Utah is beautiful But the hills are crazy steep! 14% Grade? Who does that! No computer at the moment, But got a free nights stay in hanksvill!e

brrrrr it's cold up here.

I had a bit of a late start this morning but was out and rolling around 9am... I think I was procrastinating because I didn't want to climb out of Cedar City. But once I got rolling, it was a beautiful trip up to Cedar Breaks National Monument. On the ascent, had a great view of Zion National Park to the south and then had a new max on the altimeter as I crossed 10000 feet for the first (of two) times on the trip. But wow, is it cold up there. It was probably in the 50s which isn't so bad until your bombing down the backside of the hill at 40 mph. At that speed your toes start going numb and your teeth start chattering... but it feeels oh so good to be making some serious mileage and to not be pedalling.

The climb actually wasn't so bad, that is largely due to the fact that I wasn't pulling 50 pounds of trailer weight and that it was still early. I summited around 1230pm and was into Panguitch by 230pm. It's a quaint little town with the one flashing re

d stop light and a few antique stores. Tons of motels due to its proximity to the national parks. Actually, came on just the right day since it's Friday night and the big event in town is the movie night in the park.... well except that I'm lame and tired and will be sleeping by 10pm.

On my way down the backside of the hill, I did have a pretty fabulous tailwind, so I took some video to represent my joy.

Tomorrow will be a big day as the parents will be heading back to Atlanta. It was great to be able to spend some time with them and that seriously helped keep me fed and kept the trailer off my bike for a few days. Tomorrow, I'll be pulling my normal weight plus about 5 days of breakfast lunch and dinner. yay.

Hope all is well and have a great weekend!

Utah has it in for me...

So after yesterday, I thought my Utah karma balance may have shifted back to zero. But, I was wrong. So this morning, I woke up super-special early, just to get out before the winds picked up. (the forecast predicted winds of 30-40 due north by noon with gusts up to 50. For bikers going south, that's not such a good forecast. So this morning I had my first pre-dawn ride, leaving at 5:50 MST before a 6:15 sunrise. It was pretty great riding in the countryside under moonlight with the sounds of those huge insect-like irrigation sprayers all around me. The winds were still against me, but at a manageable 10 mph or so.

Today would be a special day as it would be the first time I'd crossed the path of a place where I had been before during my previous life as a Georgia resident. But Utah wasn't going to let me do that anytime fast. After around 9:30am, the winds picked up significantly, and at one point, I really thought time had stopped as the winds were howling around 20-30mph, and I was still 6 miles out from Cedar City.

I took some video, but after reviewing, I realize it doesn't really do the wind justice (I should have realized this, as yes, wind is invisible...) and in retrospect, it just makes me look like a big wimp. However, there was one mental highlight as I was pedalling fruitlessly into the gale, three huge tumbleweeds blew by me.... kinda like this video... note... this isn't really my video... but it gives the same effect. Just for visuals... just imagine around 0:13 some guy on a bike goes crawling by from right to left on the screen. That would be me.

So tomorrow is the biggest climb day of the ENTIRE trip! I'm excited. Climbing I can do.... dust storms and headwinds .... not exactly my favorite. However, the elevation profile is a bit daunting...
yikes... 4,500 feet. sounds lovely eh? more to report tomorrow.

Welcome to Utah... the welcome mat was not out.

The Nevada desert, there are plenty of sights to see, including endless miles of desert if you're into that kind of thing. The sunset last night was however, particuarly great.

Today was a rough one... this morning I left from the Border Inn (which is rightfully named as it sits in pure isolation) on the nevada/utah border on a journey into a new state, Utah. Unfortunately, after great successes in Nevada and no serious breakdowns, it seems as if my luck came out a bit short on my first day in the SkiUtah! state. I righted my ship (bike and trailer on a road due south on the 85 mile trek to Milford, UT.

