Easy, peasy 44 mile ride downhill to Hanksville today. Left at 6:30 and we were eating breakfast in Hanksville at 10. It would have been nice to push on another 55 miles to Green River for the night but it was going to get into the 90’s today and Len wasn’t confident he could make it.
It was a gorgeous ride with great roadway through the canyon outside of Torrey and then along the Fremont River today.
Len had some pep in his step today and led much of the way.
Around 8:15, after a fast 32 miles, we stopped in the almost ghost town of Caineville for our first rest off of the bike and a little snack. All quiet near the Caineville Cemetary!
Breakfast at Dukes Slick Rock Grill was excellent. The witch at the hotel Len reserved wouldn’t talk to us about getting into our room any earlier than 3pm even though I’m pretty sure she had a room available so our waiter, Brent, let me hang out for the better part of the day at Dukes. Some people are very kind and considerate. We’ll be back for dinner.
I mentioned in a previous post that we’re having to veer of the Western Express route and hack our way on a northerly route. In theory, tomorrow we would have ridden 44 miles south to Hite Marina and Camp for a night and then cruised into Blanding, another 78 miles the next day. Unfortunately due to draught, global warming and/or just over use of the Colorado River by AZ and CA there is no more Lake Powell at the marina, and it’s closed, so no services for 122 miles if we follow the WXP. With the growing heat and lack of services it could be risky, challenging at the least. So instead we’re heading north to Green River and we’ll ride into Colorado on a combination of Interstate 70 and old highway or access roads that still might be rideable into Fruita, CO. This route will also eliminate a possible very long reroute around portion of US50 between Montrose and Gunnison, CO on our way back home if we had stayed on the WXP.
Original route on the left: (A) is Hite, (B) is Blanding and the stop is Delores, CO. The route we’ll now ride on the right: is to (A) Green River, a short ride the next day into (B) Thompson Springs and then a 75 mile ride into Fruita, CO.
I met a very nice couple from Durango in the room below ours. Candice and Pete spend a lot of time coming to Utah to hike and knew very well the towns we’ve been riding through. They met teaching elementary school in the Navajo reservation, then taught Eskimo children in Alaska. Pete landed an Ast. Principal job in Durango and that’s where they raised their 3 kids. They even offered to let us have their room because of our bikes and our upstairs room. So sweet and kind. Compare that to the manager that wouldn’t let us check until 3. A little after Len checked us in I asked her why she couldn’t find a room on the ground floor to help with our bikes and she said the computer system wouldn’t let her. Hmmmmm. I know I’m a dog with a bone on this subject and I’ll let it go soon, but after all the nice people I’ve come across on this trip my expectations are just a little higher.
Another good update Scott. You have time to
ReplyDeleteunderstand the terrain and why roads were routed the way they are when you ride them on a bicycle. You are keeping busy figuring out alternate routes. How did you learn of the need to bypass the next portion of The Western Express route?