My Followers Part 1: The Smallest People Are Some of my Biggest Fans

I’m always surprised to learn how many people are following my trip.  I receive emails and comments from friends and family in Oregon, people back in Barcelona, Thomson Bike Tour Clients, previous hosts, students at schools I visited, parents of students at schools I visited, emails from people I meet out on the road, to random strangers who stumble across my website.  I never imagined my trip would permeate the world as it has!

It excited me to learn about the schools that have been following my trip, after all that was my original idea when I set out on The Loong Way Home.  I wanted to was to reach out to schools worldwide in hopes that teachers, students, and parents would use the teaching section of my website as a resource for learning and to drive investigation.  Embarking on my endeavor meant giving up my classroom, but in reality the only thing I’m missing is the physical presence of the four walls because as you see, the world has become my classroom.  Today it is the southwest, soon it will be the Colorado Rockies, and after that open countryside and plains. My colleagues who I met with daily at BFIS to plan aren’t with me, but they’ve been replaced by my knowledgeable and entertaining hosts, park rangers with their inside information, and by other cyclists, and friendly strangers who I encounter on the road.  My students?  They are out there too, from the people I meet every day when I stop for a snack or end my day at a campground. They are the curious strangers who want me to share my experiences and whose questions I answer, even if it means repeating myself every 15 miles down the road.  But, actually, I also do have students out there in classrooms who have been religiously following The Loong Way Home since the day I left Barcelona.

My most dedicated followers come from the classrooms where Neus Bruguera works as a support teacher at Sa Graduada in Mahon, Spain one of the Balearic Islands off the coast of Northeast Spain.  Oddly enough, I have never met her, although I’m a good friend of her brother, Vicens, who rode with me from Barcelona to Nice, France and has been an incredible support to me throughout my trip with the technical logistics.  From my email interaction with Neus and her students, it is obvious she is a dedicated teacher.  She has been using “The Teacher on 2 Wheels Website” since September and created several projects in various classrooms related to my trip.  It’s quite remarkable considering most of the content on my website is in English.  However, the English department at her school uses my website as a resource in their English classes because it help promote real world language learning, something I didn’t imagine happening, but an incredibly valid occurrence.

This letter makes me laugh as the students says I have my husband waiting for me at home when I arrive.  Does he know something that I don't know?  One of their assignments in class was to do a newspaper article summarizing The Loong Way Home

I received a bunch of cards from the 4th grade class when I reached the 15,000 km milestone, what a surprise!

Neus and her students consult my website weekly, read the blog posts, watch videos and go through my picture albums I post on Flickr.  They have turned my trip into a language and geography lesson.  During the middle of the school year, they wrote reports summarizing my trip thus far and sharing with me their opinion of my trip.  I was absolutely delighted to receive their letters, evidence of the time and energy they had been investing in my project.  In fact, I got goose bumps as I read their commentary and also had a few good laughs at their interpretation of my trip.  You can’t imagine how much I learned from them reading their letters, gaining perspective and insight to how 10 to 12 year olds digest the world.

This card came to me with others from the class when I arrived in Australia

One of their assignments in class was to do a newspaper article summarizing The Loong Way Home

Early on in my trip, one student in particular reached out to me in a special way.  Lucia, a 5^th year student at Sa Graduada Mao, wrote me an email with a special request.  She was looking for a penpal in Australia because she wanted to learn more about the country.  Little did I know the request would turn into a wonderful learning journey for Lucia and her classmates in Mao.  In my opinion school, especially in the early years, is all about developing your interests, passions, and inquiring about your curiosities.  This is exactly what happened for Lucia as she learned about Australia, excited and anxious to establish a penpal relationship with a young girl her age in Australia.  She and her friends made videos about Australia and my travels in Australia after researching all about the country.

Lucia explains about the letter she sent in this video

Lucia thanks me in this video after giving her letter to several students in Australia

With the help of her English teachers, Neus, and parents, Lucia prepared a letter to her unknown future pen pal, introducing herself and sharing with them a bit about her family, friends, and culture.  She sent the letter to my parents in Oregon, who brought it over to me in Australia and I delivered it to various classes at the schools I visited in Australia. Back in Mahon, Lucia anxiously awaited a response.  The school year is just about to come to an end and it looks like the students at Mother Teresa Catholic School in Melbourne have responded.  Neus tells me how much Lucia admires my travels, but the truth is, this young lady is a true inspiration to me!  She is passionate about learning, curious, and driven to research and explore the world around her.  She’s confident, open-minded and pushes herself just outside her comfort level to grow and learn about the world.  If kids her age had just half the motivation and interest she has to learn, the world’s problems would be solved by our future generation in a heartbeat. Something tells me with the contact she has now established with the students in Australia and her continued curiosities; she has opened the door to a world of opportunities. (Here are the links to her other videos Introduction Video, Lucia and her friends, Australia Video) 

They did a Playmobile animation video when I arrived in Australia

Thank you students at Sa Graduada Maó for all your support throughout the year!  You are some of my youngest and smallest followers but you have the biggest heart and are constantly curious.  Although there are about to go on summer break, I’m sure many of them will continue to follow my travels during the summer and once the school year starts again in September, I’m sure I’ll hear from them again!

