We woke up at 630 and after we took down our tents, sat on a cement cinder block and ate power bars dipped in peanut butter. We were both quiet as we knew that we had a full day of climbing ahead of us, and we were both very much dreading it. It was the last climb of the map, and we knew that it was going to be tough, especially after the dinner that we had (or lack there of). As we were enjoying our breakfast, the we heard thunder from the clouds above us. I looked up at the dark sky and then over at Lindsay, who was wearing a huge grin on her face. We just sat there as it started to rain, shaking our heads and chuckling...eating our power bars, Knowing exactly what the other person was thinking.
We got everything together and headed down to the convenient store to restock our completely empty food supply. A week ago, the food that we had originally bought would have sufficed, but as our muscles have gotten stronger, so had our appetite. The store had very little... No bars, no chef boyardee, nothing that wouldn't totally perish on our 79 mile ride to Blanding, the next town.  So we settled on the last can of spaghettios in the store to split, fig newtons, poptarts, lunchables, and a bag of ice... And a cookie ice cream sandwich to eat immediately and get some delicious calories. It was kind if scary knowing that is all that we had (plus tuna) as we get hungry so fast and often.
And so we began the climbs... No easing into it-- the first one was steep and daunting. my muscles were screaming at me to stop what i was doing, but i knew that getting to the to meant one less hill that we would have to climb.... 5 miles in we stopped. We were already exhausted and frustrated, and it would have been a perfect day for a day off (mentally and physically) or for an iPod, but since Lindsay's still wasn't working, we kept to the awful songs we had stuck in our heads. (including the bear went over the mountain, and i added the verse, "i bet the bear never climbed to 10,500 feet) This is when the flies joined us, and they didn't do much for except infuriate us and bug us the entire day. All we wanted to do is drink water or catch our breath, and we had to fight the flies to do so, every time we stopped. What was more infuriating was that they would sit on me as we were riding, and i couldn't stand the fact that i was now transporting flies at that point... They looked like little fruit flies (there were black flies at one point, too- don't worry), and we couldn't figure put where they came from. I think they were attracted to the abundance of salt on our bodies, (cause we smelled like flowers so it couldn't have been that). I will admit a few times i screamed at them. Especially when you turn to hit one on you're leg and you miss because your leg is miss pedal... Or you think you have a fly on you and you glance down as you are riding, give your arm, stomach, whatever, a smack reinforced with frustration and realize it is dirt.
It was extremely hot, and so was our water, and so i decided that riding with the back of my shirt pulled up would be better than over heating... One extreme sunburn later (yes, Mom, i had sunscreen on ;) )... Today i cannot sit back in a chair or sleep on my back. The picture shows it well.
Speaking of chair, we saw a monument for Jacob's chair, and Lindsay finally found it and told she would much rather be sitting on s chair than on her bike. That amused us for quite sometime, until e started taking about the fact that all we wanted was endless bowl of spaghetti and meatballs... We knew deep down, however, that tuna was in our near future (and this conversation might have been initiated by Lindsay's lingering dissatisfaction about last night's dinner) And while it seems ridiculous that we could talk about spaghetti for ten minutes, it is conversations like these that get us through those endless miles of climbing. It gets to a point where we are looking forward to a water break not only for water and to give the legs a break, but to chat about random things, or grunt our mutual frustrations to each other. It is a recovery time for our mind and sometimes spirits. It is the little things that get you through.... Focus on the hills, put your head down and power through and be rewarded with water and chatting, even if it is for a minute.... Or to ride side by side trying to rap and beat box, or harmonize the national anthem.. We were very lucky that the two of us are able to laugh at ourselves and what we go through... It is has set the tone for this trip.the other thing is that there is a lot that we dread in a day, as far as elevation and climbs go. It is wonderful to have somebody who understands what is ahead, to share that experience with, and know that we will get through it together. We pick each other up, and we try to stay positive for the other person.
It took us hours to climb 50 miles, and then about 10 minutes to go 10 miles on ouR descent. We enjoyed a few cans of tuna, and as i was getting the life back into me, i could only laugh as Lindsay started shaking her bike at the flies that surrounded us. We had 19 miles to go, the majority up hill, it was getting late, and were starring the steep road ahead of us right in the eyes... And the thing that bothered us the most were the flies.
Oh man were those last miles tough. The hills might have been straight up and down. When we got to the top, we were greeted by another electrical storm right over blanding, about 10 miles away. Perfect! We have lucked out on weather (as a whole), but mother nature loves to wait until we are close enough to our destination to unleash her havoc, when everything hurts and we can almost smell subway. What a tease.
We pulled into Blanding at around 815 got ice cream and sandwiches and much needed showers. We slept well knowing that we had gotten through one of the worst days of the map, (65 out of 79 miles uphill) that it was our last night in Utah, and the next day was would lead us to a day off... Doesn't get much better than that...
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