Zion National Park and Angel's Landing

5/30/09

Last evening, an incredible man named Roger felt prompted out of the generosity of his heart to purchase a hotel room for us at America's Best Value Inn. So this morning, we woke up in a hotel room full of bike's and BOB trailers, and gourged on the continental breakfast that the hotel provided. After a great breakfast, we left St. George and made our way to Springdale which is the town right outside of Zion. We saw some incredible sights along the way which included red-colored rocks and incredible Mesas that jutted upwards into the sky. When we arrived in Springdale, we met J. R. Madsen who had hosted Cooper, Michael, and Jon two years earlier. His hospitality was incredible and he treated us to a delicious lunch at his daughter's coffee shop, the Mean Bean. Afterwards, we caught a ride into Zion National Park where we hiked Angel's landing. The hike was wild with the end being a narrow strip with sheer cliffs on each side that dropped thousands of feet into the canyon below. We enjoyed our time on top of the canyon and than headed back into Springdale where we cooked our own supper of Hot Dogs, Fruit, Chips, and Coke. We than crashed into Madsen's living room completely exhaused after a long day.

0 Flats! 41 Miles, Average of 12 MPH, 85 Degrees

McDonalds is our friend

5/29/09 ~ As per our daily protocol, our first order of business upon entering the town of St George was to search for a McDonalds. Not only to they provide us with immidiate energy and a delicious meal, but also a place to meet locals to start networking a place to stay, or in our case today, someone who might drive us to the Grand Canyon. This was the best McDonalds yet; we were treated kindly, met nice people, and even scored 4 free big macs. Besides the Grand Canyon, we are also hoping to see Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. Our journey was mainly uphill, but since we started at 6 am, we were able to arrive at 1 pm, which is extremely early for us. We left Nevada, traveled briefly through Arizona, and ended in Utah, and entered the mountain time zone as well. There was precipitation, but out here it basically evaporates before reaching the ground. The best part for everyone was enjoying the scenery. We were amazed and surprised how beautiful Utah is. The mountains are still immense, the dirt is red, there are finally green trees besides scrub, cacti, and joshua trees. The pictures do more justice than words, although they in no way duplicate the expanse of scenery out here which we enjoy everyday. Also, if you didn't know, you can view all the pictures larger if you click on them.

2 flats with no tubes left, 46 miles, 11 mph average, 90 degrees, 15 mile climb to 4,500 elevation

100 degrees in the shade

5/28/09 ~ Clocking 80 miles in the dry desert heat, we left Las Vegas behind and rode through the sweltering heat to Mesquite, a small farm and casino town which was truly an oasis in the desert. Our main problem was traveling on highway 15, which is littered with shredded tractor-trailer tires. These tires are held together by a fine wire mesh which scatters all over the shoulder when the tire explode. These metal splinters caused 10 flats, and were hard to detect because they are extremely small and thus cause the tire to deflate very slowly. Our first attempt to find a host via knocking on doors was successful due to Bobby's pure charm. Valerie, a retired school teacher allowed us to shower at her house and camp out in her back yard.

1. Mike, who helped us with so many things in Vegas, also treated us to an IHOP breakfast before leaving the city, and rode with us part of the way. 2. Vegas in the background
3. Our mid-day break spot 4. thankfully no humidity 5. Nevada mountains
6. the cursed highway 15 7. the lushness of Mesquite

Wallowing in Vegas

5-26-09 ~ The ride that Dietrich and Bobby got in the morning left them about 10 miles outside of Vegas at the Fiesta Hotel. Dan and Seth were picked up by Mike Simpson, a Vegas taxi driver, returning from Phoenix Arizona, who picked up the other two along the way, treated us all to lunch, and gave us a tour of the strip and the city, and later dropped us off at Eric Lefever's house, a connection through Seth. Dan and Seth had the privilege of driving over the Hoover Dam along 95 heading North. We all headed into the city at night to see the strip, which is comparable to Times Square, except times 100. We watched the light show at the Bellagio, the "volcano" at the Mirage, the canals inside the Venetian. We were impressed by the scale and grandeur of the city, but ended up returning on a bus a few hours later due to tiredeness. We were all grateful for the day off after a week of intense riding, and will continue early next morning and are hoping that Mike Simpson will join us for part of it.

1. Bellagio at night 2. Vegas performer 3. Little New York 4. Mandalay Bay Casino
5. Eating at Panda Express with Mike 6. untitled 7. dusk in Arizona 8. Harry's current project
9. Dan, Harry, Dinker, & Leo 10. Morning in Arizona 11. canyon ridge
12. Waking up on Highway 95

A series of unfortunate events

5-24 ~ We woke up around noon at the Essex gas station a little disoriented and with interstate travelers glancing at us warily. We cooked our first meal with the propane stove which consisted of beans and rice. If everything had gone according to plan, we would have headed out around 7 pm to ride through the night again. Instead, a spoke broke on Seth's bike while he repaired a tube, and after calling a few bike shops, decided that it would be wisest not to ride on it as the wheel would become more untrue over time. It was determined that Dan would hitch with Seth to Las Vegas where the wheel would be fixed and the group would reunite in two days time. After five minutes on the entrance ramp, they were picked up by Harry, a retired pipe welder traveling alone with his dauchsund "Dinker." About an hour later they arrived in Kingman Arizona, a town more or less off the grid in an immense valley between soaring canyon mountains. Meanwhile, Bobby experienced a flat tire a mile away from the gas station and blew two more trying to repair it. As it was now evident that his tires required bigger tubes than the other three, and the pair, with no options left, was forced to also hitch towards 95. While Dan and Seth enjoyed showers and a bed in Arizona, Bobby and Dietrich camped at the intersection of 40 and 95, and apparently heard the rattling of snakes during the night.

1. cleaned out 2. lunch 3. eating 4. cooking 5&6. camping in Najas GAS station in Essex

5-23-09 ~ Today's ride was easier, being as it was only 30 miles from Yucca Valley to 29 Palms and our next connection Mike Mark was friendly and let us take over his living room for the afternoon in order to prepare for our planned night ride. We tried to sleep in the sweltering heat, and managed to get a few hours before a massive spaghetti dinner. We were impressed by a huge bown cloud looming over the mountains that stretched on for miles and was apparently the smoke from brush fires. Mike's family waved goodbye to the team at the end of his driveway, and we headed out into the dark. Traveling on Amboy Road for 51 miles, we were passed by no more than five cars. Other than the lights on our bikes, there was nothing but darkness silence. Our pitstop on Route 66 at Roy's service station provided us with a much needed break and cold sodas. Over the following 41 miles, we fought sleep through conversation and the numbness of bike shoes. The milky way was very clear and we saw many shooting stars as well. Finally arriving in Essex (consisting of a gas station, not a real town) at the break of day at 4:30, we ate what we could before completely crashing in the parking lot. stats: 12 hours of biking, 120 miles, 2 flat tires, 2 bloody noses ~ Dietrich
breakfast: 3 honey buns, fig newtons, 2 hotdogs
Photos:
1. bloody nose 2. Bobby grillmaster 3&4. Amboy pitstop in the middle of the night
5. Mike Mark's house in 29 Palms 6. Yucca Valley 7.Mike Inglish 8. Blue, Mike's dog