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 Sunday Sept 8        Rest Day 12

      Moab ( Utah)

Enjoying a relaxed down day and so looking forward to getting home. That’ll be as exciting for me as this trip has been.

TDA covered the motel room last night both for myself and Brian, who also finished in Moab. He left this morning for his flight and I’ve checked into another room  (ground level) just for tonight. 

No need for the alarm this morning but still I arose just after 6:30. Force of habit! Wonder will this habit persist?

Wandered down along Main St, Moab; much quieter than last night. At present Moab is a centre for mountain biking and other adrenaline related activities. Yesterday evening all types of ATVs and mud-buggies roaring on the streets. The Main St is lined with adventure operators and rental outlets.  And also a cool outlet that certain young people I know would find hard to pass.

No matter which way you look, the high red rock surrounds the place. Moab has a basic population of 5,000 but swells to multiples of that with tourists. I’m told the summer tourist rush has ended but another clientele arriving now in September....for a big music festival and plenty of retired folk availing of senior prices (I didn’t see any of those!). For these elder visitors Moab is a base for visits to the National Parks around...Arches and Canyonlands. Moab was a centre of mining and in 1950 was regarded as the Uranium Capital of the world. And not surprisingly John Forde used the locality as backdrops for a number of his western movies.

I located St Prius X Church this morning and was there for Mass at 9. Again an African (Nigeria) priest and a large congregation. Was pleased to be there as they celebrated Grandparents Day. Was quite comfortably warm as I walked down but still enjoyed the air-conditioning inside. I felt very much at home when a heavy shower pounded on the roof just near the end. Next to me was a local lady who had been to Tipp last year and so enjoyed the Rock of Cashel and the walk down to Hoare Abbey.

Met some of the cyclists today and they ask when the book is coming out. Let me explain. Back up in Canada, some seeing me writing (furiously) by the tent each evening asked if was writing a novel, and would they feature in it. I was jokingly gloriously vague saying neither yeah or nay. That query cropped up a number of times. The other evening, in my few words to the group, I just said that if I were writing a novel ( Carlsberg style) that the title and plot was in place. It would be titled ‘The Last of the Canadian Mosquitos’. Some chance! And it would recount the adventures of the last mosquito in Canada ( where we were eaten alive) realizing the threat of extinction, escapes as a stowaway on a rider’s bicycle and makes its way to Costa Rica and Panama (the home of the mosquitos) and there to find a mate to repopulate Canada. All said with tongue in cheek. Some only picked up half of what I said.

I have the bike all boxed up now (and well labeled ) and a shuttle ordered for the morning out to the small airport. I even had time to watch (actually just flick channels)  some TV, a novelty at this stage.

So the epic is over. Has been memorable. Just over 6000 km in distance and just short of 50,000 m of ascent. Only had 5 punctures (all wire related) and only pumped the tyres 5 times. No mechanical problems with the bike. Same set of tyres for the complete trip and there’s more mileage left in them still. And that’s the same bike for all the trips since 2008. Some machine!

And I’m thrilled to relate that I didn’t have an ache, a pain, a strain or a niggle at any point on the trip. Cycling....the cure of all ills!

I actually enjoyed documenting the day to day activities on the blog. I’ll enjoy looking back on those early days, on all the days. But no ‘homework’ after today. I’ll miss it!

My thanks to you all for logging on and I hope it gave some insight into the route and the goings-on of a long distance trip. I am aware that there was a problem with putting up comments. I tried all possible settings. No use. Myself, I couldn’t post replies to comments. However! Sin an saol.

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.

That’s all folks.

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Saturday Sept 7         Cycling Day 55

 

            Fruita (Colorado) to Moab (Utah)

Distance:  (Km). 148

Time:  6:07

Average Speed: (Km/ hr). 24.5

Ascent:  (m). 650

Heart Rate: (beats / min). 110

Cumulative Distance:   (km). 6106

Cumulative Ascent :  (m). 49,909

Punctures so far : 5

A day fitting for the final day of this trip. Best scenery kept till the end.

Warm calm night but I found it difficult to get to sleep, probably a bit of excitement due to today being my last cycling day. But arose fresh and ready to goo.

Just before breakfast I busier myself getting photos with all the various riders on the trip. Just a few shown here. And then out on the road for this long distance.

The first 11 km was retracing the road back to Loma. Very flat along here and once warmed up I moved along quickly enough in pleasant temperatures. We were heading westwards for the first 60 km and it was a change not to be looking into that low morning sun.

Out now in rural Colorado with scattered dwellings along the way especially near the small village of Mack. Then onto wide open range in this high desert country with just the very occasional  splash of green. Yesterday I had 15 1/2 road, but today the system has gone metric with the 2.8 road.