Right from the start, the Border Inn never seemed to leave my rear view mirror because I was headed directly into a 10-20mph headwind... (when you're on a bike... these things really make a difference), so instead of cruising along at a blistering pace of 15-18mph, I was stuck headdown into the wind going around 9mph... it makes for a long day. However, I was greeted with this little joy of artwork a little bit in, which made all the difference :-)

As I left Nevada, I was anxious to explore Utah, and hope that this state had a few more moving souls as compared to the last. But I suppose this goal would have to wait until I ventured further inland. No people around these parts of Utah. That headwind I mentioned? Yeah, that lasted for about 50 of those 75 miles without services. But the pavement sure was nice.

Welcome to the Dust Bowl! I had heard about these dust storms, but they were ususally associated with some 9th grade social studies story about people crossing the great plains in search of Fort Laramie and the Oregon Trail. But no, they apparently happen in Utah too. Luckily, no cyclists were harmed in today's dirt crossing. However, my rear tire didn't make it through the encounter, and Utah served me up my first flat of the ride... not so bad considering the ride is about 700 miles in so far. Of course, it had to happen in the valley of dust.

I tried to cover up my face to protect myself from the dust, I then proceeded to go to Milford and rob banks.

For some live action video, check out these clips from my last days in Nevada.

here's one of the dust storm... and my finger covering the lens... sorry about that.

I'll be reporting in tomorrow from lovely cedar city, ut!

Goodbye nevada, Hello utah and absurd head winds.

Ely, NV

Ely (pronounced E-Lee) is the biggest thing going on in Nevada since Fallon... today was an easy 40 miles and i came in and crashed for a few hours and am about to do the same here in a minute. But, I wanted to upload some of the less-fun moments of the ride so far.

Fundraising Progress...

Also, apologies that I haven't been able to update my fundraising progres... I think I am around $3700... however... I really don't know at the moment. Once I have some more time at the computer... I'll get this updated!

nevada..... don't let las vegas mislead you.

So I'm sure tons of people have been to Nevada... whether it's a vegas trip or an overnight stay in Carson City to spent the better part of the weekend in Lake Tahoe. Sure. Nevada is a pretty cool place. I can speak firsthand after biking through it over the past three days and it is actually pretty incredible. Their motto is "wide open" and that it is. So it is pretty spectacular to see an endless valley of absolutely nothing as far as the eye can see. But after about an hour, that novelty wears off and then you get to be in my position where you're spending the better part of your days riding into the sunset on an infinite stretch of highway that leads to another infinite piece of highway that slowly fades into the horizon. So someone told me to watch out for Nevada because it will be 100 miles between trees. haha funny. no really. Yesterday, i biked 63 miles without seeing anything suitable enough to draft a shadow or hide behind to take a potty break.

seriously. don't come here without bringing enough water to survive or enough music on your ipod to keep you sane as you pedal across the great basins. But really, it's not that terrible, it is quite relaxing while biking as you can see cars coming from both directions for at least 10 miles.

Right now, we're hanging out in Eureka!, NV (another mining town) which is quite the bustling metropolis with a population of 400 (as opposed to Austin, NV from last night with a population of 100). However, being a small town guy myself, I really do enjoy visiting these places. People are friendly, and have plenty of good stories to tell from around town. Today's ride was a bit long at 102 miles, but I'm going to try to tuck in and get a good night's sleep tonight.

So here are some photo highlights from the past day or two.

Here's our little accomodation in Austin, NV. A great little motel run by a couple who entertained us that evening with some guitar and provided us some homemade desert. They had an awesome little screened in porch where my parents and aunt hung out for the evening. (By the way. a huge thanks to my family for supporting me through Nevada... riding without the trailer has been a dream)

So to continue with the jumping hysteria... I've decided to jump in the positions of the summit names.... here, I'm trying to be a little antelope... i didn't seem to attract any others... perhaps my others will be better.

Here I am eating some pancakes...

check it out! me and nevada. we're buddies now. I've kept it company for at least the last 80 miles in this photo.
Austin, Eureka, Ely... that's where I'll be in the next few days.