Arizona — Kaibab Plateau to Flagstaff

After a rejuvenating night’s sleep in Jacob Lake, I got back on the saddle for an out-and-back trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. My initial plan was to spend the night at the Rim, but during the ride there I decided to stash my gear outside the park entrance and camp on the side of the road to shorten the next day’s ride. Since I jettisoned some weight, it also meant I could quickly get into the park, check out the Canyon and ride back out. This was the first time on the trip where I had the opportunity to drop my gear for a section of a ride. I found a great spot about six miles from the park entrance that was high on an embankment and set back about 100 yards from the road. I unpacked my tent and zipped two of my panniers up inside, praying that no critters would investigate. Then, Toby and I continued on down the road with a little extra spring in our pedal.

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Tweet Digest 9 — Tucson to Austin

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Utah

Five miles southeast of Baker, I crossed into Utah and pushed 83 miles through Mormon Gap and over 3,750 feet of summits to the town of Milford. Milford to Cedar City was another tough day due to scattered thunderstorms and strong winds. It seemed as if I would get soaked for sure, but somehow I avoided the major cells and just got spitted on a few times. In anticipation for the big climb to Cedar Breaks National Monument, I used a rest day in Cedar City to mark the two-week point of my trip and recharge my batteries.

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Tweet Digest 8 — Glendale to Tucson

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Tweet Digest 7 — Flagstaff to Glendale

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Tweet Digest 6 — Weekend Trip to El Malpais

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Nevada

I crossed the border into Nevada on my sixth day of the trip. At that point, I had gone one night without the company of my good friend Doyle Ryan. A saddle sore developed during the ride from Chris Flat Campground to Carson City so I took Tuesday off to let it heal. On Wednesday, I made up my mind to push hard to make up for lost time. That meant a 110 mile ride from Cedar City to Middlegate Station! At the midway point in Fallon, I stopped by a Wal-Mart to grab some supplies. I saw another loaded bicycle at the bike rack and met Gus shortly thereafter. Gus was riding east as well but taking a more northerly route once he got to Utah. He wasn’t going further than Fallon that day but we exchanged numbers and have stayed in touch. I’ve always been a day’s ride ahead but it has been nice to exchange information and see how the other is faring.

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Tweet Digest 5 — Cedar City to Flagstaff

Sorry for the lack of updates. I haven’t much internet access since Cedar City so everything has been posted to Twitter. Here is the 5th Digest with updates from Cedar City to Flagstaff.

Also, you don’t need to create a Twitter account to see my updates in real-time. Just go to twitter.com/sheeter anytime you want. All of the updates are publicly viewable without an account. Alternatively, you can just wait for the digest to be posted here on the blog. Up to you!

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