June 23, 2019
Torrey - Hanksville, Utah
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Elevation gain 892. Elevation loss 3,325.
See that elevation profile? You would think it's rider friendly. Add to that a tailwind this morning. Here we are in the motel room, stalling our departure because of the cold. Oren's phone says 35 degrees. Mine says 47, but we sound tougher going by his numbers. The one who is really tough is the fully loaded woman who bicycled past the restaurant while we were eating breakfast. She was riding into the headwind . . . we didn't see anyone with her. She must have spent the night in town also?
I slept soundly all night for the first night in quite some time. Is it because we have an easy day today? Or is it because the temperature was so cold even Jacinto had to allow turning the heater on and I was warm enough at night? Our neighbors were quite loud when they arrived with lots of banging about and giggling. Jacinto thought they had kids with them. I did hear a dog barking. After I went to sleep I didn't hear anything else until 4:30 AM when I woke to both the man (presumably) and Jacinto snoring . . . but I slept well until then.
With our easy day, I went for breakfast at the restaurant. Two eggs with sausage and potatoes. The servings weren't too generous and I'm still hungry. Oren says we are leaving in 20 minutes. He's trying to figure out what to wear to stay warm since we have a big downhill to start. Who thinks we'd be complaining about a downhill/tailwind day? I have my Buff and winter gloves out. I think I will start with my soft jacket on and see if it's too hot. This is Utah in June! The high in Hanksville is 80. That sounds like a good number.
Jacinto rode into town freezing yesterday because he was too stubborn/lazy to get his coat out. Let's see if he starts with it today. Or at least with his heavy shirt.
Side story - daughter Marcela says my new passport arrived yesterday. I need it for the Canada trip. We leave home July 5th. BUT, my name is misspelled. It has a Q instead of a G. That's a common error. There's no time to fix it, especially with the holiday. I guess I'll call the passport office Monday and ask? Oren says perhaps they can give me a letter saying it's their error. Or, shall I just go and hope it doesn't matter? That would be in the back of my mind the entire trip. I'm sure I can get into Canada, but can I get back out. Oren says the last time we bicycled there, that the agent was so busy asking about his trip that he didn't even ask to see the passport in Oren's hand. You would think they would have scanned it at least. When Jacinto and I bicycled back from Mexico, they did scan both passports, but didn't speak to him at all, he was too busy pushing the bike through the lobby. Usually coming back from Mexico we are thoroughly grilled. Riding a bicycling seems to smooth the way. At least with Canada and Mexico.
I should get ready. Oren said 20 minutes, ready or not. Jacinto is leaving one minute before check out, I'm sure.
There's nothing better than a downhill day in the sunshine to put a smile on your face. We had a couple of little ups. At mile 8 is Chimney Rock. I took off my jacket and winter gloves there. I know nothing about geology, but I still enjoyed the many rock formations in the area. From Boulder through the first half of today was outstanding. Bicycle speed is just right to see how the wind and water has shaped the rocks.
We had a very few ups, but mostly a smooth, let the pedals turn themselves around sort of day. I tried to think of what horrible climbing day we suffered through to deserve a day like this. I enjoyed every minute of the day. Once we got going out in the sunshine, the cold wasn't an issue. Temperatures warmed up and we were going lower in elevation.
We passed through the community of Fruita and also Cainesville. There was not a thing in Cainesville besides some irrigated land that was hay and also a large Rodeway Inn. Out in the middle of nowhere. Absolutely nothing else there besides the farm house surrounded by hay fields. It was an oddly placed motel that did appear to be open.
We saw the other end for Burr Trail - the opposite side was in Boulder, two days ago. I wonder how many miles it runs?
Our day went quickly. We tried to stop and enjoy the views. Even the second part of the day had some fantastic layered pink stones. I asked Oren how many years did he suppose it took to make all of those layers. It looked like baklava, in pink and sand colors.
Oren and Spoon had eaten at a grill in town. We agreed to eat there again. Oren warned me not to expect much, it was just a cafe in the middle of nowhere. When we pulled up the parking lot was packed. That was a good sign. Oren said it was the after church crowd. But the people inside mostly looked like they'd been outside playing.