Institut Escola Turo de Roquetes in the Barcelona area is another Spanish school that has been loyal followers.  My friend Nuri, and fellow cycle companion from the Gracia Cycling Club teaches the 6^th graders.  This year her students have been involved with an entirely self-directed class research project.  They chose the topic of cycling and Nuri turned them on to my trip as one of the many facets of the sport.  Nuri religiously used my teaching resources in her classroom, including the math problems, writing prompts, and inquiry questions I posed bi-weekly (in fact she even translated them into Catalan from Spanish!)  Their dedication to my trip was flattering, to say the least.  

This is part of the classes documentation of my trip included in their research project. 

During the later half of the school year, we set up a Skype date so that students could complete their inquiry and investigation surrounding my trip.  Nuri and her students compiled a booklet of their work and sent it to me, giving me an idea of their project and how it was organized.  The quality of their work is fascinating and I attribute it to the power of choice.  When motivated and interested in a subject area, students capability surpass the expectations of any teacher.  The bicycle is worldwide icon and people of all ages can relate to and motivate learning.  In fact, Nuri admitted that her student’s attitude and behavior changed dramatically in class when they started their bike and cycling project.  They prepared an extensive interview and each student had a question for me as we Skyped, me from San Fransisco, while they were in class in Barcelona.  The biggest surprise of all was a neat video they prepared showing me how they have been follwoing my travels.

Here is part of their project, photos from the different places I cycled

They prepared a short video you can watch here for me as a surprise!  What neat students!

As teachers, it is easy for us to get caught-up in our day-to-day routine and feel the pressure of making sure we cover all the curriculum during the school year.  We can get obsessed with making sure our students are reading on grade level, competent writers, and meeting the benchmarks for their grade in the different subject matters.  While I do believe that traditional academics are important, this trip has changed the way I think about school and our education system.  Kids learn everywhere and anywhere, and it’s important to foster an environment that motivates them to learn so that they become passionate inquirers.  For some this may happen in a classroom setting, for others, it will be a phenomenon that occurs beyond the four walls in a school….and for a select few it happened while following Ms. Melissa, “The Teacher on 2 Wheels” traveling around the world on her bicycle.

Me & My Motor Homes

I admitted in an earlier post way back in New Zealand after my first experience in a motor home, that I have always dreamed of owning one.  I’m infatuated with them, to say the least.  When I was little I thought I would make my arts and crafts and travel all around in my motor home to the summer craft fairs selling my work.  The arts and crafts part of that dream I came true.  When I was about 13 I started making and selling my crafts.  My mom taught me how to sew and I started making and selling hair scrunchies (yes, remember that fad?).  I sold them everywhere: to friends, local stores,… My younger brother Jeff was my “representative” and took a catalog around with him to school with all the different fabric samples.  After that, I got into FIMO, then jewelry, ceramics, then jewelry again……But up until now, I hadn’t lived the motor home part of that dream.

In my previous life (pre-road bike) I was always making something....I loved jewelry design

Now I see the sunny skies and I can't be indoors!  Hope to go back to jewelry making some time soon....

I don’t know if I find them or they find me, but I’ve loved my experiences with motor homes on my trip. You see, about 90% (more like 95%) of the people who drive motor homes are retired, older couples.  Retired couples are incredibly pleasant, at least the ones who drive motor homes.  They are usually traveling on the road for months on end, been all around The States, enjoy sharing their experiences with others, and don’t have a worry in the world or any obligation that makes them rush from here to there.  That’s pretty much my life too right now.  Newt, my first recent motor home experience, fits into this category, although I met him not knowing he actually had a motor home.

