Day 54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61

Viva Las Vegas

Miles Biked: More than you

Eureka! I'm in Eureka, Nevada! I must apologize to those who may have been wondering where the hell I've been since Green River, Utah. I'm on the loneliest road in America, Route 50. And I'm not just saying that because there is nothing out here...they have self claimed it that title. I have been dealing with no cell phone reception, no Walmarts, very few cars, no trees, and as close to no people as you can get. Before the trip I had pictured a desert from the cartoons that had flat roads and had enormous battles between wild coyotes and road runners. Instead....I have yet to see a cactus and there are mountains, after mountains, after mountains. Just today into Eureka we climbed 4 mountain passes and sit at over 6,000 feet. So much has happened since my last blog, and I'll do the best I can to describe it and still make it down to the showers at the Eureka City Pool.

Day 54 did the best it could to try and kill us. We woke up at 4:15, raced to get our gear packed, and rolled out for our 106 mile day. The trip took us into more ranch country before hitting Capitol Reef National Park in the afternoon. Just after lunch there was a pace lining accident which sent Pat and Chris to the hospital with minor non life threatening injuries.....but it did produce 8 stitches and an awesome Mega man like soft splint. Both were back on their bikes the next day. Not only did we have to bike over 100 miles but we had over 10,000 feet of climbing. The largest hill came at the very end of Capitol Reef at mile 90 and didn't end until our final destination in Torrey.

From Torrey we had a 75 mile day that included about 8,500ft of climbing which felt great on legs which had turned into Jello. The ride however was amazing through Escalante National Park. We traveled up, over, around, and through some amazing red rock canyons. We must have looked good doing it because several tourists stopped along the road to take pictures of me. I thought about it later....and maybe they just have never seen someone who looked as miserable as I did that day.

The next day we had a decent ride to the city of Panguitch. The ride took us to the edge of the touristy part of Utah...so we took advantage by driving to Bryce Canyon (which had passed along our ride). Bryce Canyon is one of those places you need to see in person. The next morning the Panguitch Lions club decided to serve us up some breakfast and a nice old man walked up to Alex. The man was a retired teacher who now writes a little section in the local paper called "The Knot Hole" and he asked the one person you really shouldn't ask for an interview. Alex quickly proclaimed himself the President of the group, and Pat Muha as his Vice President. He wrote down Sam is the oldest member at 32, married, with two kids (he is single and 25). He described how we've eaten 312 pounds of lasagna on our trip. Alex got an email today from the very nice old man.........EVERYTHING was printed.

From Panguitch we said goodbye to the beautiful red rocks and hello to Range country. We headed to Milford in the heat and with a horrible headwind. The scenery hasn't changed much since Milford. We have entered our 12th State Nevada and our final time zone (Pacific). For the past week we have biked along Route 50 which has nothing on it but mountains and ranch land. I have seen very few cows (one was rotting in a field). I'm not even sure what they can eat out here. The heat can be bad, it is dry, and there seems to be a headwind every day.

One of our stops was in Baker, where we ate dinner with the School of the Natural Order. http://www.sno.org The "school" was a community of a group who took on a philosophical view of religion that followed the teachings of Vitvan....a Hindu teacher now dead who moved the school to Baker in 1957. The group believes it is OK to reject God....but you cannot reject the conscious universe. It was an interesting dinner to say the least and a very refreshing break from churches.

From Baker we headed to Ely (eel-E) for our day off. The trip included two more mountain passes and quick dinner before we headed off to NEARBY LAS VEGAS. When I say nearby....it was a 4 hour drive....but that was close enough to pack 15 of us in the van for a night at the Excalibur Hotel on the strip! Our van did not pull to Vegas until 12:00am due to a couple of serious car crashes (one which we were the first car on the scene) but we made it eventually! Luckily Vegas doesn't start waking up until about 12am so we had a blast traveling to several casinos, losing money, and buying over priced drinks until the wee hours of the morning. The next day I snuck into the Caesar's Palace pool with Corey and Andrea where I spent a large portion of my day doing what I like to do best......nothing.

Today we jumped back on the bike and have made it to the ole mining town of Eureka! We are now 3 days away from California and only 7 riding days away from San Francisco. It is unbelievable to think that we have biked over 3,600 miles and are truly on the last leg of the trip. The next few days might be the most difficult with a 117 mile leg approaching in two days, with what is supposed to be our hardest climbing day the following day. Once we hit Tahoe, we'll start descending, and the party will begin! Hope all is well, I'll try and get some pictures on here in the next few days......but who knows since I am on the loneliest highway in America.

PS: I'd love for people to start blowing up my comments page (located below this) so I can see where everyone is reading from. Tell me where you are, it will help me bike faster.