After 36 km on Highway 6 (running parallel to the Interstate) our route crossed back into Utah. No fancy billboard to announce the new state and provide a photo opportunity......just a cattle grid and a minimalist board. And definitely a change in the road conditions. We were onto broken pavement (like Kazakhstan) and quite a few had bottles and lights flying off their bikes. It was as if I was going to finish this ride on the rough just as it had started on the Dempster.

This rough section lasted for 10 km (Highway 6 terminated) when we switched onto Interstate 70. Normally cyclists are not allowed on Interstate, but allowance made when there is no other route. A big improvement on road surface and plenty of noise on both carriageways. I had 20 km of this surface to look forward to, when the rear wheel began its funny carry-on again. Quick check and another flat....#5. As expected a piece of wire was the culprit. Getting good at rectifying matters and all ready to go again after 10 mins.

Just after 60 km we left the Interstate, onto a minor road heading across more infertile range, generally heading southwards towards our destination.

Along this stretch of road lay the town of Cisco...population 0. This must be the hometown of one of my favourite cowboys, the Cisco Kid as he appeared in the comic strip on the Irish Press years and years ago. Looks in a sad state now though there were a few trailers parked nearby.

At 76 a left turn onto an immaculate surface and I just happened on some men at work mending another puncture. Quite a few of the riders reported having flats today due mostly to pieces of wire picked up along the Interstate. And lunch was a welcome stop along here, a brief respite from the rising heat at this early hour of 10.

This freshly paved road continued on undulating and eventually led us down to the banks of the Colorado River at 90 km. And then it all started.

For the next 50 km it was fabulous scenery all the way. It started civilised enough with nothing we hadn’t experienced previously. But when we crossed over to the other side it all turned spectacular. Towering red cliffs above us, to the left, to the right and sometimes straight ahead. I was in danger of exhausting the battery in the camera; around each corner a fresh picture just had to be captured. I have just included a small fraction of photos here. It was fantastic.

For a period the road moved away from the river but the views continued to amaze me. Had I seen some of these as backdrops in various cowboy films? All this time it was getting hotter and hotter, much too much for my comfort. I stopped the van to replenish my water bottles. I drank plenty but a minute after drinking the mouth was totally dry again and feeling that the roof of my mouth was swelling. Uncomfortable.

Just halfway down the canyon, a few of us dropped into Sorrel River Ranch to recover. Quite upmarket type of country club with gloriously green pasture (for their horses) all about in the middle of this hot dry oven. I could hardly speak to the girl at the bar with my mouth feeling out of shape. Lovely there right on the banks of the Colorado facing into the red rock.

We still had 30 km to go in this heat. When the road was flat or on a decline the movement created its own air conditioning, but up any bit of a rise when movement decreased the heat just punished. My Garmin was out of charge so I cycled along with Ed for the remainder. The canyon narrowed again and we had views of the various rafts and crafts enjoying the river. In places it was totally smooth and gentle rapids in others......not churning surf.

The red towers continued to appear around each bend as the road now returned to the meandering course of the river. In a few places we went around complete horseshoes adding a new view every 100 m or so.

Then the canyon narrowed and the road was squeezed up against the rock and a nice bike path was provided for cyclists. Now with 140 km complete we were emerging from this absolutely fabulous passage. What a way to finish my tour! I’ll leave with a taste of towering beauty. I’ll also leave knowing how a roast chicken feels in an oven! Probably next week I’ll crave a bit of that heat and sunshine. But, that’s life.

With just 5 km to go we joined Highway 191 for the run in to Moab. Another cycle path obliged and I arrived at Rustic Inn Motel in central Moab just after 3. A good day’s work done. No wonder I felt elated at completing this 6000+ km trek from the Arctic. Indeed it was ‘From Ice to Sun’.

For the rest of the group it’s a double Rest Day for them in Moab before continuing on past the Grand Canyon and on to Mexico in two weeks time. I wish them a cool ride.

One of our cyclists today fell just at the start of the real scenic bit and fractured her upper arm in 3 places, so that’s the end of her tour, unfortunately. We wish her a speedy recovery and a relatively comfortable journey back home.

Once initial celebrations were over it was a matter of collecting the bags and a box for my bike. I’d intended to leave boxing the bike till tomorrow but I got a lot of the spadework done before dinner. At times during the evening I had to metaphorically pinch myself and remind that the job was complete and that I’d be back home within a few days. Looking forward to that it a big way.

Ending this epic on a high..... and I got the official jersey and medal to prove it. I’ll write the final post tomorrow (a short one) to wrap up the blog.

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.