It took forever to place our order, but the food came quickly. I had a salad with brisket on top. It was excellent. The peach pie was not. On our way out we had a conversation with some admirers, young 20somethings who had been bicycling the day before and rock climbing today. They had a Sprinter van with solar panels on the top. Oren told the guy he must have made some money doing IT work. True or not, the man answered he bought the van for $20,000. and spent $15,000. more outfitting it. They were a nice couple, admiring of our trip and sufficiently sympathetic about my bruises from the hail storm.
Oren and I moved on to the motel, sure we could get in since it's a mom and pop. It was strangely deserted. Totally deserted. A maid's cart was parked outside of a room. I walked over - the laundry machines were going, but not a person in sight. We sat down, thinking someone would show up. Shortly after, a car dropped a man off. He said the owner drivers in from Green River every day. He couldn't check us in, but she would be here at 3 PM. In the meanwhile he gave us the wi-fi code.
I had four bars on my phone, but for some reason wasn't able to track Jacinto. I tried calling, but couldn't get through. We tried with Oren's phone and it worked. Jacinto was in town. I told him where we were and maybe he'd want to go to the gas station. My original intention had been to save him half of my salad but it was too delicious. Plus my breakfast was very skimpy. I was still hungry when we left the restaurant! I'd eaten two bars on the downhill cruise to town and had no trouble finishing my salad.
Jacinto had just arrived when a lady pulled up in a car. Before we had a chance to get up, she had entered the office and locked the door firmly behind her. Well, heck. She could obviously see we were waiting. I understand the part about her driving in from out of town, but why not let us in our rooms once she's here? There wasn't a single customer in the quite large motel. I think it was just orneriness. At 3:02 Oren went marching over muttering about how she had better let him in or else. I did not follow right away - I waited to see if I could hear raised voices. It seemed safe, so I followed. We were given room 114 to start, but someone's luggage and pizza leftovers were inside. Jacinto said he'd be happy to eat the leftovers . . . Then she gave us a room at the far end. The very last room. No, no other choices unless we wanted upstairs. they sure looked empty to me, but ok. Off we trekked. I'm sitting happily now on my memory foam mattress. Jacinto is happy that they've left muffins and fruit cups as a free breakfast in the room, plus a 10% off coupon for Duke's Grill where we ate lunch. Duke's also had cabins, which I had looked at, but to my poor memory rejected because of price.
Now it's time for a shower. We have only two days left. We are past the great scenery and the low traffic roads. These days will be connector days to get us back to Moab. There is some question about the roads into/out of Green River. I have to go check Scott Anderson's journal and see what they did. It seems to me the road conditions on the abandoned road that RWGPS suggests are poor. The other choice is the interstate. We will be forced to ride on it for a certain distance.
We are back at Duke's Grill for dinner. We've had excellent weather this trip (with the exception of the ten miles of hail) and excellent food (with the exception of my shoe leather pork chops in Enterprise). That's pretty good odds. I've read so many journals in this area that mention strong headwinds. We've had a few. Jacinto said he fought a wind to town. Oren and I were early enough the wind was hardly noticeable. I should add that Jacinto said he had trouble getting down the road today because there were too many sights to take photos of. That is a rare compliment from him.
I will again say I'd recommend this route if you are in climbing shape. Overall we haven't had much traffic and the road surface condition has been superior. I doubt I will be as glowing with my report on the last two days. I hope I'm wrong.
Dinner wasn't as tasty as lunch. I wasn't hungry yet, but Jacinto was starving because he didn't have lunch. I talked up my brisket salad so much that Oren and Jacinto both tried it. I had brisket nachos. I think that was too much brisket in one day.
I checked Scott's journal photos and looked at RWGPS again. Scott says the road eventually deteriorates to hard packed gravel. There's ten miles that the google guy can't see. But Scott posted 4-5 photos and it seems doable.
We have ice here. I will have ice water in my bottles this morning. I have to admit that I didn't care much this morning about the ice - it was already cold outside. Ice is part of my morning routine. Since I didn't get ice, I forgot to fill my water bottles. We were WAY down the road when I went to take a swig of water, just to pull out an empty bottle. Well, shoot. Now is the reason I'm carrying that 32 oz Hydroflask. I have one 3/4 bottle and the Hydroflask. I'm sure that's enough for a 50 mile downhill day. Right? I had no more than made this discovery than around the corner was the Capitol Reef Visitor Center. I fill my bottle and used a flush toilet. Look at me, living the lucky life.
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Today's ride: 49 miles (79 km)
Total: 897 miles (1,444 km)
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