Vernal, UT - Rangely, CO - Big Mountains, Small Towns.

July 21, 2022

Vernal, UT - Rangely, CO

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I was up before 5 AM, with plans to beat the heat. Oren does heat better. He said to go right ahead, he would catch up.

Side note that Jacinto is DONE, absolutely DONE, with motel breakfasts. He said he has had too many plastic eggs too many days in a row. It doesn't matter that breakfast is included, he's not eating it. He was passionate in stating his opinion!

I was out the door by 6:30 - traffic was light, and the sun was hiding behind the clouds. I was slightly chilly, but that was fine. Later I would be plenty warm.

I did not have a reason to go into Vernal. I took 500 South through town. It was a wide street with no traffic at that hour. I popped back out onto Highway 40 at Naples. Now I had a little traffic, it was no problem until the shoulder disappeared. Where did it go? I was not happy about the rumble strip placement, but at least there was some shoulder. I don't know why it went away, but about ten miles later, the shoulder appeared again. At that point, traffic was a non issue. The rest of the day had normal country highway traffic. No more double tanker semi trucks. I saw one state patrol car, with the Utah bee hive emblem. He passed me both directions.

Today was a gradual climbing day. I kept plugging away at the miles. I watched the sky for a couple of hours. I could see rain clouds in front of me. They dispersed before I got under them. The sky cleared up, and the temperature started to heat up. Starting early was a good idea. I melt in the heat. I enjoyed the ice in my stainless steel bottles. They are worth their weight. Having a cold drink perks me right up.

I stopped in Dinosaur for a V-8. I drank it in the shade outside and chatted with a couple of local characters. I eavesdropped to start. They were talking about a car that had just passed by and if it was a stick shift or automatic. One man had his car engine noises down perfectly. He ran through speed examples on both types of shifting, adjusting the sounds accordingly. I wonder if they would be embarrassed if they realized I was listening to their passionate conversation?

As I got ready to leave, they ran through the usual questions. They disapproved of my routing choice of Highway 64 to Rangely. Instead, they advocated for Blue Mountain Road (CR 1). That would add eight miles to my already long day. They were opinionated that I would never make it to Rangely if I continued on 64, as I would be killed! I wasn't as alarmed as they were, as I've ridden 64 previously and found the road delightfully empty. The differences in our perspective were polar opposites.

I once again found 64 to be empty. I have to admit that the first few vehicles that passed made me tense up. I had to laugh at myself, and relaxed. I also liked 64 because it had a strong downward tilt. I remembered the last time we rode here, going the opposite direction fighting the wind, ever so slowly. Jacinto got rained on . . . it was a tough day. Today was long, and warm at the end, but not tough.

As I rode into town, the welcome board said 91 degrees. I went on through town, looking for food. The Agave Mexican restaurant was open, that would be dinner. I went way, way into town to the Chinese restaurant. It was 11:45, and they didn't have a single customer. That seemed odd. Everything was plastic ware. I ordered and finished my food, when Oren cycled past, in response to my text. He wasn't impressed with the plastic fork. It couldn't pierce his sweet and sour pork.

I thought that we didn't get breakfast, so Oren went next door to the convenience store to get us both food. I had a cardboard box bungied on the back of my bike, with my leftovers and food for Jacinto.

We were able to check in at 1:30 - our room is large, clean, and nice. I noted to Oren that the price goes down when we are in non tourist areas. He had to agree.

It's time for dinner now. I hope I don't melt, walking there. It's a few blocks away.

A good old Ford truck. It looks like a 1974, which is the year I learned to drive on.

Wouldn’t we like to see these gas prices again? I wonder how many drivers start to turn in and then realize it’s closed.

With some help from Denis, I think this is Cliff Ridge, also known as Blue Mountain. There are several roads, businesses, etc. in the area named Blue Mountain.

Cloud formations were an entertaining part of my morning.

Back in Colorado, after 13 days in Utah.

An abandoned motel in Dinosaur. There weren’t many buildings in Dinosaur. A majority looked like this.

We have eaten at this ice cream shop. Food and ice cream both were worth going back for. I was too early today.

I saw petrified sand dunes almost to Rangely.

Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 1,823 miles (2,934 km)

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Jeff LeeI rode from Vernal to Rangely on a little tour I did in 2010, when I lived in Utah.

I was so cautious about riding on the highways that I used back roads wherever possible, and my distance for the day was 65 miles.

I remember that Brush Creek Road out of Vernal was nice, but you didn't miss much by skipping Blue Mountain Road; my journal entry for the day says that "despite its appealing name, [it] was filled with ugly oil-or-gas-drilling-related equipment."
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