The train from Gallup arrived in Flagstaff around 11pm so I arranged for my first couchsurfing stay of the trip. I biked up to Ron’s house (my host) and let myself in since he had already gone to bed. The next morning, Ron took me out to breakfast and let me do laundry at his house while he was at work. It was an amazing first couchsurfing experience. I rolled out from Flagstaff around 4pm for a mostly downhill 30 mile ride to the town of Sedona. After a series of switchbacks, Hwy 89A entered Oak Creek Canyon and paralleled Oak Creek all the way to Sedona. Soon, I was surrounded by dense forests and gorgeous red sandstone formations. It wasn’t the Arizona I had expected! I squatted down for the night at a group campground just south of Sedona that was closed on weekdays. It was easy enough to squeeze around the gate with Toby and find a spot to pitch my tent on the far side of the campground from the camp host’s trailer.
Caving at El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico
My good friend Tammer is training in Albuquerque to become an Air Force Pararescue Jumper (PJ) and I wanted to visit him, somehow, somewhere. He is required to stay within a two hour radius of Kirtland Air Force Base. I couldn’t make the trek out that far on Toby and still get to Tucson by June 14th so Amtrak was my only option.
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.
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.
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.
The Sunny-Side Up Adventure: One Week In
Well, I’ve been on the road for one week now and I know I haven’t been very active with the blog. It’s been a little hard to sit down and compose any posts since the ranch but I have been as active on Twitter as AT&T’s coverage has allowed. My Twitter is the place to go if you want to get a feel for the trip as it happens. Short text updates and pictures get posted right from the road. I will still be doing digest posts every day or two if you want the updates to come right to your inbox. The first digest is here. Continue reading to see a good chunk of pictures from the first week. I will post some initial thoughts on the trip so far later this week while on the loneliest road (Highway 50).
1 Day
Whirlwind day today as I scrambled to get everything loaded into panniers and on the bike. My buddy Jonathan works at an engineering firm in Madera and was gracious enough to let me use one of the on-site scales to weigh my gear. I rode into town to see just how much I would hauling all the way cross-country. Total with food for a couple days and about 4 liters of water: 67 lbs! The bike and racks came in at about 35 lbs so grand total is 100 lbs give or take. I am really looking forward to climbing over Tioga Pass this weekend. My mom whipped up a delicious blueberry peach pie for dessert to put a cap on a great three months at the ranch. I am ready to do this thing! Departure is 9am tomorrow morning. Next stop: Coarsegold.
