June 15, 2010
Day 17: Day of guilt...
Oooooh! My trip is ruined! I cheated! I'm guilt ridden! Aaaaoooooooooh!
...the day started out normal enough. I packed up my stuff at the Escalante Outfitters camp site. I could have been ready earlier but the store, and therefore the latte and breakfast, was not open until 8:00am. But by 8:45, after a delicious breakfast of red potatoes with onions and cheese (really!) I was off...
I was unsure if I could make it all the way to Torrey and I had decided that if I made it to Boulder by noon, 1:00pm at the latest I would go on. You see, there is a monster, and I mean, MONSTER climb between Boulder and Torrey...
...but there were some real leg breakers between Escalante and Boulder too. Rocky had warned me about them and he wasn't kidding. Still, the scenery through that stretch was awesome and I didn't mind the climbs. And then there were the pictures to take and European tourists to chat. The French seem the most interested in my bike and trip. So all of it held me up. Aside from that, I won't talk too much about that stretch. I took a ton of pictures there and I'll let them don't the talking
Anyway, I made it to Boulder around 1:00 and after picking up some snacks (at an awesome all natural quicky-mart) and an all natural grass feed burger at a little restaurant in town it was 2:15. I went back and forth on what to do. I was not sure I could make it over the top but it was way too early to stop riding, and there is virtually nothing in Boulder to do. So, I went...
And the climb started from the get go, up and up and up, and steeper and steeper. Time was slipping away. I knew I could make it to one of the campgrounds near the top of the 9000 plus foot pass but I was beginning to wonder how long it would take. The sun doesn't go down until after 8:00, I THOUGHT I would make it before then, but I don't like cutting it too close.
At around 8000 feet I saw a couple of people on horseback. I turned off my phone's mp3 player so I didn't spook the horses and rolled to a stop to take a break. The two cowboys were finishing up something "cow on the open range related" and they were putting their horses in their trailers behind their pickup trucks.
"Sure wish I had your horse instead of a bike for this stretch," I said.
"Well, it maaght be good here but it wooont be as good on the daaaaown hill," said cowboy 2. He had a point.
After that came the inevitable questions about where I was heading, etc.
"How much longer to the top," I asked.
"Aaaaw, you gotta ways ta go," said cowboy 2.
"How's the grade?"
"It gets steeper."
"Hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew today," I said, checking the time and elevation on my Garmin.
"Weeell, put yer baach in," said cowboy 1 as he motioned to the trailer.
"It's tempting," I said, running the pros and cons through my head I'm cheating, but it's a matter of safety, right? I mean what if I don't make it and I have to wild camp and a bear eats me OR my Starbucks Coffee Singles and chocolate...? Ooooh! Who am I kidding, I was also just damn tired of climbing!
"We can drive ya up a few miles if ya want, to the first overlook.'" Cowboy 1 added.
"Weeeell, ok." I said. Wondering if I would regret the guilt later on.
"Well, maaah trailer is covered in cow shit," said cowboy 1. "Put yer baach in his."
"I don't want to scare your horse."
"Aaaw," said cowboy 2. "He don't miiind."
So cowboy 2 moved his horse and in went the Trucker. And I will say, Cowboy 2 was the better looking of the two; he was a little hottie, with his tight little cowboy jeans and chaps. He was real nice too.
"Whaaat was your rooought so faar?" he asked.
"Through Nevada we took highway 50, with the last stretch from Baker to Milford."
"Oh, weeell I ruuun cattle between Baker and Milford. It's puurty country but I bet the wind was real bad on a baach?"
I decided not to mention that my friends and I probably trespassed on his ranch while we stealth camped one night, and worse, that Steve and Tyler are vegetarians!
We were so busy chatting we missed the first overlook. "That's what happens when yer buuull shitt'n." He said with a laugh.
But he dropped me off at the next one, which was what I wanted--all told it saved me about 1000 feet of climbing and the time I needed to feel better about the time of day. I still had some climbing to do, but I have to admit I felt relieved that I would make it over the top at a decent hour.
But that doesn't change the fact that I cheated! Is my trip tainted now!? Does this make me a bad person!? Aaaaooooooh! I hope the cycling gods don't hold it against me. I don't know what a Hail Mary is, outside of football, but I could learn--would that clear my conscience?
...so over the top I went, it was beautiful, with endless groves of aspen trees and scenic vistas, and down the other side. At around 8300 feet, or something like that, I stopped at a campground for water. I knew I could make it to Torrey but I gotta tell ya, the campground was so darn nice I just decided to stay put. Instead of an RV park with gobs of other noisy people I went with a campsite in National Forest beside a pretty little stream. I am a little short on 'good' food but I have enough stuff, calorie wise, to make it through the night and the morning. I still had one emergency meal after all.
The campground host is super nice and a retired teacher so we chewed the fat for a while. About an hour later another camper arrived on a motorcycle. He came over to say hi, and one thing led to another .turns out we are from the same town! And his 2 daughters go to the same school I teach at! What are the odds?
So, I cheated. I hope I can live with myself. I hope I'm not blackballed on CGOAB? After all, I still did 5000 feet of climbing today!
Anyway, I'm writing this entry next to a warm little campfire, and the campground host has already offered me milk for my morning coffee. Does it get any better?
...well, I guess if my conscience was clean but other than that
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Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 1,243 miles (2,000 km)
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