Vertebro!

Day 56 - July 29, 9:13pm
75 miles. Capitol Reef National Park, UT to Otter Creek State Park, UT

So usually when you get halfway to 3/4 through a day of cycling you're ready for it to be over. Well imagine what its like to feel that way from mile 1. Thats whats been going on with me lately. For the first 40 miles i literally stopped several times to check my bike because there was no way that i could be going that slow naturally. I was pumping as hard as i could but those pedals just didnt want to move. I finally figured out/accepted that it was just a case of jello/spaghetti legs. Probably a symptom of biking ridiculous amounts of miles daily. That happens on this trip. The massive climb out of the park and the several thousand feet up afterwards definitely didnt help. The misery of the headwinds and the climbs combined with my inability to pedal is hard to describe. Its just so defeating for your body to just fail like that despite all your will to go on.

This coincided with my realization that with less than 20 days left im really ready for the trip to be over. At least for the cycling. This past week really took a toll and im just ready, but not eager, to be able to not have to push myself so hard every single day.

Am still keeping my promise to stay postive though and just soldiered on. Knowing how to break up such a large day into small chunks and goals is crucial to surviving on this trip to accomplishing most things in life. About 9 miles out the whole group unanimously stopped at the one oasis of civilization, namely a gas station complex to have a second breakfast. Who would think that a bowl of oatmeal wouldnt suffice for 40 miles until lunch. Yet again Subway pulled through for me with three foot long sandwiches for a group of us. It was so glorious. I was used to so much generosity on the east coast which really carried me through mentally and physically. But the lack of any stores let alone towns here is just daunting.

Also, Jenny totally changed my ride by finding me another Vertebrae to replace my lost one! It was actually three of them connected which was slightly gross but i broke off my favorite piece and mounted it to the front with some fishing line so as to fully display its awesomeness. Its really cool(at least to me) especially since from the front it looks like a face which is great since my cow's skull thing never worked out. Also imagine this convo: oh hey where'd you get that ornament. Oh at this cool website, but where'd you get yours. Oh you know, just off of a carcass in the deserts of Utah. We all know who wins the cool award there. I hope its a decently hardcore animal like a deer or something and not just like a dog. I generally don't like to get too attached to inanimate objects, especially dead ones, but i think the name Charlie fits especially well with this guy. Though the nickname, Vertebro, is kinda growing on me.

There were some pretty horrible climbs until lunch at the summit at mile 40. By horrible i mean the first time i've cursed at hills since West Virginia. Lunch was perfect though. 2 bowls of pasta, banana, cream cheese and honey sandwich(first time, its great, make one now!) and the most wonderful 30 min nap for all of us. The sun came out and made us super toasty since we had all our rain gear on. So good after that. Lunch was not only halfway milewise, but the summit was also the turning point for the day where everything was literally downhill from thereon.

Found these four beautiful horses on the side of the road and had a wonderful petting sesh with them while feeding them some grass. Was pretty terrifying to be so near such a large beast, but rubbing its skin and mane and feeling that connection with another living creature for that moment was so spiritual. Apparently the height of spirituality also led one of them to lay a fresh poop while we were there.


Came down an awesome 8% grade into what was basically a monsoon. Heavy but short afternoon showers are the norm here. We waited it out in a small diner which might as well have been the visitor center for a big game hunting reservation. Drinking hot chocolate next to 5 different animal heads, pretty interesting. The pictures on the wall of hunters and their game is a whole other story. Compound bows, smiling, and dead animals, is a unique combination. Though I did ponder how cool it would be to accurately fire a compound bow while riding a bike, Mongolian warrior style. Still got a few weeks left...

After that sweep and everyone caught up and the 10 of us rode the most glorious 20 miles into camp. The wide open fields flanked by mountaints(there was more green today) was super but not as good as the downhill all the way through. Had some good conversation with Jenny about her study abroad experience which really helped me ponder my decision for the spring, which is basically between the fun European adventure or the eye opening third world immersion. I feel their both cliche in their own ways but am just trying to figure out what would be the best for me. I have been considering the former while Jenny had done the latter which made for good convo.

During this stretch i had some really great alone time and just slipped into my own zone of thought which hasn't happened for a while and can be really great while cycling. I was basically thinking about some of my activities at school, which are normally sorta stressful, and realized that i was happy thinking about them and even looking forward to getting back to them. This is a huge difference from a few weeks into the trip when i wrote about how thinking about these things and the real world really ruined my mood. These thoughts along with my readiness this morning made me glad to know that the trip was really succeeding in giving me a breath of fresh air and perspective from my somewhat stressful normal life. The fact that I can think about life in the real world and not be stressed out, but even a bit eager to return is a really calming and centering sensation that i think we don't experience often enough. But for now I'm super ready to squeeze as much enjoyment and immersion out of these last two weeks as possible.

Did an obligatory dip in the lake at camp and pounded more of that awesome pasta. I could actually get used to camping on this trip i think. the logistics are pretty much down. I think its mostly that its really nice to not have a host once in a while as much as we love the donated food. Its nice to just be together as a group in solitude sometimes.

Hopefully i wont hate my bike tomorrow...