Newt and I hiking in Arches National Park

I wanted to see Arches National Park, but wasn’t up for riding out and back over steep climbs.  I had had a couple of long hard days, and the idea of hiking and the idea of hitching a ride in and riding out sounded more appealing.  The park ranger didn’t advise hitch hiking obviously, but very seldom do I take their advice to heart!  I plopped myself, and my bike, right outside the visitor center entrance.  I was determined to wave down the first pick-up truck I came across.  I have to laugh looking back at this experience now.  I hadn’t been on the side of the road two minutes when I saw a huge black pick-up driving up.  I waved my hands frantically, out of desperation, as if there was an emergency.  I remember the man driving in the cab put his arms up in the air as if to say, “What the heck girl,…are you talking to me??!?? Are you trying to flag me down?”  You see, I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.  I wasn’t going to stand on the side of the road in the heat longer than necessary.  He rolled down the window and I asked him if he was going back into the park.  Just like that, he agreed to take me.  We put my bike in the back of his truck, with all my bags, and headed into Arches.

Here's his fifth wheel, truck, and my bike

I mentioned Newt in an earlier post. I was delighted to meet him.  He told me a bit about himself and mentioned that he had a fifth wheeler back at an RV park in Moab.  A fifth wheeler, ……now that was a term I didn’t know in the world of motor homes.  I’m a curious person, and I fired away with all sorts of questions for Newt about his fifth wheeler.  After our afternoon together, I felt like I could almost call myself an expert.  I learned about fifth wheels to class one motor homes, slides, the Good Sam discount parks, and all the essentials for hooking up such a vehicle.  After Arches, I went to see his motor home at the RV park, an impressive work of art! 

It's actually a pull-out sofa, but just normal it's wider than my tent

I sort of took over with all my bags, but it's a very spacious motor home

It just so happened that Newt was headed to Pagosa Springs, then up to Estes, Colorado, towns that were also on my itinerary and he invited me to stay with him.  I would have been happy pitching my tent outside the motor home, but he said RV parks really frown upon that.  Therefore, when I got to Pagosa, I found Newt at the Riverside RV park and I spent the night on his sofa, just like I did with Linda and Gary in Death Valley.  Both sofas are actually wider than my tent, so they were quite comfy for me.  Newt and I both love a good wheat beer and managed to find a great restaurant in town with microbrews on tap, just like we did in Moab.  We even ordered the same beer, to accompany our meals; he got pasta and I tried my first half stack of baby back BBQ ribs. Delicious!!!

Why did I wait so long to discover BBQ ribs, yummm!!!!

He had an actual book version of the USA/Canada road atlas, how cool!

I forgot to mention that motor home owners and me also have something else in common.  We both love looking at maps!  It provides us with hours of entertainment.  We talk about roads, passes, elevation, the scenery, the services along the roads, you name it; maps fascinate us!  Newt and I spent a good deal of time talking about different route possibilities for my trip. One of the first big trips he and his partner took in their fifth wheel was up to Alaska.  I asked him for the low down on heading up through Canada, and I hate to say he planted the idea in my head about possibly riding all the way up to Alaska……I’ll keep you posted on that route option!

First class breakfast in a first class vehicle

The next morning he made me French toast and sausage before I set off and headed to New Mexico.  If all goes well, I’ll meet Newt again in Estes, Colorado.  He’s going to watch his grand daughter’s softball tournament and I’m headed up there after my detour to New Mexico.  I do hope our dates coincide, he’s great company for me.  He’s done a ton of hiking in The Rocky Mountain National Park and the wheat beer we had was from a brewing company in Brekenridge, which is right next door!

Stephan and Marian at Spruce Tree, Mesa Verde

Remember how I said 95% of the people who drive motor homes are older retired couples, well the 5% that is left over are tourists on vacation, usually foreigners who are doing the “Cruise America” motor home deal.  This was the case for my second recent motor home encounter.  Again, I wanted to see Mesa Verde, but the idea of cycling up and down and all around was exhausting.  Once again the park ranger tried to deter me by threatened me by saying “If a law enforcement officer sees you hitch hiking in the park, they will arrest you!”  Well, for me, that just meant hurry up and find someone to ride up with!  The first people I asked were a little sketched out by picking up a young woman hitch hiker.  They declined, and thankfully because then I asked Stephan and Marian.   They looked like a nice young couple and sounded like they were talking German.  They didn’t even hesitate to say yes.  My bike was back at the visitor center, so this time I only needed a ride.  I thought I was just going to hop in a small car, probably a Volkswagen or something, but no, they walked me up to a motor home, and not just any motor home, a HUGE 31 foot motor home!

