Dove Creek to Blanding, UT Tue 7/21/2015

     Now I'm starting to get nervous about the unknown ahead of me across this vast area of southern Utah.  I was briefed by my home teacher, Lonnie White, about some of the mountains I would be crossing.  He grew up in Kanab, Utah and had hunted and fished in many of these mountains.

Leaving Dove Creek and heading for Utah just after sunrise.

This ride is so much like a football game.  I coached football for 27 years so it's easy for me to see this as a comparison to football.  This ride is all about one hill at a time, one town at a time and one day at a time, when you've reached your destination for that day.  With football it's one play at a time, one first down at a time, move the chains again and you're closer to the goal line.  When I'm planning how far I can get that day I'm in the huddle.  When I clip my left foot into the pedal I'm at the line of scrimmage.  (I always clip left foot first)  When I push down on that pedal the ball just got snapped and the play is on.  When I passed that sign above I just scored a touchdown.  I just defeated another opponent, Colorado, and now I'm going to take on Utah.  And some unexpected things are going to happen during this game with Utah.

A field being prepared for some kind of crop.  No farmer around to ask what he's going to plant.

Monticello, Utah is somewhere over there near that mountain.  This is a nice road to ride on, smooth, wide shoulder and you can see for miles the air is so clean.

Not a fancy farm, but it's a farm.

There's Monticello.  When I get to the middle of that town I turn south toward Blanding.  I have to make Blanding tonight to cut 22 miles off my ride tomorrow.  If I stay in Monticello tonight then I'll have to ride 96 miles tomorrow to make it to Lake Powell.  Staying in Blanding is my only option as I see it.

World travelers from France.

Their planned route will eventually take them from Seattle, down the west coast of US, Mexico, Central America, west coast of South America, up the east coast of South America, then home to France.  They must be crazier than I am.  After I made a donation to their plight then I got to thinking, maybe they're homeless and this is how they survive.  They're not sleeping in the same park every night.

Pronounced (Mon-ti-chello).  Thomas Jefferson would be offended if you pronounced it (Mon-ti-sello).

I think this country is beautiful.

See what I mean?

On the way to Blanding.  More good road,  It's nice and cool out here today.  You know, even though I've been rained on a few times, I've yet to have a bad day of riding.  The only real bad days for riding weather wise, I just stayed in the motel another day.