Moab - Monticello, Utah - I've never been so ill prepared or so determined to tour

June 2, 2019

Moab - Monticello, Utah

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4,543 feet of climbing 7.4 mph - it was a long day! Jacinto got 5,100 feet of climbing with Strava. I like those numbers better, they sound tougher. Oren averaged 8.0 mph. Jacinto averaged 8.2 mph. We all agreed we were in save the legs mode. Jacinto and Oren both think that today is their lowest average ever. I asked about the Washington/Rainy Pass day. We all agree that could be a contender, but none of us remember. Certainly this is one for the record books.

Back to the beginning:

I've allowed myself five minutes to make this update. I certainly didn't take advantage of the fast wi-fi here. Let's see what I get tonight.

I was fast asleep by 9:30 and slept well all night longer. What a pleasant surprise!

My stuff is still not packed and I'm sure it's going to take more than 15 minutes to make that magic happen.

Oren and I have agreed upon a 6:30 depart. I didn't see him when I went to the swimming pool area to get ice.Oren is a former military man. He will be ready on time.

I hope you all get a ride in today. I hope all of this climbing doesn't toast my legs the first day!

62 degrees and calm air. We will get cooler as we climb. Monticello is 3,000 feet higher.

Here's how the day went:

Just for giggles, we had a 12 mile climb away from Moab. It took two entire hours to complete that 12 miles. I tried not to do the mental math about how long it would take to get to town at that rate. It was a dismal thought. There really weren't any huge climbs, but we had a headwind from the start. We hadn't expected that. It did seem to disappear once we got up on top. We were wind free most of the day. Then it picked up again outside of Monticello - I almost wonder if it was a geographical thing.

Oren had mentioned several times that he was concerned about getting older and training at (virtually) sea level. He was ruthless when packing his panniers, but still felt he had too much stuff. He was consistently pulling away from me on the long climb. When I caught up with him for our two hour break, I reminded Oren that this is a huge climbing day and everyone climbs differently. He should go ahead and take off. Oren said, "Nope, he is just fine riding with me." What a pal - I love to ride with Oren. It's been far too long.

This year Oren has an orange flag and our usual Dinotte Blinky Tail Light. The light is visible from a far distance. The flapping flag is almost as visible. I did not bring my flag. Jacinto complained about how taking the flags on/off to get them in the van was a pain. True - but I didn't think it was that much of a deal. But I did end up leaving my flag. I think I'm missing a visual for drivers.

Speaking of drivers. What's with all of the traffic on Sunday morning? Aren't you supposed to sleep in and ease into the day? I guess everyone wanted to be out playing. We were passed all day long by heavy traffic. Lots and lots of semis. It's Sunday. What the heck. All sorts of RV's. Some pulling toys. Oren had mentioned it was heavy traffic driving into Moab. He was not exaggerating. But I did think we would get a fair distance down the road before the traffic started up . . . not today.

Luckily we had a usable shoulder the entire day. Pavement was good, new in some areas. Whomever placed the rumble strip wasn't a cyclist, but there was enough pavement to make do.

I don't know if this road is always this busy, but it's a shame. The scenery in this area is something to see. Did I see it? Not as much as I would like - I was too busy watching the traffic. Everyone was very nice. I even had a semi honk his horn in a little tune and give me a giant wave. But there was lots of traffic watching to be done, which took away from the ride.

Temperatures were cool all day with cloud cover. This was in my favor, as I overheat easily. It is 74 degrees now at 4 PM in Monticello- that temperature doesn't surprise me as Monticello is at 7,000 feet compared to Moab's 4,000 feet.

Every downhill I mourned the loss of elevation. We climbed up to 6,000 feet several times, just to give it away. We were roughly on a plateau, in that the elevation gain/loss didn't change by more than 2-300 feet, but we kept descending and climbing. Oren said we had one more giant climb to town at about mile 42. He stopped there to wait for me. I told him to go ahead and meet me at the Subway. I would be right behind and I was sure I'd want more breaks than usual.

Oren's training had paid off - he was out front the entire day. I cannot say what helped me - muscle memory? I was having an excellent day, despite the huge total elevation gain. We had 900 feet to climb on that last long climb. That is a totally doable number. I approached the climb with optimism. I did decide to eat a preemptive Perpetuum tablet. Those are my Spiz replacement. They are nasty - stick to my teeth terrible. But I do think they are effective. I had another one half way up the climb, just for insurance.

I could see Oren stop a couple of times, but then he would pull away again. I could see his blinky from a far distance. Speaking of his blinky - he lost it about halfway through the ride. Luckily it landed right in the shoulder and I noticed it. Oren has lost a light before and so has Jacinto. That's expensive.

Finally, finally, my Garmin said 7,000 feet. But, no. We have to go down a bit and climb some more. Because who wouldn't think that's a good idea at the end of a long day? Nancy at the Cottonwood RV Park in Bluff says that the last little climb is called Peter's Hill. I think it should have an explective or two in the title.

There had been a sign that said 14 miles to Monticello. That sign is not correct. That would have put us to town four miles early. I could totally accept that idea. I was hoping that it was correct. No. Not correct. When we pulled in at the Subway, I had 53.5 miles. Then it was one more to the Grist Mill Inn B&B.