Yes, it is really that big!  31 feet

What a riot! These guys had rented the biggest rig possible to travel around Colorado.  I sat at the table and talked with them while Stephan drove.  They told me the story behind the big motor home rental.  Last summer they were also over in The States and rented a motor home, but it was so small and the windshield wasn’t great for viewing, so this time they decided to go “ A lo grande!”  They had a good laugh when they picked it up as well, not really knowing just how big a 31-foot motor home would be!  It was indeed perfect for their style of traveling.  They had total freedom to stay the night wherever they wanted, prepare meals, and have some privacy.  Just like I’m infatuated with motor homes, Stephan and Marian are in love with The United States.  They’ve done so many tours out west; it was great to pick their brain again about my route.  In between sight seeing in Mesa Verde, Marian and I shared the front seat (which was also enormous, plenty big for both our buns) and looked over the Colorado map and their German tour guide of the western states.  They wanted to make it all the way up to Mt. Rushmore, and gave me the idea that it might be a neat alternative route to go to Yellowstone.  They had traveled all throughout Wyoming a few years back and told me some pointers there for places to visit.

The seats, wide enough for two bums.  Stephan felt like he was driving a bus.

Stephan and Marian were like a breathe of fresh air and just as pleasant as Newt.  We traveled all around Mesa Verde for the middle of the day.  I don’t know if it’s the motor home connection, passion to travel, or our open-minded and adventurous spirit, but it felt like we were lifelong friends.  I don’t think I will see these two again, but they will give me a review after completing their route in time for me to decide if this is something I should also do!

Counting the motor home trailer from New Zealand, staying with Gary and Linda in theirs in Death Valley, Newt’s fifth wheel, and Stephan and Marian’s motor home,….I’m on a roll.  I might never own a motor home myself, but I sure am having some great experiences in other people’s motor homes that help fulfill my childhood dream! Who would of thought that would happen on a bike trip!

       

Utah's National Parks: The Grand Tour

The Colorado River from the base of The Grand Canyon, Bright Angel Trail

“So if you could only visit one, which would it be, Zion or Bryce?”  the man in front of me asked the ranger at the visitor center outside of Page, Arizona.

“Basically, that is like asking if you like apples or oranges.  They are totally different and impossible to compare!”  The Ranger answered.  The tourist was obviously on a tight schedule and didn’t know which park was more worthwhile to visit.  After visiting five of the parks on The Grand Tour in Southern Utah, even I can’t tell you which I like the most (and I didn’t spend more than a day or so in each).  Each park is completely different than the last varying with their rock formations, colors, and layout.

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon, as you can see from my earlier post is just “Legendary”.  It is huge, and rightly deserves the name “Grand” and always towering in the background.  Next to The Grand Canyon, you feel minute and unimportant, reminding you just how powerful Mother Nature actually is.  I’m glad I saw it first because it was the park with the most tourists and the choice of day hikes was more limited, meaning that everyone wanted to take the same trail attempting to make it to the bottom of the canyon in one day.  The first half of my hike was completely peaceful with few tourists around.  It wasn’t until halfway up The Bright Angel trail that I started running into others coming down, who had waited just a wee bit too long to attempt the hike in the heat of the afternoon sun.  No matter what angle you approach the canyon, it looks spectacular.  I enjoyed leaving through the east entrance because again, there were fewer tourists, and you had the added benefit of seeing the Little Colorado Gorge, another impressive canyon only 20 miles from the rim.  

Descending South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon

The Colorado River, Descending South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon

Page, Arizona (Not a national park, but worth a visit)

After The Grand Canyon, I went up to Paige, Arizona a great place to base yourself to see Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe bend.  Neither are national parks, but they are impressive sights to see.  There are two slot canyons to visit on the outskirts of Page, within about a half mile of each other, Upper and Lower Antelope.  The upper canyon is more popular among tourists because of the light beams that shine through.  I didn’t want to deal with the crowds, so I chose the lower canyon.  You can’t go through these slot canyons on your own.  You have to join a tour. The layered sandstone inside is gorgeous.  No two bends in the canyon look the same.  You can find every shade of red, pink, purple, orange, and beige in swirling stripes inside canyon walls.  New patterns appear around every turn, which blew me away.  I must have taken 300 photos on the 45 minute tour. 

Amazing to think all the beauty lies within this crevice

Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona

Horseshoe bend was also a neat sight to visit in the area.  The Colorado river makes a 270 degree turn on itself.  The short hike to the cliff of the river doesn’t detour tourists, they were there in swarms.  To tell you the truth, I’m surprised there isn’t a chain or railing keeping people away from the edge of the river because the cliff drops straight off into the river some 1000 ft above the Colorado River. If you get too close, it’s over!  I got some great photos from the top.  I didn’t stay until sunset, but it is suppose to be a spectacular place to watch the sun go down.

