Riding through the desert...some pretty dramatic landscapes.Sibs and I headed out early from Page....8:30 to make sure that we were on the road with plenty of time and daylight to spare. I have to admit I've lost a bit of faith in the BLM. As we left Page it wasn't necessarily a descent to the desert floor, but rather a 2000 ft. elevation gain first. Yup we started off a blistering pace covering 10 miles in just over an hour. Perhaps this was a sign of things to come on this day!
Talk about a sweet descent!Eventually we made it up to 6200 feet and got to make this sweet descent to the desert floor. On the descent we stopped to check out some of the local native Indians selling crafts that they had made. They had beautiful blankets, jewelry and pottery all for sale right there on the side of the road. To bad for me that I was on a bike and unable to buy anything!
Final destination...Kanab...with about 85+ miles to go to get there!
Riding over another crazy gorge and bridge!
Most of our ride today was through Navajo Indian Reservation lands. We knew that we had one final stop before the start of our climb in the oasis town of Vermilion Cliffs. It was there that we stopped for lunch and to restock on supplies for our climb. We were still another 20 miles even from the start of the climb, but this was the last oasis until we were up at Jacob Lake. When we stopped for lunch I asked the local clerk how long the climb was up to Jacob Lake. She told me that it was 15 miles; the first couple being pretty brutal but eventually it simmered down. (Again losing my faith in the BLM dude...if you recall he told me 13 miles....seriously learn how to read a map!) Although she did let us know that at the Jacob Lake Inn they always served warm homemade cookies....hmmm cookies...motivation! After lunch Sibold and I rode on another 20 miles through the desert until we got to the start of the climb. (The Epic Desert Death March continues!)
Epic desert landscape...looking back on what we had just ridden and a view of the Vermilion Cliffs.When we arrived at the start of the climb we refueled, and decided to ride at our own paces up. We would just meet at the top of the mountain and whom ever arrived first was supposed to wait for the other with cookies in hand! We took off riding and the beginning wasn't nearly as bad as the local lady had claimed. Full of some great switchbacks and not terribly steep. About 6 miles into the climb I started to realize just how tired I was, but continued climbing despite feeling like poo because after all I was almost halfway through the climb. Right?
Enter in First Act of Humanitarian Kindness....
As I'm climbing I'm now about 10 miles into the climb...this guy comes up to me in a litttle red Mercedes convertible and tells me that my friend had flatted, he had changed her tire, and she was about 10 minutes behind me. In our effort to travel light we only packed one bike pump, and I had it with me. I thanked him for helping her out...not putting it together until after he drove off...where the hell is his bike in that small car? Turns out he was the owner of a bike newspaper in SLC and had CO2 cartridges with him! Needless to say I was super pumped that I didn't have to ride back down to help out Sibs..I think I would have killed myself.
(Ohh speaking about wanting to kill myself....Here is a picture of an aspen grove towards the top of the climb...I would have liked to throw my bike at this point in the ride. At this point in time I was now at 16 miles into the climb. )Everyone had told us that the climb was 13-15 miles....turns it's really 18 miles! (Learn how to READ a MAP BLM dude!) Keep in mind we had ridden 70 miles before the start of this climb so every extra mile of climbing was pure mental punishment. I rode solely for the motivation of these legendary warm cookies. About 15 minutes after I arrived Sibs pulled up on her bike, and both of us were completely slap happy because we were so tired.
(Hmmm the rest stop...with FRESH COOKIES! Cookies will keep this girl pedaling regardless of how long the climb is.)Immediately once Sibs arrived at the top we headed into the Inn to get our cookies, cokes, ohh yeah and we ordered a cheeseburger and fries! Probably one of the best burgers of my life!
Enter in Second Act of Humanitarian Kindness:
While we were sitting at the counter eating lunch we struck up a conversation with a gentleman and his family. I think they were pretty much laughing at how tired and ridiculous we were. He asked us questions about our trip and we asked them about the trip they were going on. He and his family took off on their trip while Sibs and I finished our burger. As we got up to pay the kid behind the counter told us that the gentleman and his family had paid for our lunch.."Because someone should have told us the climb was longer than 13 miles!" Incredible act of kindness!
The reason why I point this out is because for years Sibs and I have listened to our friend Clara tell us about these random acts of kindness that she encounters when she bike tours. Here Sibold and I had TWO random acts of kindness in a matter of hours. We kept thinking of Clara and couldn't wait to share our stories with her!
Descending back to Kanab. We still had another 40 miles to go after our little rest stop break.Once we felt a little more refreshed we decided to get back on our bikes and ride the 40 miles to Kanab. After all the kind gentleman who bought our lunch said it was for the most part downhill, but we would have to climb back into Kanab for a bit. (Ahh honesty!) It was around 5:15 pm when we left the lodge and continued on with....It has to be EPIC...mantra...back to Kanab.
We made it back to Kanab in about 2 1/2 hours. Yes it was long, yes we were tired, yes our butts were killing us, and yes it was EPIC!
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So my friends the moral of Day 2's story is....random acts of kindness are always appreciated!
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