Changing Gears: Rey's Ride Across America

Telluride, Colorado Rest Day — We say goodbye to Uncle Joe! Two weeks into the ride we are changing a member of our team. Joe Roy from San Francisco, California, is swapping out for Mark Wilson from Westfield, Massachusetts. I'm not sure we could have made it this far without our trusty caretaker driving through the Sierras and the Utah mountains. Here is a list of Joe's duties, which he carried out each day with careful thoughtfulness so that we could stay on track:

• Joe would rise at 5 a.m. and get the morning coffee underway, and then take our dog Buster for his first walk.
• Once I rose for the day, Joe would get my bike off the rack and check it over to make sure it was in good order and clean. (That's right he cleaned the bikes every day!)
• Once I was off on the road, he would disconnect the RV's power and water and put everything away and get up the road to meet me. That was the routine more or less for the morning.
• At the end of the day Joe would park the RV, get the hookups set up and then arrange chairs and occasionally set up the canopy if we were to dine in direct sunlight.

It is safe to say we will miss Uncle Joe and all that he has done for us. Joe, thanks for your time. I know it was not easy for you to take that much time for us, but we deeply appreciate all your help and expertise over the last two weeks. We will press on and see if we can maintain the same rhythm. I am sure we will be missing all that you have done. Take care and get some much needed rest!

June 29th — Blanding, UT to Telluride, CO — 144 miles At the RV park we met the nicest hosts, Duke and Rose Simpson and Renis Hylton, who run the Blue Mountain Trading Post and RV Park. They are about the friendliest people we have encountered with the best maintained RV park since we started. They have a store filled with jewelry made of turquoise and silver, Native American rugs and all sorts of artifacts, including some dinosaur bones. They gave me the scoop on the ride I was about to make and told me how beautiful the scenery would be riding into the Rockies. They were right.

As I made my way to the border and stopped for a picture under the Colorado sign, I noticed a wall of mountains off in the distance capped with snow. It gave me a glimpse of what I would be witnessing later in the day.

This day was all about gearing up for my first Rocky Mountain climb. I told everyone that since the mileage would be the longest of the trip (140 miles) I had doubts that I would make it to Telluride this day. We might have to call it around 120 miles, drive back the next morning and finish then since the next day was a rest day. So I had two concerns: the mileage overall and the ascent from 6,000 ft. in Blanding, Utah to the top of Lizard Head Pass, just outside of Telluride, at 10,500 ft.

Once I reached the base of the mountains at 80 miles into the ride, I just kept my focus on the short-term, riding 10 miles at a time and 500 feet of ascending at a time. This was the best strategy as I just concentrated on what I had to accomplish every 30 to 45 minutes. I left at 5:42 a.m. and at 5 p.m. the day wasn't over, but I was only 15 miles or so from Telluride. I had to finish; in my head I couldn't stop with just 15 miles to go. I actually felt pretty good. As you get closer to the goal, adrenaline kicks in and you know you are going to do it. At 6 p.m. I rolled into the Peaks Resort in Telluride. Tonight we sleep in style! 11 hours on the bike today.

June 28th — Hanksville, UT to Blanding, UT 121 miles — Today was sort of a surprise for me because the arrival in Hanksville tricked me into thinking that the red displays of rock art were over. About 20 miles into the ride we rode through the Glen Canyon area, and holy cow! There were the most unbelievable red rock formations you ever want to see. I rode through towering slot canyons 300 ft. high on both sides of the road for miles. We rode our way past Lake Powell and then over a very high bridge over the Dirty Devil River, which I estimate is at least 300 feet high. In just a few miles we crossed the Colorado River, and again the bridge was about the same height and allowed me the chance stop and enjoy the view of the river. The Colorado River in this section of Utah was very tame and muddy, with a current of just a few miles an hour on it's way to Lake Powell.

This was going to be a tough day as I had to ascend from 3,900 ft. to 7,000 ft. to the Blanding, Utah area, and I had to climb a ridge at a 12% grade for more than 5 miles to get into Blanding and town. 9 hours on the bike today.

June 27th — Escalante, UT to Hanksville, UT — 110 miles We departed at 6:00 a.m., and we had another good day of weather. The day started off pretty flat, but I had a large climb ahead of me. Last night we noticed smoke coming from the direction we would be traveling so we wondered if a forest fire had developed. On the way out of Escalante the route was awesome: Winding roads worked their way through red canyons as we worked our way to Boulder, Utah. Southern Utah is breathtaking. If you ever get a chance to visit, you will not regret it.

As I got closer to the mountain, I had to climb it when it became obvious that indeed a fire had broken out. The smoke was coming from west to east and in our direction. I was heading northeast, but it looked like the fire was to the west. I noticed two helicopters fighting the fire and small vehicles that were supporting the fire fighters. As I worked my way closer to the fire I had to ascend from 5,500 ft. to 95,00 ft. Luck was on our side as the smoke just held up enough for me to pass by without having to go through the thick white smoke. (The fire stayed to the west as well as the thick smoke.) Once I descended the mountain we worked our way to Hanksville, Utah where the scenery changed dramatically from red rock to an ash gray with piles and piles of sand. I thought we were in some kind of geological transition to Colorado. 8.5 hrs on the bike this day.