eLIFELIST.com Bike Trip

Home
Pictures
Videos
Donate
Itinerary
Actual Map
Sponsors
About

THE DESERT and SNAKES

8/26/2007

0 Comments

 

YES!  Good connection!

August 21st and 22nd Day 53 and 54

After a great trip to Jackson, Wyoming to visit with my wife Melissa and her family and Brent spending time with some of his buddies we were back in the full swing of things on the trip.  The day after we returned we were scheduled to ride 130 miles through the desolation of “Grand Staircase Escalante” (which totals 2 million acres by the way and is a “monument”).  The first section was 75 miles with no services to “Hite Recreation Center” at Lake Powell in Utah.  We loaded up on water and set out to our first full day back on the bikes.  The ride wasn’t that bad and we had plenty of water to make it to Hite, we have these large water bags/bladders that we fill with ice and water.  We arrived at Hite around 5PM after riding through some really stunning scenery and seeing maybe 20 cars the whole day.  Scott and Zane, two students at Santa Cruz University were waiting at the Ranger station (which consisted of a bathroom and water fountain), they were heading east and had an impossible schedule planned out.  They were trying to make it to New York for their flight the 18th of September, attempting to do an average of 117 miles a day on average and that particular day they had only biked 60 miles and stopped because of the heat.  We chatted with them a bit and then they decided to go back out to the road and try to hitch a ride 50 miles east.  Apparently they got a ride from someone because we didn’t see them again.  What’s the point in "biking across the country" if you plan on catching rides over long distances, they were even talking about catching a bus at some point!  

After destroying Brent in several card games of “Speed” we got ready for sleep in the middle of the desert.  Brent decided to sleep outside while I set up my tent.  Our sleeping spots were about 100 yards apart and as Brent was walking back to his I heard this primal yelp that was a cross between a young girl’s scream and Homer Simpson’s scream.  Brent almost stepped on a baby Rattlesnake and the only way he avoided such a fate was because the snake rattled at him, thus causing the hilarious (in retrospect) yelp.  He was a little snake but it doesn’t matter we still would have had to go to the hospital somewhere more than 100 miles away if a bite occured.  Even after the encounter Brent still slept outside with no tent.  

Waking up the next day in the desert to absolute dead silence and the most vivid sunrise I’ve ever seen was pretty incredible.  We hopped back on the bikes to head to Fruita, a place where you can pick your own fruit in the Capital Reef National Park.  We had a significant amount of climbing out of Lake Powell, but I didn’t mind at all because of how ridiculously beautiful everything was.  We stopped in a Bakery on the way to Fruita (with nothing around for 50 miles) and had an interesting chat with the owner Randy.  He focuses on sustainable farming in addition to organic farming.  He gave us a sample of tiny fresh picked tomatoes (literally minutes before) and Ambrosia cantalope which he says doesn’t ship because it’s so fragile.  Unfortunately, we arrived 30 minutes too late for the “U-Pick” fruit picking in Fruita, we did have some tasty spaghetti O's and Chef Boyardi Ravioli though.  After two days of nothingness we were glad to be in a place with water and people and prepared to get a good night’s rest for the next day which would be our biggest day of climbing in Utah.  


        


Blanding, UT to Hite Recreation Center, UT

Hite Recreation Center, UT to Fruita, UT

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    eLIFELIST.com BIKING ACROSS THE COUNTRY: DONE

    Sept 5th 2007

    Days 68
    (including an 11day stint off)

    $ Raised for LAF:
    $11,500

    Final Miles: 3820.61

    Final Hours: 275.25

    Equals: 11.42 Days Straight Biking

    Average MPH: 13.88

    Daily Calories In: ~6000-7000
     
    Daily Calories Burned:
    Alot

    Total Calories In:
    408,000-467,000 each

    Friendly People Met:
    Countless

    RSS Feed

    "Bicycle Across the Country raising funds for Livestrong"

    We will be updating this Blog the entire time we are biking Across the US.  Check in regularly to see where we are.  Click About above to learn more about why we are doing this trip and how you can donate money towards Cancer Research.  Cheers!

