So I know I have been absolutely terrible about keeping up this blog the past couple of weeks, due in large part to the scarcity of wireless internet but also to the fact that these past couple of weeks have been the most exciting and action-packed of the entire trip thus far!
Because there is just too much greatness to give a detailed play-by-play, we'll have to settle for highlights (and photos of course):
1. Our 100 mile ride from Mosquero to Las Vegas, NM featured my first 40mph+ experience on an 8% grade down the mountain we had climbed the previous day. It also featured me at my slowest, as we climbed yet another mountain of switchbacks (3 miles this time). In short, I spent this day pedaling at a range of speeds from 4.5mph to 40.5mph. While we all struggle on the climbs, we can't help but feel so incredibly accomplished and hardcore when we reach the summit. and of couse, the killer downhills make the grind all worth while.
2. Santa Fe!! Our first real city since New Orleans. Absolutely gorgeous, tons of art galleries (we visited the Georgia O'Keefe Museum which had an exhibit on Ansel Adams), and GREAT food. i ate more breakfast burritos during our week in NM than I have ever eaten in my entire life, and I loved evey bite!
3. Abiquiu. Pictures to follow because this ride with absolutely GORGEOUS.
4. Farmington: The ride into Farmington was my fastest century thus far: 100 miles in 6h11min. The day following our arrival we spent working on a deck for a woman in a wheel chair. Her heart-breaking, decaying, unsafe wrap-around deck was falling apart at every seam, and I am so glad that we were able to turn dream into reality - something that she had been wanting for over five years. That night we went to a rodeo (OMG) and watched high school boys and girls from all over the country lasso ropes around cows and hang tight onto raging bulls. What a culture shock!
5. From Farmington, we pedaled to Teec Nos Pos, AZ and made a pit-stop at the four corners! 4 states at the same time. cliche but cool. From Teec Nos Pos (affectionately renamed by riders as Techno Pees) we rode to Kayenta, AZ, to Page, AZ, and then to Jacob Lake, which had been built up as the hardest day of the entire ride. The ride into Jacob Lake was 85 miles, the last 15 of which we climbed from 4000ft to 8000ft! Getting to the top? Pure, unadulterated FREEDOM. Camping at the top and sleeping under the stars? Absolutely priceless.
6. GRAND CANYON! A religious experience if there ever was one. This stop was completely out of our way, but could not have been more worth it. On our day off, we hiked 15 miles around the North Rim, grilled hot dog / hard-boiled egg / cheese sandwiches and slept peacefully again under a blanket of natural bright lights.
7. From the Grand Canyon, we rode to Kanab, Utah, then to Long Valley Junction, and Cedar City. The state sign in Utah still says: welcome to utah - home of the 2002 winter olympics. eight years later.
8. Two days ago, we crossed yet another state line into the Silver State of Nevada, sleeping on pews in a church in Pioche. Yesterday was our longest day yet (108 miles) into Ely. Upon enterring Pioche, we passed a sign that said "last service station in 113 miles". The only sign of civilization during our entire 108 mile ride was a bar at mile 80. Picture to come.
That's all for now.
Happy August!
xo erica
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
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