Back by popular demand!

Well, okay... not exactly popular demand, but there was a request or two! It's hard to come between an addict & their addiction, but after some bartering, sasq and I came to an arrangement--I'll write a post & she'll add in all the bits I forget. I think she's struggling a wee bit, but the beers are helping!

So to fill you in on the deets...
Last sasq mentioned we were resting after an ugh, big night out in to-hell-u-ride. Needless to say, her tent stealing leaves us even with my feigning sleep at Dennis "yeah, I have expensive things" creeper. We bummed around telluride for the day, which as DC put it, is a bit like Disneyland--beautiful, wicked  expensive, and kinda too perfect to be real. Our second night in telly, we managed to camp out in a proper site, but after dropping 3$ each for 5 mins of hot water, we decided to skip out on the camping fee's; doesn't seem like they're hurting anyway.

We spent our coldest night to date camping at the bottom of the mountains, but still managed to get a decent jump on the day and rolled outta Telly happy, or at minimum, ready, to be back in the saddle. We cruised (shockingly) easily uphill, enjoying the scenery and loving the speedy cruise downhill to Dolores. Finally the weather had cooled down and seems the heat wave that kicked our arses in MO & KS is behind us. Unfort, Telly proved to be an ineffective rest day to sort my tires, so after popping into every bike shop from eastern kansas to western colorado, i resigned to the fact that I would need to order them ahead. We ended up spending a couple hours in Dolores, eating lunch & popping into the lib to order them... which proved to be just enough time for DC & SC to catch up & say goodbye until we meet up again in CA for some end of trip celebrations & DC's bday (won't toss out any numbers here though haha). this would prove to be one of several goodbyes, but we'll get to that later. so because the guys are lazy, and we're pro (wink wink), we rolled on to dove creek and bagged another century. Without many sleeping options, we strolled into the grocery store/gas station/deli to inquire on potential tent pitching sites. As the way small towns go, the locals were more than helpful & interested in hearing bout our travels. Moments later we were introduced to Dave, who chatted us up for a bit, gave us his entire life story, warned us of skunks, and eventually directed us to a cushy patch of grass behind the store/gas/deli combo... which happened to be directly next to a helicopter landing pad and health clinic. Fortunately for us, there was no need for any heli landings, and the evening proved to be a bit warmer. Cruising outta dove creek the next AM, we were hoping for another 100+ day, but didn't quite make it that far. We stopped a few times along the way to stock up on water & supplies. The scenery had changed quite a bit as we passed from western CO into UT, and just as the afternoon desert sun set in, we started in on the hills. With little to no amenities for the better part of 130ish miles, we struggled with the heat & the climbs and stopped short at the natural bridges national monument, which was off route & downhill approx 5 miles, but did offer the prime amenity of clean drinking water. camping was pretty uneventful--we rolled in, threw up our tent, made some quick dins, hid from the rain, & hit the hay. We started in good spirits the following day, given we were cycling back uphill the 5 or so miles we had come to the camp the night before. The riding proved unbelievably fun & fast. complemented by the stunning scenery, we were reminded why we started out on the trip in the first place--riding bicycles is fun! For all the beauty that was in the Rockies and CO, Utah boasts an arguably more stunning back drop. replace the mountains with massive colorful mesas and deep canyons. it's hard to explain the scale and vastness of this landscape, but it does make the passing cyclists feel very, very small. not in a small, vulnerable, I'm getting-hit-by-an-18-wheeler kind of way, but more like a reminder that there are much, much larger things in this world than you and I.

We've easily taken more photos in the past several days than in the whole rest of the trip combined, so sit tight & we'll eventually share/post some. We still haven't managed to find an convenient way to post from the road, so consider this your license to stalk us on the FB for all your viewing pleasure. but in the mean time, here's a little something something to hold you over.

earning our keep washing dishes at the mayors house in KA


on one of our many photog snapping stops, we were feeling hot and botherd and dying for any sort of cold beverage.  considering the options, which is to say, decideding between flat out asking or just trying to look pathetic, sasq opted for somewhere in between; rather loudly, she starts whining about how all she wants is a nice cold gatorade... at which point i had to turn around to keep from blowing her spot and busting a gut laughing.  although less than clever, it was very effective. we walked away with a couple cold bottles of water, joice boxes, and sodas. well played sasq.

after filling up on cold liquids, we carried on to hanksville, ut. of course the last 10 or so miles were downhill with a headwind and a serious lightning storm going off in the distance. with the rain starting in just as we rolled into town, we made the decision to cash in on another hotel offer. thanks again to ma and pa brown for the room! sure as hell beats camping in the rain and lightning. to our surprise, just as we were sorting out a room, we see Jo (SC's wife).  turns out SC & DC decided that they were gonna try and beat our mileage record of 122. which they did, and are the current mileage record holders with 130.8. apparently they just weren't ready to say goodbye! we celebrated their short-term victory with them over a few beers. you should note however, that their record was without carrying bags... so arguably, not the same! no less, we'll let them have the glory... for now.

leaving DC and SC behind in the AM (once again), we set out for another 80 - 90 mile day. although feeling physically good and ready to cycle, it seems we had hit a wall mentally. we've been on the road now for 63 days, and for whatever reason... just simply did not feeling like riding our bicycles. we spent the better part of the day riding slowly, taking pictures, battling head winds up hill, and simply put, dragging ass. after stopping for lunch for about an hour and a half, we bumped into Jo once again and heard that the guys weren't feeling to frisky for cycling either. turns out they had a bit of a slow morning and didn't even head out until 1030/11. i think their legs must have been tired from the big ride the day before ;)
we kicked around for another hour or so and eventually, after great diliberation, did the inevitable and booked another room haha. there are a million excuses--rain, flood warnings, hills, but ultimately, we just did not feel like riding bikes. so we bought some beers, had a drink with our favorite touring friends, and headed over to the days inn for some more beer drinking and shitty tv watching (we watched quite possibly the worst made for tv movies... thanks life time haha). thanks again to grandma tynion for shouting us the hotel room!

so here we are. just munching down a quick b-fast before we head out for a windy morning ride. we've got a few miles to make up since we had a very short day yesterday... and we need to get to the GC to meet up with the homies! looking forward to seeing katie, kev, joce, & chuba!


godspeed.
little foot.

Ps. I cannot count the number of times we have been asked where we are cycling from, only to be followed up by some response along the lines of, "no you have not cycled all the way from Maine" at which point we reply, yes we have, answer a series of basic tour questions--when did you start, how many miles do you ride, where do you sleep, when will you finish, etc--and finally, the ultimate question... are you going to cycle back?!?! are you kidding me? seriously, you didn't think we actually cycled from ME in the first place and now you want to know if we're going to bicycle another 5500 miles back?? You've got to be kidding me!