Too close for comfort,......no way!

A panoramic view of Horseshoe Bend, PAge, Arizona

Zion National Park

From Northern Arizona, I crossed into Utah and went to Zion.  While The Grand Canyon is looming in the distance and the only way to really see it up close is to hike down, Zion National Park is shockingly “in your face”.  A scenic highway cuts right through the park connecting some major towns on the western side.  The park is constantly surrounding you and you can’t avoid but take it all in!  The colors are deep rich earthen reds and browns, and even the asphalt on the road has a red tone.  The scenery changes quite a bit from east to west on this main scenic byway, and especially on the road that follows the river up where the majority of the hiking trails are located.  Don’t get me wrong; there are tourists at this park, but not nearly as many as The Grand Canyon.  If you want to avoid them entirely, look for the hike in the guide labeled “strenuous” and over 5 miles.  That leaves you with Observation Point, which is where I headed to avoid the crowds at Angel’s Landing. Observation point went straight up for about 3 miles bringing you to an amazing lookout over the entire park, including Angel’s Landing. Yeah, it was steep, but after The Grand Canyon, it was a piece of cake!

I love candid shots taken by tourists!  (The road matches my tan color or vice versa)

The view from Observation Point, well worth the hard work!

Red is definitely the color in Zion National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park

From Zion, I rode over to Bryce Canyon.  I didn’t know much about Bryce except that there were these tower-like rocks jetting out everywhere.  My intention was to arrive early and hike that afternoon, but I was too mesmerized by Red Rock Canyon National Park which is you ride through coming from the west in order to get to Bryce.  I found myself stopping every 5 minutes to take pictures, fascinated by the rich red-colored rocks and canyon walls.  When I finally arrived at Bryce, I got lucky and met John, a nice man traveling solo, who let me share his campground site with him. I left all my stuff there, changed into my running clothes, and went to run the rim.  The rim, in my mind, was flat,….an easy run, despite being at 8,500 ft (2,500m).  At first I thought I could do the whole rim from north to south, an 8-mile run, but between the ups and downs and high altitude, I struggled to run continuously for an hour.  It was the most pleasant surprise running on the rim trail because I had no idea what sort of scenery to expect.

Named appropriately, The Red Rock Canyon

Fairyland Trail, Bryce Canyon

The view from above the rim

Bryce Canyon is filled with these pinnacles or towers that look like they’re made out of wet sand that has come dripping down to form a tiny little “hoodoo” as they call them.  To me, the little towers looked more like fairy chimneys, something similar to what I saw in Cappadocia, Turkey.  Hoodoos are everywhere!  There are skinny tall ones, shorter squat ones, they come in clumps almost piled on top of each other or they can be more spread out.  It looks like a fairy just got out of control with a wand and said “Abracadabra” one too many times!    The hoodoos are more densely clustered around the sunset and sunrise viewpoints.  Up where I ran and hiked the next morning, on the Fairland Trail, they become more spread out.  I purposely chose the Fairyland trail because again, it was on the list of more strenuous hikes and longer than the rest, hence I was just about alone on the entire 8 miles circuit. The pinnacles and rock changed color after every bend in the trail, it was fascinating.  The colors vary from a beige pink color to a deep earthen red, almost violet, and look as though they have horizontal stripes. Of all the hikes I did in Utah’s parks, I encountered the fewest tourists on the trail in Bryce.  Everyone seems to hover around the rim and few descend into the canyon to walk alongside the hoodoos.  Therefore, I had a real intimate experience with Bryce Canyon.

