Escalante - Boulder, Utah - I've never been so ill prepared or so determined to tour

June 21, 2019

Escalante - Boulder, Utah

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Elevation gain 2,646. Elevation loss 1,843.

I had strange dreams all night and didn't sleep well in general, dreading the tough grades today. I had already given myself permission to walk as much as possible. I even considered that I might need to walk so much that I should change into regular shoes to save my cleats. When I floated that possibility past the guys, they both looked at me in silence, not sure what to say.

Oren and Jacinto went back to the Circle D for breakfast. I decided to eat leftovers in the room and depart earlier. I'm a slow climber, I need the extra time. Chicken and rice went down with difficulty. That's a pretty heavy meal for the morning. I drank a bottle of V-8 and one of milk. I would be looking for a pee spot right away! I was out the door at 7:20 with a wind vest and ear covers. The cool weather was to my advantage. At home in Colorado they were forecasting snow as low as 9,000 feet and as much as 4-10" above 10,000 feet. I wonder how many innocent cyclists will be up on Hoosier Pass? I don't know what the weather is typically in this area, but I'm suspecting it's usually hot.

Writing this I have my soft jacket on. I've worn it almost every day, if only for warmth in the room while Jacinto blasts the AC. It has started to rain here, but we are safe in town.

Back to the day - I was out early, enjoying the sunshine. I was just at the top of the first hill when a motorcycle rider pulled alongside to chat. I don't think people realize how difficult it is to pedal straight and talk at the same time. This was a man from Iowa who thought my mode of travel was mighty fine. That put a smile on my face. I definitely didn't have one before. I had been dreading this day for some time. It's not that 2,900 feet of elevation gain is big thing, but there were some killer grades coming up out of the Escalante River. We call this the Kiva Koffeehouse day, because there's a coffee shop almost at the bottom by that name.

There was about five miles of slightly uphill before a climb started. That was a respectful way to get my legs into the day. Some climbing, a bit more climbing, then a big downhill to the river. All through this area were miles and miles of spectacular scenery of petrified sand dunes. It was amazing. I was enjoying the day enough to look around. The road surface on Highway 12 is admirable with a big enough shoulder to feel comfortable. There wasn't much traffic though. This must not be on the typical tourist route.

Here starts the downhill OK, shit's about to get real. The part I've been dreading is about to happen. Here's the river - ride down to the river, up away from it. That's the rule. Think about it, where ever you lives. That's the way it works. I was relieved that the road didn't immediately pitch straight to the sky after crossing the river. There were a few cars parked at a hiking trail at the bottom. I saw lots of red rocks around. I was for any reasonable grade after the river. Here we go. I was too busy anticipating the suffering to take a photo of the big grades. I walked the first one. Oren pointed out all of the peaks and valleys on the climb were supposed to be the backbone, that's why it's called the Devil's Backbone.

For some reason I thought that the top was mile 20. But the elevation wasn't working out with the miles. I looked at RWGPS again. Oops. My mistake. Mile 25 was the top. After all of my agonizing over the day, how did I make that mistake.

The slight downhills gave me a break. It wasn't discouraging like our first day to Monticello. That day we had big 2-300 feet climbs and descents. Over and over again. Today the climbs were more in the area of 50-100 feet, and then leveling off or slightly descending. I walked two areas that were advertised to be 16%. Both of the guys rode them. Down by the river I had eaten a Perpetuum Tablet in anticipation. The next time I walked, I ate another one. I kept thinking that more walking would come up. But it never did. The end of the story is that I never walked again. It ended up being much easier than I expected because of all of the little flat spots. Another thing is that I ate a whole tube of Perpetuum in anticipation. By the time I got to the top of the climb, I was on sugar overload. I felt like a hamster running in a wheel. I was ready to keep going and going and I was out of climbing. That was certainly a strange feeling. I never want more climbing.

I got to the top and there was a very skinny section, that must be the actual backbone with just the road across the top. I took a photo, but it was hard to get the visual on it. There were a number of people here taking photos. One woman asked me if I had ridden all the way from Escalante and gave me a thumbs up.

I was feeling really good here - I think it was a chemically induced feeling from all of the Perpetuum. Whatever the reason - I was happy to be feeling good. There was only one problem. I could see dark clouds gathering right where I was going. I should keep moving forward.

I was thinking of a long downhill run to town. Not quite. We had a big, sweeping curve that went down and then back up the next hill in a giant boomerang. I wanted to take a photo of it, but the curve covered too much territory to fit in a photo. Then there was one last climb. Jacinto says it was 8%. I was half the way up the hill when my phone rang. Perfect! An excuse to stop. An interesting side story is that we are getting ready to sell my mother's house but her garage is not shown as being on her property. It isn't on her neighbor's property either, it's in no man's land. You would think by this day and age they would have property lines straightened out. She's lived there 41 years though and I think paid cash for the house from a friend, so probably no title insurance or survey at the time . . . . the surveyor says we need to apply for a quiet title. By the time we got all of that straightened out, my legs were quite cold. I got started again. I saw a Sinclar station up a gravel driveway to the left. Up and gravel and out in the middle on nowhere . . . no, surely there will be someplace in town selling food. I continued on. I was getting a little concerned about the lack of services. Here I was to town, down to the right I could see a sign for Lake Powell. Then there were a couple of places to eat. Those are supposed to be the only places to eat but it's a definite uphill. I don't think I'm coming back down here. I sure don't see much. It's up, but I'm here! I completed the climb and only walked two short stretches. The rest of the climb was completely doable and bordering on easy because of the leveled off sections.

