Tom takes the Bland out of Blanding

Today was another day for dramatic changes in scenery as we moved from the mountains of Colorado to the dry canyonlands of Utah, our seventh state of the trip.

We got off to a late start as some dufus left his sunglasses at the restaurant last night. I was ready to abondon them but Tom convinced me to wait until they opened at 8 AM. Fortunately they were in fact there, so I was able to retrieve them and become whole again.

On the subject of sunglasses, for the trip I bought a pair of glasses from Dual Eyewear that have magnifying reader lenses built in (a little like bifocals) for my aging eyes. They have been fantastic and I wonder how I ever lived without them.

It was a crisp, cool morning and we had a nice tailwind as we left Dolores. Almost immediately the scenery changed from lush pines and aspens to dry and open valleys. Along US-491 we went up and down a series a rolling hills, stopping in Dove Creek for a break. At the stop a woman started asking about our trip. She was also a cyclist and was very interested in our gear, route, and so on. It was fun to talk to someone who sort of "gets it".

Looking back - the mountains of Colorado fading away

Looking ahead to the range above Monticello, Utah

About 8 miles later we crossed into Utah. As we were taking the ritual state line photos we noticed a suitcase sitting in the midde of the pullout. It had obviously not been there long. We figured that someone had pulled off to get a picture, opened the back of their car to get something out, and forgotten to reload the suitcase. We tried calling the number on the tag but it was somewhat illegible and none of the possible numbers we tried would connect. Moral: if you're going to leave your suitcase by the side of the road, write your number legibly!

A big sign

At that point the wheels sort of came off our ride. First, as we were about to set out again I noticed my rear tire was flat again. It seems that the dollar bill I had been using to shore up a tear in the sidewall since Tennessee had started to abrade the inner tube. Then, the road surface changed from Colorado silk to Utah cheese grater, with a crappy narrow shoulder and rumble strips to boot. And, somehow the riding got much harder, due to the wind, false flats, or both.

Approaching Monticello. There is a wind farm on the right

Finally we got to Monticello, which is a cute little town tucked at the base of a small range that can be seen from miles away. We had a picnic lunch in the town park.

The last leg to Blanding was more southerly and therefore into a stiff headwind. There was one big climb but otherwise it was mostly downhill so that helped negate the wind. After the climb the the scenery was especially cool.

The shark fin in the distance is Shiprock, New Mexico, about 75 miles away

The picturesque Recapture Reservoir, near Blanding

The Firefly, posing on the bridge

We turned off onto a road that went up into a campground to see if we could get better views. Some guy came over and greeted us by saying "Iron Men!" before he even knew what we were up to. When we told him he reaffirmed it several times. He seemed familiar with the area so we asked about the possibilities for finding water on the trip tomorrow to Hanksville. It was like opening a gusher; after that he talked and talked, mostly repeating himself. The one hepful thing he did tell us was that the Visitor Center in Blanding had lots of good information.

When we got to Blanding we stopped at the center, and sure enough, the guy there had lots of good information. Apparently there is a store of sorts in Hite, as we cross the Colorado River at Lake Powell. We called, and they are in fact open and we can get water there. We hope.

We rode our bikes to the grocery store in Blanding to get breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. We also tried to buy beer but it turns out Blanding is a dry town (so that's how it got its name!) The cashier told us that there was a place outside city limits about 3 miles away that we could get beer. I was ready to let it go but Tom, the intrepid cyclist and beer aficionado that he is, rode out there on his own and brought back a sixpack of IPA. What a guy.

Today we did 83 miles, with 3810 feet of climbing. Tomorrow is a big day: 125 miles to Hanksville.