Up close and personal with the "hoodoos" on the Fairland Trail

A concentrated cluster of Hoodoos

Capitol Reef National Park

From Bryce I basically had two days of climbing that were pretty tough.  One day I rode over the tallest pass in Utah, which was actually an easier climb than the previous day, which led me into Escalante.  Needless to say, after so much uphill, I had about 150 miles of downhill riding, part of which took me through Capitol Reef National Park.  A scenic byway also goes directly through the park.  In Capitol Reef I decided not to take the scenic detour going into the park deeper as it was a bit of a descent and I wasn’t feeling like climbing out afterwards.  Besides, the view from the byway was impressive enough to keep me in awe for the entire ride.  The only “downside” to downhill riding is that I didn’t stop to take pictures because I didn’t want to loose my momentum.  Capitol Reef is really unusual with its scenery.  The colors carry over both from Bryce and Red Rock Canyon, but here, the rocks come protruding out from the ground in dense think clumps leaving behind what appears to be loose debris.  The tops of lots of these rocks are somewhat jagged but there are also racks that are completely flat on top, characteristic of a Mesa.  The loose stuff debris is actually quite compressed and creates undulating formations, what I like to call “pillowlike” structures that entice you to sit or sleep on them, even though you can’t get up close to them without a decent hike.  Although the park boundaries last for about 20 miles along the byway, the incredible formations continue along this road for a good 50 miles.  The color of the rocks change drastically the longer you ride, from a deep rich earthen red to a light beige color picking up some grays and even greens along the way.  Again you can see a lot of the layers to the rocks making for fascinating stripe patterns.  Once the grade of the descent tapered off, I was able to snap a few more pictures. It’s a fascinating park to visit and not as famous as others, therefore the number of tourists dwindles away. 

This is the visual to go along with the protruding rock and debris description

Flat top Mesa-like rock

Love the stripe patterns showing hte layers of rock

Arches National Park 

The last park I saw on the grand circuit was Arches just outside of Moab.  I had the choice of cutting through Canyonlands National Park or visiting Arches, and I chose the later in order to visit Moab as well, a neat outdoorsy town a few miles south of Arches. Arches is considerably spread out and in order to get in to the park you have to climb…. A LOT!  I had all my bags on my bike and the rangers wouldn’t let me store them anywhere around their visitor center so I decided to hitch hike.  I would try to find a ride all the way to the end of the park, and ride back to the entrance, thinking this would be mostly downhill and a good way to see the park.  My legs were pretty shot as the previous day I had done 130 miles (206km).  In Zion I had to hop in a pick-up truck to go through a tunnel that cyclists aren’t allowed to ride through.  There, the park ranger helped me out to hitch a ride.  Here, I was on my own, but I got pretty lucky.  I look back now and laugh, because I frantically hailed down the first pickup truck I saw.  In fact the man in it put his arms up and gave me a peculiar look, like “What in the world do you want girl?”  I wasn’t going to take no for an answer from this man.  I told him my idea, he agreed to taking me, and he pulled over into the visitor parking and we loaded up my bike.  His name was Newt. He was retired with his 5^th wheel motor home back at an RV park, traveling around Utah and Colorado solo until his partner joined him later on in July.  He had been to arches several years ago and attempted the Double Arch hike, but hadn’t reached the arches.  This time he was determined to complete the hike.  For some reason, I wanted to go see the delicate arch, the most popular among tourists, but as soon as I saw just how hilly the terrain was inside the park, I opted for sticking with Newt and accompanying him on his hike. 

Balanced Rock, Arches National Park, it looks like a dinosaur egg to me!

Landscape Arch, most tourists turn back here on the hike

But the double arch is well worth the extra miles

He was the most pleasant older man and we stopped at several of the sights on the way out to Double Arch.  It was a warm morning, hotter than I had encountered for days, and there wasn’t an inch of shade in Arches.  I was so thankful to be in Newt’s air-conditioned cab!  Arches looks like it could be the backdrop to a movie featuring dinosaurs.  The rock formations are massive, in clumps spread out, far to reach on bike or foot, but they would have been within a few footsteps from one another during prehistoric times when Dinosaurs ruled the world.  When we started out hike, there were several people on the trail.  However, once the trail hits The Landscape Arch, crowds taper off, and rightly so because the trail becomes a lot more technical climbing over slick rock.  I hadn’t even changed my clothes from my morning ride, so I was hiking in my bike gear with my front handlebar bag over my shoulder and a huge liter water bottle under my arm.  I know I looked a little odd, but the outfit worked for me.  Newt kept a really good pace and had a great sense of direction, making it easy to just follow in his footsteps and not have to think too much.  It was a neat arch to hike to because you come to two arches stacked on top of another and you can hike right through the lower one. 

Newt and I were exhausted after the first arch and settled for seeing the Delicate Arch from a distance

On our way back to the car, I noticed there was absolutely no one around, probably due to the 100-degree weather.  We were exhausted to say the least and I no longer had the desire to hike to the delicate arch. We did however drive to the lookout and hike up a short distance to a viewpoint.  Arches is a neat park, fascinating to see how the wind and weather have shaped the rocks and created these natural arches and bridges.  They are constantly changing shape with the weather and you can see where new arches are forming and how older ones have changed shape and lost parts of their rock.

