Day 6: This is what its all about!

June 17, 2013

Today was they type of day I had in mind when I thought if this trip.

I got an early start to beat the heat and the headwinds. After saying goodby to Tinka I wound my way down the road next to the Colorado river towards Moab. I love this part of the country, and the red rock canyons. Every turn seemed to bring something more spectacular. Traffic was light, and the sounds of birds filled the air.

About 30 minutes or so in I came out of the canyon and into the most spectacular part of the ride. It looks like monument valley, and in fact, the area was used in a lot of western movies back in the day. Movies by John Ford, and staring John Wayne and the such.

It was beautiful. The only problem were the bugs! It was my first real problem with them this trip. And for some reason they were all over this one area. As long as I kept going it was fine, but if I stopped to take a picture, forget it. They swarm in your eyes, and ears, and... ARRRRRRG!

All I can say is that I suffer for my journal, and my pictures. I forced myself to stop and shoot. It's just what a professional journalist like me does, even though Im not a professional journalist, i just made that last part up. But I DID suffer, which I hope you appreciate.

I was also getting hungry, but I didnt want to stop and grab food out of my bags or I would get swarmed. Finally, near the end of that section I saw the Red Canyon Lodge...

The bugs were petty bad here, but hey, I HAD to get the shot!

"...hmm? Wonder if they have food," says me, to myself.

I rolled down to the entrance and there it was. A restaurant. With a breakfast buffett! I was starving! And after a camp breakfast of peanut butter and crackers it was beyond welcome.

Needless to say I got my moneys worth. Plus, no bugs!

After eating I went back to my bike and ran into a super nice family from Colorado who was interested in my trip. We talked for about 30 minutes until, at lastit was time to go.

For whatever reason the last stretch was more or less free of bugs, which could have been because of the heat, which was now worse. But, it was still beautiful, and I was by the river, so what did it matter.

I Rolled into Moab in the early afternoon, pretty wasted, and decided to take tomorrow off to recharge, and figure out what to do next. I will pour over maps, weather rerports and energy levels and go from there.

I'll let you know what happens next. Until then...

The lodge where I had breakfast. So nice! And great food.

...and then there was a bike path. It didn't last long but they are making it longer, for future reference.

My camp breakfast. I forgot to mention I was pretty low on staples by this point.

Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 383 miles (616 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0