    VIDEOS

    Final Video!
    8/10/07 Moab Biking
    COLORADO
    Telluride
    Crazy Grasshoppers
    KANSAS
    7/28/07 OSCAR!
    7/22/07 Day 23 Cliff
    7/19/07 Day Off!
    7/18/07 Day 18
    7/15/07 Day 16
    7/11-7/14 Lexington,KY
    7/9/07 Day 10
    7/8/07 Day 9
    7/7/07 Day 8
    7/6/07 Topo Map
    7/5/07 Day 6
    7/4/07 Day 5
    7/2/07 Durham Bulls
    6/29/07 Hang Gliding
    6/28/07
    6/25/07 GEAR!
    6/24/07 Amtrak Ride
    6/19/07 George Babiak
    Bike Trip Preview
    Brent Skydiving
    E-Town Play Rehearsal

    Press Videos:
    WXII Interview
    Channel 13 Interview

    PICTURES

    View All Albums

    9/5/07 Day 68 SF!
    9/3/07 Day 66
    9/2/07 Day 65
    9/1/07 Day 64
    8/30- 8/31 Day 62/63
    8/28- 8/29 Day 60/61
    8/26- 8/27 Day 58/59
    8/25/07 Day 57
    8/24/07 Day 56
    8/23/07 Day 55
    8/22/07 Day 54
    8/21/07 Day 53
    8/19/07 Muddy Buddy!
    8/14/07 Day 46
    8/13/07 Day 45
    8/12/07 Day 44
    8/11/07 Day 43
    8/10/07 Day 42
    8/8/07   Day 40
    8/7/07   Day 39
    8/6/07   Day 38
    8/5/07   Day 37
    8/4/07   Day 36
    8/3/07   Day 35
    8/2/07   Day 34
    8/1/07   Day 33
    7/31/07 Day 32
    7/30/07 Day 31
    7/29/07 Day 30
    7/28/07 Day 29
    7/27/07 Day 28
    7/26/07 Day 27
    7/25/07 Day 26
    7/24/07 Day 25
    7/23/07 Day 24
    7/22/07 Day 23
    7/21/07 Day 22
    7/20/07 Day 21
    7/19/07 Day 20
    7/18/07 Day 19
    7/17/07 Day 18
    7/16/07 Day 17
    7/15/07 Day 16
    7/14/07 Day 15
    7/13/07 Day 14
    7/12/07 Day 13
    7/11/07 Day 12
    7/10/07 Day 11
    7/9/07 Day 10
    7/8/07 Day 9
    7/7/07 Day 8
    7/6/07 Day 7
    7/5/07 Day 6
    7/3/07 Day 4
    7/2/07 Day 3
    7/1/07 Day 2
    6/30/07 Day 1
    6/29/07 Hang Gliding
    6/28/07
    Ride to Pucellville
    Bike Gear
    People We Meet

    Links
    Asheville, NC
    Bob Trailers
    Discovery
    eLIFELIST
    eJonesBlog
    Gore Bike Wear
    Johnny Jet
    Lincoln Highway Association
    Livestrong
    Long Way Round

    Man vs Wild
    Motion Based
    Muddy  Buddy
    Picasa  Photos
    Planet Earth
    Raising Canes
    Smashing Pumpkins
    The Orange Peel
    Top Start Up Blog
    Visit NC
    Wake Forest University
    Weebly

    Categories

    All
    52nd Street Project
    Adventure Cycling Association
    Amtrak
    Angels Landing
    Arches National Park
    Arizona
    Asheville
    Bicycle
    Bike Maintenance
    Biketrip
    Bike Trip
    Bob
    California
    Chapel Hill
    Colorado
    Craigslist
    Crazy
    Donate
    Durham Bulls
    Elifelist
    Elifelistcom
    Extraterrestrial Highway
    Facebook
    Friends
    Funny
    Gear
    Golden Gate
    Google
    Gore Bike Wear
    Gps
    Grand Canyon
    Grand Staircase Escalante
    Great Smokies
    Hang Gliding
    Heat
    Illinois
    Kansas
    Kentucky
    Kitty Hawk
    Lance Armstrong Foundation
    Lexington
    Lifelist
    Life List
    Lifelist Items
    Lincoln Highway
    Lists
    Livestrong
    Long Way Down
    Map
    Missouri
    Moab
    Monarch Pass
    Mount Rushmore
    Muddy Buddy
    Nags Head
    Newletter
    New York City
    Niki
    North Carolina
    North Face
    Oprah
    Oscar
    Outer Banks
    Ozarks
    Picasa
    Pictures
    Plymouth
    Press
    Purcellville
    Radio
    Rain
    Red Canyon
    Repairs
    Rocky Mount
    Route
    San Francisco
    Smashing Pumpkins
    Snakes
    Sponsors
    Stand By Me
    Sturgis
    Tennessee
    The Narrows
    Trailer
    Training
    Transamerica Trail
    Trip
    Tubing
    Utah
    Video
    Videos
    Vimeo
    Virginia
    Wake Forest
    Washington Post
    Winston Salem
    Zion National Park

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2008
    February 2008
    October 2007
    September 2007
    August 2007
    July 2007
    June 2007
    May 2007

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.