My circuit through these five parks gave me a good overall feel for each park, although I missed out on Canyonlands and Monument Valley.  If or when I come back, I would like to see these two and choose a few to explore each in more depth.  It’s fascinating that the parks are so close in distance, yet they are each so unique and unusual, equally picturesque and interesting to explore.  Utah, has got to be my favorite place scenery wise within The United States, I’ve visited so far!

The Perfect Day..... An Epic Day

This ride goes down in history

To some the Perfect Day might mean lounging on the sofa watching a movie marathon, sipping a poolside margarita, or soaking up the sun at the beach.  However, in my life, right now, the perfect was yesterday when the weather and road conditions were so ideal it made for an epic day on the bike: 206 km (130mi.) from Torrey, Utah to Crescent Junction. I did start off the day intending to hit 200 kilometers, but I just couldn’t stop pedaling, conditions were too good to be true!

The last time I did an absurd amount of kilometers, I crossed Malaysia’s rain forest in the north all in one day and climbed 2,500 meters during 177km.  After that I publicly vowed on my blog to never do it again.  As experience shows me, when I say never, it only sets me up for a deja veux situation.  This time, however, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into and I was mentally prepared. 

Really it was an anti-climatic summit, just long

The day before I had arrived in Torrey, Utah after a massive day of climbing. I crossed Utah’s tallest mountain pass, 9,600ft. (2,926m).  It actually wasn’t too bad, thanks to a million and one switchbacks! A downhill awaiting me and I descended to Torrey for about 20 miles all the way to Lyman’s house, my host for the evening, who lived just outside Capitol Reef National Park. The following day, I was headed through Capitol Reef and on my way to Moab and Arches National Park, about 145 miles away.  There were few places in between to stop, a town 50 miles away and another 105 miles, and literally nothing in between, not even a gas station.  I was delighted to learn my route was almost entirely downhill and it seemed (fingers crossed) I would have a tailwind if it didn’t change direction during the night.  The conditions were optimal for a long day, much better than that long grueling day in Malaysia.  I was certain I could do100 miles, although it would be a challenge in the dry desert heat with few services. 

I didn't realize these pancakes would be so crucial in my 200km day- They were delicious!

An early start was necessary and should have been easy considering I didn’t have to pack up my tent. However, a box of pancake mix sitting out on Lyman’s kitchen counter caught my attention and I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make some pancakes before my big day. I mixed up the batter adding some bananas and yogurt for extra energy and made two huge pancakes.  I enjoyed them while sipping on coffee reading the morning news on my phone and for a moment, I forgot that I had to actually hop on my bike and pedal!  It felt like a lazy Sunday morning. I savored every bite of my hotcakes, washed the dishes, and left Lyman’s at 8:30.  I was off for my century ride.

To the east of Bryce Canyon lay Capitol Reef, strikingly different but equally beautiful

My first 10 miles led me to the entrance of CapitolReef.  The scenery had changed suddenly yesterday after descending into this area.  The colors were now an intense earthen red, with formations similar to Bryce Canyon, but still dramatically different.  The road through Capitol Reef National Park is a designated Scenic Byway.  You can enter the park even further and take the scenic route, but I decided to stick to rt. 24 knowing my day would be long enough and filled with plenty of gorgeous scenery.  I didn’t stop a lot to take pictures, I would have worn through my break pads as I was descending so quickly.  Sometimes you just have to enjoy your surroundings in the moment.

The scenic byway goes right through the park

Loads of rocks precariously balanced

It's like the rock sheets broke through the ground.....

Even though the official National Park boundary extends for only about 20 miles on the scenic byway, there is spectacular landscape all around for about a 40-mile radius.  It accompanied me all the way to Hanskville, 50 miles from where I had started the day.  Hanksville was my one and only stopping point if I needed services before continuing on to Green River another 55 miles away.  I stocked up on some snacks at the supermarket, got hydrated and relaxed a bit.  I knew I was in good shape.  I had gone 50 miles and descended 1000 m (3,280ft.) and climbed about a fourth of that and a tail wind had pushed me along the entire way. The only real challenge was the heat. it was about 95 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  By now I’m used to that and I do quite well, I drink frequently, and stop to use chapstick even more regularly since my lips and mouth dry out so fast. 