I stopped at Magnolia's. That's a converted school bus eatery. It's directly across from Pole's Place Motel. Hmmm. It's only 11 AM. Should I try and check in or should I eat? I was just debating the thought when Oren pulled up. We agreed that we hadn't seen much in the way of food opportunities. We agreed we were not going back to the gas station. I called Jacinto and he answered! I told him to stop by the gas station and check the selection. In the meanwhile, Oren went to the tiny store at the RV Park. Oren came back and reported that the lady had a huge selection crammed in the little store. He would be fine with a frozen sandwich for the morning.

We agreed to eat at the bus for lunch. Their menus were taped to car license plates, which was fun. They had lots of burritos and one selection of tacos on corn tortillas. I got the tacos. I could see someone at the next table with a giant salad and an order of fries. But that wasn't on the menu? It turns out that the license plate I looked at had only one page and the others had two . . . . we had almost finished eating when Jacinto pulled up. He had purchased strawberries and an apple at the gas station. He didn't want anything to eat now, but we agreed to go back to the bus right before closing time and get something for dinner.

Off we went to register. We knew to go to the gift shop to register for our rooms. The gift shop was very well stocked with every sort of tourist item your heart might desire. Lots of polished rocks, handmade soaps, t-shirts, jewelry, you name it. I didn't get the lady's name, but she set us straight. She was about done having bicycle riders as motel guests because they bring the bikes in the rooms and rearrange the furniture to make the bikes fit. We needed to leave the bikes outside and watch out for her flowers. No microwaves or refrigerators because she cleans the rooms and doesn't want to clean up after people. There's a book on the table in the room with a list of rules on the cover . . . this lady does know her mind. Our bikes are outside on the deck, leaning against the posts as instructed. It's a good thing there's some cover as we had a little afternoon storm right when the guys were walking to the store for beer. They bought Tecate this time. Oren still hasn't recovered from trying the Unitah beer that Jacinto had a six pack of on our rest day. Jacinto carried the remainder of the beer for several days, as bad as it was, because he'd paid for it so he was going to drink it! He carried the extra beer to Brian Head and Panguitch before he finally finished it. Jacinto brought me a can of V-8 (around here it's all bottles). Plus it was only $1.39. Usually the smaller bottles are about $2. I almost wonder if the price was a mistake.

We went back to Magnolia's at 3:30 because they close at 4. I wanted some of those fries, what the heck, since I ordered fries, I might as well have a hotdog. Oh yes, I was supposed to be ordering a burrito for dinner. It had been raining off and on, so the guys didn't want to sit in the protection of the cottonwood trees to eat. We carried all of our food back to the motel. My burrito leaked juice all down my jacket and shorts. I tried washing them off as best I could in the sink. When you've only got one of everything, there's no throwing it in the dirty clothes and getting a new one.

While we waited at Magnolia's we talked to a couple from California. They were school teachers. They agreed with Jacinto that the reason to keep working is having health insurance. The woman said if they had to pay for the insurance she received from the school district, it would be $20,000. this year. Jacinto and I have both driven school bus almost long enough to retire. We've contacted PERA and run the numbers. But the kicker is health insurance . . . benefits are a good thing.

By the time I ate my hotdog and french fries, I wasn't hungry at 5 PM for my burrito. Jacinto made two trips to the store for drinks. Then he and Oren made another trip for ice cream. Oren wasn't so interested in the ice cream, but I scolded him, saying that we would be in trouble with Carol for letting him lose weight and he hasn't been eating enough desserts. That is a problem I've never had . . . . needing to eat more so as to not get too skinny. I just can't relate.

We discussed the weather in the morning - cold - 40 degrees at 7 AM. 46 degrees at 8 AM. We have a 13 mile climb straight from town, then roughly downhill for the remaining miles to Torrey. This will be our last big climbing day of the trip. The final three days will have modest amounts of climbing and wind will be a driving factor.

Taking this photo was an excuse to stop at the top of the climb.

These delicate pink flowers were all along the route today. Bill identifies them as wirelettuce. That is a strange name for a pretty flower.

This was supposed to be a shot to show how the trees grow along the river and how obviously the river meanders through the valley. But there's too much other green going on.

Look at this excellent road surface. I like Highway 12. This is the backbone, with the road dropping off on both sides. Unfortunately it doesn't really show up in this photo.

I put the brakes on to take a photo of these flowers. They weren't bloomed out yet, but I only saw them once.

I came up over a rise and what should appear but a green valley! It was amazing.

Jacinto's photo better shows the river running through the valley.

Jacinto says his bike was not as precariously positioned as it appears in the photo. I asked him what would he do if his bike rolled down to the bottom of the gorge? Buy a new one, he says without hesitation!

Typical scenery for the day - but not typical of any other area.

Jacinto's photo from the climb today. It was up!

The guys are celebrating the climb with a Tecate beer.

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 810 miles (1,304 km)

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