"It's going to be F**KING HOT!" - "Ride Directly Into the Serpent Without Fear" - CycleBlaze

July 12, 2013

"It's going to be F**KING HOT!"

Day 19: Dolores, Colorado to Blanding, Utah

The bear didn't eat me or my Payday bars.

An OK day in which not a lot happened, other than my finally riding out of Colorado, which has been one of the most scenic, and toughest, places I've ridden a bicycle.

Before I rode this morning I talked for a while to one of the Texans who regularly stays in the campground. The guy has a dog that is initially very suspicious and hostile when meeting a new person, but once the dog knows you, she is friendly (says the Texan.) So, yesterday the dog had initially growled and barked at me when I arrived on my bike, but then was friendly. This morning, she was back to the growling, the barking, the fur raised on her back, etc. The likely explanation: I smelled very, very different after a shower than when she first met me.

The route out of town was fine, then it dumped me onto a busy highway with an eight foot shoulder for much of the day. So, it was a safe enough route, but a little too busy for my taste.

I stopped at each little town on the route - Lewis, Yellow Jacket, Pleasant View, Cahone - but didn't see much activity in any of them. I've already forgotton which town (after only a few days), but either Pleasant View or Cahone had a very nice, new grocery store, where I was the only customer. I ignored the fresh vegetables and had ice cream instead. I asked the young woman working there who the store's customers were (because this was a very nice place for such a tiny, barely-there town), and she told me it was farmers from the surrounding area. Outside the store was a free "Farmers Courtesy Phone" that apparently was free for local calls, and only the honor system prevented long distance calls. Interesting.

Apparently the growing and processing of beans is a very, very big deal in this area. I almost went into one odd place, "Dryland Beans Ruins of America Trading Post", but decided I didn't have time to engage in conversation with who I suspected, based on all the hand-drawn signage, was a beans-obsessed man. It's too bad I didn't; this was sort of a dull day, and the proprietor might have had interesting things to say about beans and other matters.

At some point I entered Utah, where it felt sort of odd taking the obligatory state line sign, given that I lived in the state from 2009 to 2012. The only immediate difference between Colorado and Utah: The paved shoulder really deteriorated upon entering Utah.

It seemed to take forever to reach the first Utah town, Monticello, because I could see it from miles away, but my progress seemed agonizingly slow. On the outskirts of town, a friendly FedEx driver pulled over and offered some useful advice about road conditions ahead, and then indicated that he was not a member of Utah's predominant culture when he advised "It's going to be FUCKING HOT" tomorrow. Heh.

I initally had trouble obtaining cold drinks in Utah, when, at the first place I stopped, the smirking clerk twice pretended not to understand my request. As I stalked out, he angrily shouted "Hey!" I then rode to a Maverik convenience store, where I had no trouble communicating with the friendly employees there.

It was hot now, as I rode toward Blanding (pop. 3,120), my destination for the day. At one point I was riding through an area that had several signs warning of deer crossing the road. There was even a sign tallying the number of deer-car accidents the last year. It was a lot.

As I entered the outskirts of Blanding, the same FedEx driver from Monticello drove past and tapped out a friendly horn-tap. I stopped at the first motel in Blanding, got a room, did some free tech support when I advised the woman at the desk to reboot her router, then walked to the adjacent restaurant where I had a pretty good pizza for dinner. After that I went back to my room and looked at the map, which advised me that after Blanding there were 74 miles with no services of any kind. 

Last night's campsite, on the Dolores River. Nice.
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 2 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Beans are a big deal around here. Real big.
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 2 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 2 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
One-stop shopping for all your motorcycle, ATV, mower, tiller, generator, pump, snowblower, and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints literature needs
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0
Heart 1 Comment 0

Today's ride: 86 miles (138 km)
Total: 1,606 miles (2,585 km)

Rate this entry's writing Heart 2
Comment on this entry Comment 0