The start of the last 55miles, there are still some rocks

Then there is nothing but desolate dessert

Conditions were perfect and I felt great. Not to mention, mentally I was prepared.  I had saved my ipod for this second leg of the route, turned it on and started pedaling.  Vast desert might be “nothing” for some people but for me it is an awe-inspiring sight for me to see.  Eventually the rocks, canyons, and cliffs did disappear and my backdrop became an arid and vast open landscape.  Very few cars passed.  Even if I wanted to stop and call it a day on this road, there wasn’t much to even protect or hide my tent. I was really out in the middle of nowhere.  I stopped once for a snack, but without a place to sit, not even a guardrail, I had my dried fruit and banana just off the shoulder of the road, standing up.  Thankfully the 55 miles flew by and shortly before 5pm, I reached the interstate junction and road the I-70 for the last 10 miles, there was no alternative.  Unlike Arizona Interstates, Utah kept their shoulders nice and clean and it was about 8 ft. wide, giving me plenty of distance from trucks.  I arrived in Green River, at about 5:30 and pulled into the first gas station I saw.

How's that for a small?..topped with Gummy Bears, M &Ms, and Reeses! No wonder I was able to pedal 35 more miles!

I had arrived! Yes!!!! I was tired, but not exhausted.  I needed fresh cold water and searched for something to snack on.  Wouldn’t you know there was a soft serve ice cream machine in the station with toppings and all??? How could I be so lucky??  There were two sizes, small and large, without any shame, I took the small cup and filled it to the max.  It was so high that the toppings came tumbling down like an avalanche.  While enjoying my ice cream, I started looking over the route to Moab.  Green River was about 20 miles to the junction where the road went south. After Moab I would have 30 miles to Arches, and another 30 miles (60 miles round trip) through Arches National Park.  Yikes, tomorrow was going to be another loong day,…..unless that is I continued to pedal tonight and knocked off a bit more of the distance.  Classic Melissa,….I just want to go a little bit further.  The thought of a personal record was enticing, but the idea of having an “easy day” in Arches was what really motivated me.  There was no wind and the route looked flat, so I decided to continue pedaling.  From time-to-time I enjoy a healthy challenge.  It feels exhilarating to push myself and pretend I’m riding my road bike back home, out for a Saturday morning club ride with the guys.  The only difference is the extra 30kg of weight!

Reuben was happy to give me a footlong sandwich! Should have asked for two! Ha!

Leaving Green River meant a lack of shower facilities, but I had plenty of baby wipes and just last night I had taken a nice hot shower.  The junction where I was headed only had a small gas station and mini-mart, but people told me I could camp behind. I just needed to make sure I had enough food for dinner upon arrival.  I could have gone back for another ice cream, but instead, I decided to go with a more healthy choice.  The Chevron station had an adjoining Subway and the guys there were more than delighted to spot me dinner for the second time in a row, treating me to a footlong sandwich for dinner.  I salivated as they prepared it, drank a coffee energy drink, hopped back on my bike, and started to pedal. 

On the last stretch of road to Crescent Junction

I was determined, more like possessed, by the idea of cycling 200km.  My cycling buddy Ian from a few days back had told me he ended up doing 215 km the day we parted which fascinated me, and probably planted the idea in my head that it could be done.  I do however, accept full responsibility for attempting the 200km. I wanted the challenge and thrived off of the adrenaline rush.  I felt so fresh starting to pedal again, as if the first 170 kilometers hadn’t even fazed me.  I had lucked out with the road and weather conditions and I wanted to make the most of them.  I continued on a road parallel to the main interstate without any cars, enjoying my peaceful and serene evening.  I know it isn’t safe or ideal to be on the road right before dusk, but I see some of the most beautiful sunsets as a result.

Papa Joe saves the day!

A four star accommodation

I completed the last 20 miles (35km) just before dark, pulling into Papa Joe’s Mini Mart and Gas Station at 9pm.  Papa Joe himself was outside the station when I arrived, preparing to close.  He said there wasn’t any problem camping out, although he did warn me that he had a rattlesnake out in the back field.  There was an outlet and picnic tables in front and a concrete area where I could put my tent.  His gas station lured a lot of travelers with it’s peculiar decorations and eclectic mix of “junk”.  Travelers filled up their cars and also took a few photos at the same time.  There was an old Scooby Doo Mystery Machine parked in front and a car from the movie Cars. I set up camp hidden behind the Mystery Machine, thinking I was safer there under the security cameras and far from the rattlesnake. I didn’t mind the light nor the noise, I slept soundly.  

People were so fascinated by the Mystery Machine, they never saw me camped behind it!

I “showered” using several baby wipes, enjoyed my sandwich and called it a night.  I felt good, fresh, pleased, proud, energized. Not only was it an epic day with perfect riding conditions, the 206 km (128mi.) was just what I needed to get a sound night sleep at Papa Joe’s, recharging my batteries for my visit to Arches tomorrow, which lie another 30 miles ahead.  Little did I know, visiting that park was going to be a whole other story in itself!