case there was no other option as all the surrounding roads were gravel. I was very nervous to ride the interstate just because I know when I'm driving on interstates the last thing I expect to see is cyclists. I was worried about us catching drivers off guard and also the high speed limit.

It turned out to not be as bad as I thought -- traffic in this part of Utah was pretty sparse even on the interstate, we had a nice giant shoulder to ride in, and cars would usually still move over to the left lane to give us additional space. We were on it for about 10 miles. After getting off was when the crazy scenery started!

We were getting into canyon country. The soil started turning more reddish, and cliffs started getting higher. It wasn't long before we glimpsed the Colorado River! 

We'd be paralleling the river for the entire rest of the day. 

Though the ride got very, very hot as the day went on, and there were some brutal hills, it was still one of my favorite rides of the trip. The scenery was just breathtaking! I had never been to any canyons and this was incredible.

At our lunch stop, we were all burning hot. The river right next to us was looking super inviting. It was only a matter of time before Gavin led the way and we all went swimming in the Colorado River. One of the best decisions I've ever made.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with breathtaking views and oppressive heat. Welcome to the desert!!!!

We got in late in the evening, completely exhausted. That night some of us stayed in a vacation rental house and others camped. Either way everyone had fun and was (not so) well rested the next morning for our rest day!

On our rest day got to explore two National Parks: Arches and Canyonlands. They were both gorgeous and amazing and I felt like we were on Mars. There's not much to say because you just have to see this stuff for yourself. But here are some pictures that do not do these places justice.

Cacti!!!

We did a lot of napping in the van while driving from place to place in the park. Everyone was super tired. We could've used another rest day to actually rest, but ah, that is not the 4K. Between the two park visits many people napped at the house, but I went out with Ashley and a few others to use our gift cards on breakfast for the next day. I was exhausted and really wished I could nap, but the team needed breakfast. Sometimes I feel like I make a lot of sacrifices for the team, but that's just what you do when you're with people you care about.

We had our longest day of the trip on the agenda for the next day: 121 miles. So what did we decide to do? Eat a healthy dinner and go to bed really early? Nahhhh. Instead we ate McDonald's for dinner then went on a 3-mile hike through the side of a canyon. We waited until just before sunset to go, even though sunset is basically our bedtime, but it was worth it because it was super pretty! 

We got an awesome team photo underneath the Delicate Arch but Gina has it on her camera!

Dave impressed us by speaking fluent German to some German tourists. Go Dave!!!

Not at all rested after our rest day, but having soaked in the awesomeness of Moab, we went to bed ready for our super long trip to Price the next day!