First, trust us, we are blogging every time we can, we have been out of cell reception for a few days, hence the no blogs. But today, we are in the first hotel we've had in a while, so we get wifi!
Two days ago, we left from a campsite around 9, and ventured over to hanksville. Hanksville was an important town, it was the last place that had services for 50 miles. So we stocked up on food and drink. We began our journey and really had very few mishaps this day. It was a majority down hill, and we passed through glen canyon on our way to the lake Powell national recreation area near Hite. Glen canyon is a pretty cool area, and we got a great overlook! and when we actually got to lake powell, we found that there was no lake! we found out later that they drain he lake every 7 years, and the lake didnt refill this year because there was so little snow. so we got to see the bottom of lake powell! We got to the recreation area, which was the end of the 50 mile stretch of no food, water, or anything else. We got to the area by 6:30, only to find that the one store closed at 4 and wouldn't open again till 9 the next day. And we couldn't just move on to the next town. For two reasons, first, this was the only town for a other 80 miles. and second, we had no food, or water. between the three of us, we had 2 beagles, less than half a jar of mini peanut butter, 4 power bars, a little trail mix, and 1 bottle of water. That may sound like enough to last a bit, but not for us and our appetites. And it needed to last us for dinner AND breakfast. Which it didn't. It made about half of a dinner. However, we were able to fill our water bottles so that wasnt an issue. We went to bed hungry, but at least we had a little, which is more than some get.
We woke up and were at the store by 8:30, in case it happened to open early. It didnt, but when it did, the lady was very nice and we got all the supplies we needed and gorged ourselves for breakfast, we all ate and drank a lot, preparing for a stretch, in the sun that baked us to crisps, that would last us basically all day. Not to mention that out of the 80 miles we had to ride, 70 were uphill! Now, it was gradual for the first 50, then. Steep downhill for 10 miles, and then steep uphill for the last 20 miles. Needless to say, by the time we got to Blanding, we were all tired. And the last 10 miles, we were surrounded by looming clouds. Every now and then, lightning would flash, but it never rained on us! However, as we approached Blanding, it seemed like I was going to storm pretty hard pretty soon, so we decided to find the cheapest hotel in the area and go get some subway for dinner since we had run out of food again after carrying as much as our panniers would allow for 80 miles.
Now here are some short stories from the past two days:
On our way from hanksville to lake Powell, we hit a patch of hard rain for about 30 mins, but it was intense! We had 20-30 mph wind as our tail wind, and I'm pretty sure we were biking in hail (the others say no, but I say we did).
Also, my rack is continuing to fail, slowly but surely it is being run into the ground. My rack is connected in three spots to the bike, the strut (metal bar connecting to the brakes) and the two sides. In the past week, two of my struts have broken, along with Dave's too, and one of the sides had snapped like Paul said. Now the other side is getting bent right near the screw causing more wabble. And there is a crack in the metal right where the screw connects the bike and rack. So I used part of my broken strut to reinforce the bending metal, as well as more duct tape and zip ties! So I think it's safe to say, that when we hit the next bike shop, 200 miles away, I will need a new rack :)
Next, Paul somehow sliced through his tire creating a hole, not big, but still something cut his tire which kept pinching ans popping his tubes. Over the past 2 days, he has pinched 4 tubes! We even put duct tape over that hole, but it still popped. So Paul will be getting a new tire when I get a new rack.
Other than that, we have just been able to keep meeting people and hearing about the adventures they have, there are some people who just get out and enjoy the world! No excuses are made, they have a desire, and they go and enjoy it! And that's awesome to hear and very inspiring to us to continue to do adventures. And these people usually give us water, which we needed today since we had to carry a lot to get through today, and needed a refil twice.
And through all the different situations and circumstances, God has provided what we need when we need it. Not necessarily what we want, because I don't think i have had a single day go the way i want or plan it, but He is faithful, and He knows the plan. I and the others are just excited to be a part of it, and amazed that even for something so insignificant as a bike trip, God is involved. It's not life or death, or a directly intended mission trip, or anything like that, just three brothers that are having a heck of a trip seein what He created.
Alright, y'all have a good day!!
-tommy
Our hotel! Yay!
Glen canyon and the dried up lake Powell
Our looming storm (the clouds were darker in real life)
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