June 30, 2020
Vernal - Altamont, UT
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2,875 elevation gain
I was unprepared for how difficult the day would be. I was too happy about beating the wind to town yesterday and let my guard down. We agreed to ride together today. I suggested an 8 AM start. It was 39 degrees when we woke up. Neither of us were in a hurry to get out. We finally left at 9 AM. That was a fatal mistake.
Backing up a little - there are some country back roads here. We had choices on which route to take. Komoot routed Jacinto on a dirt road by a reservoir. We weren't interested in staying on Highway 191 because the rumble strip was placed just wrong and took up what should have been a usable shoulder. Taking the google guy for a walk, the shoulder on this section looked reasonable.
We didn't decide how to go until this morning. We went with the shortest mileage route, which had more climbing. See the above map. Side note on that is our route through Bluebell (how bucolic that sounds) was full of double tanker semis. There's some sort of a plant way out in the middle of nowhere. All of the drivers were polite. I even welcomed them passing because they blocked the wind briefly. But a quiet country road it was not.
As we were leaving town, I asked Jacinto to take a photo of the dinosaur. Little did I know that was the last I would see of him all day. He never caught back up with me. I asked him when was it the wind started. Neither of us could say, other than it felt like the entire day.
I had a very bad attitude. Today shouldn't have been difficult, but the wind was so strong and gusting it was tough to keep the bike on the road. Uphills were even harder to ride and we pedaled down every single descent. My brake pads did not get any use today!
Jacinto did pick up a flag I found and left conspicuously in the road. There was also a bathroom scale that I didn't stop to photo. Although it tickled my funny bone. Did someone gain so much quarantine weight that they threw their scale out in disgust?
I will have to ride this road again under better conditions. I did not look around at all. Zippo. I concentrated on keeping the bike on the road. Highway 191 exiting Vernal to as far as Roosevelt had a good shoulder. A magnificent shoulder at times. There was some road construction where they were widening the road out. The shoulder where I should have been riding was milled for the entire distance and into the driving lane. Milled pavement is extra tough to ride on. I made an executive decision to ride just inside the cones on the construction side. A giant, giant dump truck came up behind me. There was plenty of room for him to pass, but he didn't. Finally I felt guilty and switched over to the milled area long enough for him to pass me. Then I moved right back over.
I had been looking for a good bathroom spot. The road was pretty busy. The situation went from looking for a good spot to needing a spot! As I exited the construction area, I saw a side road coming in that had a guard rail. Perfect! I pulled over and was just getting off the bike and having a drink of Spiz when a State Patrol went by on the side road. Eegads! I would feel bad to have my pants around my ankles when he passed by. I have a teacher friend who says he never ever takes a pee break when riding because he wouldn't want to get an indecent exposure ticket and be fired. What? I had to ask my boss what would happen in that situation. First of all, I hope the officer would realize it's a case of water in and water out and not anyone out there purposefully waving any body parts around . . . Sanja laughed and said that everything had to be taken in context. She had hired people who had tickets for inciting a riot (in the 60's). But . . . that has been a few years ago. Policies at the school district are tighter now. I wouldn't want to see what the new boss had to say about an indecent exposure ticket. Nonetheless, I still need to use the bathroom during the day when there isn't a bathroom handy. Frankly, I'd rather find a nice pee spot than go in a store. If I go in a store, I leave my bike unattended, and I also feel obligated to buy something. I just want to pee and go . . . then there's the whole COVID thing - not wanting to touch surfaces that might be contaminated.
There - I'm sure you were interested in my bathroom habits . . .
Where was I - the wind was terrible. Horrible, awful. I had four vehicles honk at me in a friendly manner today. Each one was appreciated. I don't know if they felt sorry about the wind or just thought I looked interesting. Jacinto said no one honked at him.
When the road would take the slightest turn, the wind would be quartering and my speed would go up slightly. I couldn't say the last time I rode in this much wind. The Kayenta day. But that wasn't as far. Jacinto said it reminded him of riding into Alamosa from LaVeta. Spoon, Harpo, Oren, and Cathy will remember that one.
Vernal was a full service town with a Walmart. Oooh boy! I thought Roosevelt would be small because it's close to Vernal - but it was also a large town with plenty of services. From Roosevelt, we turned onto Highway 121 to Hancock Cove Road to Bluebell Road. From Roosevelt, we were climbing the entire distance. The little bit of downhill we had was negated by the wind. This appeared to be horse country. There were plenty of green fields with horses grazing. Lots of nice houses on the back road - with those double tankers going by.
At the top of a steep climb, I stopped for a break. A sign in front of me said road narrows. I didn't want to take a break after the road narrows, because of all of the semis. I half noticed out of the corner of my eye an old Irish setter in the neighboring yard. But I went about getting a drink and part of a bar and didn't pay much attention, besides the dog had a white muzzle and didn't walk well. While I was stopped, one of the double semis came to a complete halt behind me. I was impressed. That's quite a hill. I hope he gets going again. But why did he stop, I am off of the road? Then a lady in an SUV with bikes on the back asked me if I needed anything. No, just taking a break. She asked me if that was my dog. Dog? What dog? Ah - that's why the semi stopped. The dog got off the road and traffic resumed . . .
Shortly after Jacinto caught me. I vented all of my frustrations about the terrible day and why didn't we leave earlier, we still would have been caught, but not as long and perhaps not as bad. I think my vehemence caught him by surprise. Jacinto replied quietly that he didn't want to be cold riding, so he delayed leaving. I asked him which was worse, wearing an extra layer, or this wind. But I did feel guilty at how his eyes widened while I was spewing my frustrations . . . we continued on. Jacinto stopped a couple of times, but mostly we kept moving. I thought we had 9 miles from where he caught me. But it was really 14. I was so tired I couldn't even subtract.
We passed the town of Bluebell, which was a non town except for a country store. I should have taken a photo, but I was in survival mode. When I got to Altamont, there was Jacinto's bike at the convenience store. If I stop, do I have what it takes to get started again? That's questionable. I stopped. Jacinto said he had been to the motel and had come back for a cold drink. Did I want one. Yes, a lemonade. He came back out and asked me if I wanted a hard lemonade. Yes. That sounds good. He asked if I was waiting. I told him I didn't know, I would leave when I got the energy. Energy was questionable. I did end up leaving. I could see the motel sign. I pulled in. Parked the bike and sat on the porch. That was it. I didn't take off my helmet or gloves or anything. I just sat and waited for my lemonade. Jacinto took far too long to arrive. I didn't get a lemonade but some sort of hard fizzing water that was no good at all. It was an extension of my day, bad . . . I sat down for way too long and then I couldn't unfold my legs to walk inside. Jacinto asked if I really felt that bad. Yes.
I didn't do any of the usual getting to town stuff. I only laid down with my feet up the wall to drain the lactic acid out of my legs. It was a thinking process to decide to take my helmet off first . . .
I have now had a shower and food. Jacinto walked to the grocery. He brought me back a great salad. Fresh strawberries that were extra tasty. Jacinto says I must just be hungry. I asked for rice in a packet, but he couldn't find any, so he bought microwave potatoes to go with the rotisserie chicken. We didn't even open the potatoes . . . I'm done in. Tomorrow is 39 miles and 1,900 feet of climbing. It should be easier if the wind is friendly. We are staying above the bar in Hanna. Let's see how that goes.
I hope I recover. I told Jacinto thank you for treating me like a baby. He says I was acting like one . . . it's a good thing I don't act like this often. I don't think I could get away with it.
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Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 1,302 miles (2,095 km)
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