Blanding to Fry Canyon, Fry Canyon to Hanksville –

Crazy long post with picture dump. It’s crazy HOT. Yesterday I did 33 miles with a stop at Natural Bridges National Monument. Incredible. We then stayed at this almost abandoned Rec area where we were the only campers. No kidding. Who the heck camps in 107 degree heat.

Boarder of UT to Blanding, UT (past Blanding by 20 miles – 59 miles, 10.8 mph, 4086 elevation gain

UTAH!!! UTAH!!! Insanely beautiful. Insanely hilly/mountainous. Insanely HOT. I couldn’t get my goal of 65 today. We stopped short. The temp was running at 99 degrees for what seemed forever. I was riding on new BLACK chip and seal which added heat. It’s ok. Gods got me. Tomorrow I will rise early and only do 35 miles and go see Natural Bridge National Monument. I’m super excited.

Dolores, CO to boarder of UT – 37 miles, 17,60ft elevation gain

Phew. Another crazy day in the books. Just another day of watching God manage this huge ride. He really does have the details all worked out.

We started our day at the Cortez Dodge Dealer because of a check engine light. They checked out The Silver Bullet and it appears that running her for long periods of time only averaging 10 mph is not good for these Diesel exhaust systems. Sooo, they took out our codes and had us drive on this road for 35 miles ( really fast) to blow the gunk out of her filter??? We did and she seems better.

Telluride, CO to Dolores, CO – 65 miles, 11.9mph, 2369ft elevation gain

Phew. Much better day. Only about 10 miles of climbing today. No tears. AND I will get to sleep on time.

Here is my rant!!! We did experience the “middle finger” at least 15 times today. Might be a new record. We laugh and then we pray for these folks. Soooo. The coach in me wanted to see exactly how long we really hold cars up before they can get a safe pass. Jocelynn got out the stopwatch option on her phone!!! Would you believe 58.5 seconds was the longest we held anyone back. Folks. This is LESS than 1 minute. Slow down. Breath. If you get frustrated for being held up for 58 seconds by a bicyclist…on a bike route…I will pray for you too. Life is too short to be in such a hurry. Breathe and enjoy. Rant over!!!

Montrose, CO to Telluride, CO – 56.5 miles, 8.9mph, 5,367ft elevation, gain

Well. Sorry to keep you all waiting. It’s been a day! These mountains are insanely beautiful but they literally kicked my bum. I got my first police escort in a busy tough area of Telluride. That was so incredibly nice. I didn’t summit Lizzard Head Pass today. That will wait until tomorrow. The heat, the altitude, and the constant 7-9% grade for almost 40 of my 56 miles was all I could take.

Gunnison, CO to Montrose, CO – 65miles, 10.6 mph, 3387 ft and more that Strava didn’t log.

Another beautiful Colorado day. I had some big climbs but the views made them easier. The heat is back. We are staying at a KOA in Montrose. We really like KOAs. Nice clean parks, great showers!!

We started the day with my FIRST tire change. My valve stem blew. I’m guessing I should have aired down at 11,300 yesterday. Hindsight. 35 minutes later we were rolling; however, I was pretty dirty. 😳

Maysville, CO to Gunnison, CO – 60 miles, 10mph, 3363 elevation gain

We are back on the saddle and what an incredible day we had. I am still beyond humbled that God is here riding with me and giving me everything I need.

I climbed Monarch Mountain this morning. Elevation 11,312. The highest elevation I will climb. Honestly. Her 10 miles up was a wee bit easier than the 20.3 I did coming out of Pueblo. Don’t get me wrong. 4-8% grades for 10 miles at this elevation are no joke. I did Monarch from the west and came down the same side due to it having 2 lanes. Safety first…right Kristy? Thanks for this suggestion.