Oren said he had been in line at Subway for 15 minutes behind some very particular people who took forever to order. I got my usual salad with meatballs. The man asked me if I wanted regular or double meat - 4 meatballs or 8? I went with regular. Then I was sad. I went back and asked if it was too late to get double meat. The man was very nice and gave them to me. I ended up giving him a nice tip, so it all worked out in the end.

Oren drank two large Dr. Peppers. Then he was freezing and had to go outside. But it was windy out there, so he came back in. I told him I was ready to go anyway.

I was happy our lodging wasn't too far. I can't quite remember how we ended up at the Grist Mill. There was a Rodeway Inn right as we came into town and any number of other motels. Usually we go for motels because they are cheaper and we don't have to worry about bringing the bikes in. My memory is fuzzy, but it must have been bad reviews . . . the Grist Mill is extra nice and it includes a full breakfast in the morning. Our bikes are locked out back.

I've been watching Jacinto on Strava. He is just passing the Rodeway Inn. I'm waiting to see if he stops at Subway or keeps going. We don't have any phone service in town. The wi-fi at the B&B is acceptable.

I'm not near as bushed as I expected. My legs are not happy at all, but they didn't give up until I sat down at Subway. Tomorrow we have 1,800 feet of climbing and 4,600 feet of descending. It should be a nice day. Depending on the wind.

Let's see what we do for dinner tonight. There's a restaurant attached to the B&B. It's open. This is Sunday in Mormon country - not much is open. The grocery is closed, but the Dollar Store is open. Most restaurants are closed. I do have half a salad, but I was saving that for Jacinto's snack.

I feel really good. The bike was sure heavy today. I could tell straight away I made big mistake not taking the underseat rack off of the other bike. I could feel the weight behind me and up so high. By the end of the day it felt normal, but with the weight down low, handling is never an issue. I shouldn't have been lazy. But I think it will be fine in the end.

Hey - remember how Jacinto almost forgot his shorts? The laugh is on me. I forgot shorts. I was planning on them as a back up. The weather in Colorado has been so cold that I haven't ridden in shorts at all this spring and I didn't want to burn my legs so I was mostly planning to ride in tights. But I wasn't sure if that would be ok on the hot, hot days. Maybe I would need shorts. But, guess what? No bike shorts . . . .

OK - Jacinto should be close now. I'll give you a dinner update later. I'm so relieved that I can still walk. I was not at all prepared for this tour. Hopefully I can pedal tomorrow!

After dinner - That Strava thing is pretty handy. I was outside watching for Jacinto as he blew right past. He didn't know where we were staying and had been checking every place in town. He and Oren are both very puzzled as to why we are staying at such a nice place with so many ordinary choices. I'm a bit puzzled also. Did they ALL have bad reviews? I made the reservations back in February. My memory is a bit fuzzy. But I do think this is a nice place to stay. We have a giant room. The bikes are outside, that is a negative.

We ate dinner at the attached restaurant. I had salmon for $18. - it was overcooked. Jacinto had a burger and Oren had a salad. I think it was fine, but not really recommended. However, we did get beer on Sunday in Utah. That's impressive.

Oren and Jacinto went to the Mavrick convenience store on the corner for an ice cream. We sat in the common area for awhile and chatted. I'm pretty beat. I don't think I'm going to make it until 9 PM. Our breakfast is a hot breakfast ordered off the menu, so we are waiting for it to open at 7 AM. Tomorrow should be an easy riding day with 1,800 feet of climbing and 4,300 of descending. If the wind is friendly. I'd rather get going early - but I'd like that breakfast!

I didn't get to wipe my chain tonight. The room was prepaid and the key was waiting on the table. We didn't see anyone but the restaurant workers.

While we were chatting in the lobby, a couple came in with small twins. They had six people in their party and someone's husband had made the reservation on hotel.com - but the problem is that he made it for the wrong date. I don't know the end of the story. They were supposed to contact hotel.com and see if the date could be changed . . .

6:36 AM departure. The weather looks mighty fine.

I requested a break every hour. Look what should appear one hour down the road? A potty! We will ignore the fact that one hour brought us a measly 6 miles.

Bill, this one's for you. These were quite common on the first half of the day. Bill is on the job. He says this is a common flower, Prince’s plume. Bill, I did see one squashed horny road and almost ran over a bitsy lizard. That was it for critters.

Oren pulled in here, hoping for a milk shake. Alas, they didn't open until 9 AM. We were there at 8:55 AM.

This looks like an old drive in movie ticket booth. It is at the intersection of the road to La Sal. Nothing else in the area looked like a drive in. If my mother were alive, I could send her this photo and ask. At one point she and her husband owned the theatres in Moab, including the drive in.

They must have drilled holes to set the fence posts in the rock?

A field of yellow flowers. I neglected to get a close up for a better ID. Bill, can you work with this?

Looking back at what I think is the La Sal Mountains.

Look closely to see the wind turbines. I was happy they weren't overly productive today.

Spoon, this one's for you. At the Monticello airport, this airplane was on the right. Across the highway there were two more airplanes. That was it.

Jacinto had a better photo of Wilson's Arch.

Jacinto stopped at the Hole in the Wall.

This is the Moab Fault. It's another photo that showed up mysteriously three days later.

Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 55 miles (89 km)

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