Day 9
Throughout the Psalms I have been reading about "Crying out to God". That is what I had to do over and over yesterday. It was BRUTAL!
The ride out of Escalante was nice, then it got ugly. It all began with a harmless climb that turned into something much much bigger. The head winds picked up drastically as did the grade. At one point I was climbing a 14 percent grade for two miles up a canyon road that shot a strong wind right into my face. I was crying out to God because this was the toughest spot of the trip so far.
I got pedaling again after regaining my composure (I was ready to throw my bike off the cliff) and finally reached the plateau. At that point I was crying out to God again for someone who could help me with my bike because I could not change gears from my small chain ring on front to the middle or the large gear. I knew the prospects for a bike shop ahead were slim. At one point on the plateau I stopped to take a picture and eat a couple of Cliff Bar Shot Blocks.
I heard a car pull off behind me and someone get out. It was Dave from the night before at dinner. He asked how it was going and I told him about my gear trouble. We pulled out my multi tool and got to work. In a matter of minutes we got it shifting again to both the middle and large chain ring PTL! \o/
I pedaled off the plateau down into Boulder, UT. I stopped there for lunch, I was so hungry from the morning climb! I had a great burger and some awesome root beer on tap (watch out A&W). I decided that I would pitch my tent there and tackle the next big climb (10 miles up to 10,000 feet) in the morning. When I asked about pitching a tent the kind lady told me it was 5 miles off course the other way. I didn't feel up to that so I asked about other possibilities. She suggested I go to the Museum down the road and asked so I did. A young lady told me if I go a mile down the road (in the correct direction) I would find something. I did and I didn't. At that point I decided to pedal on and find something.
I began to climb that mountain and was only going 2.8 - 3.2 miles per hour up the grade into the cold head wind. I stopped at a scenic overlook for a moment and saw my friend Jim racing down the mountain with Bren behind him in the car. She honked and Jim smiled as they went by. I resumed my climbing.
A while later Jim and Bren came by and stopped. I slowed to talk with them and they asked if they could at least take my trailer to the top for me. I was reluctant, but consented. You see, they had already driven to the top and knew how bad it was. As I was undoing everything to take my trailer off Jim suggested that we just load everything up and drive to the top and then ride from there into Torrey. Both let me know how nasty of a climb it was into a head wind with temperatures dropping.
I made a wise decision and said yes. It took a bit to load all three bikes, my trailer and my gear in with all their stuff. Bren had to sit in the very back scrunched up against the back door and all of our equipment. We got to the top, unloaded and rode down to Torrey through the wind. Fortunately, it got a bit warmer as we went down. Since all my stuff was in their car and we were going to go out to dinner I decided to lodge at the Days Inn where they were staying also.
I got checked in and then we had an amazing dinner and great fellowship. They were such a Godsend! I cried out to God and he delivered Dave to help me with my bike. I cried out to God for a place to pitch my tent and he delivered Jim and Bren to help me get to Torrey.
Today I am heading to Hanksville, UT. It's only a 50 mile ride but after Hanksville it is desolate and there are no services whatsoever for the next 54 miles. I think that will be a good place to lay my head tonight.
As always, prayers appreciated !
bob g
STATS: Mileage Today 57, Pace 9, Riding Time 6:10
Total GTD cumulative miles: 561
