Friday, June 11, 2010

day 24 (1,000 miles)

we situated our tent so we would have some shade in the morning so we didn't have to get up so early, i think we got up around 8 or 8:30 thanks to the heat of the sun. we heard some of the older guys biking up the mountain past our campsite and then i saw a lone tourer taking a quick break. so we packed up our things and started making our way up the mountain, i think we were pretty hesitant but surprisingly the grade for the mountain was very gradual and it was much cooler up there. once we climbed up enough, there started to be birch trees and all we've seen recently was red canyons and sage brushes so this was very exciting for a change of scenery! it was a beautiful day and once we returned a couple lookouts we could see several layers of elevation that dropped down, it was super cool to see but really hard to capture with my camera. we finally ascended to the top of the 9,600 ft summit and took a quick photo op. it was then a long ways down to torrey where we rested at a subway and enjoyed some loaded sandwhiches and a nice cold powerade. down at torrey it got hot again so we were just rehydrating and charging our ipods before we made the trek to hanksville; this was going to end up being a long day. we met up with the lone tourer at subway and chatted for a bit then went our separate ways. he's going from san fran to virginia so that is exciting that we'll be running into him from time to time. from torrey to hanksville we were back in the red canyonlands. we had some hilly parts but for the most part, we had some good straight stretches where we made some good time. there really was nothing between torrey and hanksville so we just kept on pedaling. we passed a sign that was where a movie was being filmed by universal, sorry i can't remember what the name is and it was a ways down a dirt road so we kept heading to town. shortly after that sign, we hit 1,000 miles! so we were pretty jazzed about that, but we still have miles to go before we sleep as robert frost would say. we arrieved in hanksville, exhausted and hungry so we stopped off at blondies which was recommended to us by our tandem friends. so we got delcious burgers and ice cream shakes that were to die for, seriously one of the most delcious shakes i've tasted. while we were devouring our food in walked two young chaps wearing yellow jerseys. they ordered some food and sat next to us and introduced themselves as will and alex. they are biking from new york to san francisco! will is from kenya and alex is from england. we sat and talked for a good time about our trips then decided to find a place to camp for the night. we ended up at a campsite where we talked to the owner and he gave us a campsite for free with showers! this was very nice, so we got cleaned up and sat around and talked for a bit before heading to bed. it was a huge blessing to meet these two, super nice guys who told us some good tips for the next long and hot part of our trip out of utah. 

3 comments:

  1. I love reading about your hard work and adventures. You inspire me often to get on my bike more often. I mean, what is 20 miles to 1000? Keep up the good work guys!

    ReplyDelete
  2. These pictures are inspiring Al! Makes me want to paint. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. glad to inspire. go out and do it!

    ReplyDelete