Telluride - An Off Day!
High Everyone!
It's Jeff Jenks. We are currently enjoying an off day in Telluride, Colorado. I can't believe it has been over a week since we left Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the days are already starting to blurr together since leaving Las Vegas.
After leaving Las Vegas we stayed in some small towns in Nevada, including Alamo and Panaca. Last Sunday we left Nevada and entered Utah, staying in Cedar City that night. The rides in Utah are beginning to blend together, but they were invariably beautiful. I took lots of pictures, but they don't truly do Utah justice. The topography has lots of inclines and descents, with roads winding through beautiful canyons and national parks.
Monday we left Cedar City and had a tough climb that day, but had some beautiful views of Zion National Park along the way. I think it was the next day that we rode through Bryce Canyon, which was very scenic and a wonderful ride.
On Tuesday I stayed at a couples home in Boulder, Utah, along with three other riders. The ride into Boulder was hard, with some sharp inclines and lots of wind. We were relieved to finally get there. The couple I stayed with live on a farm and have lots of chickens and a pet turkey, dog, and cat. They were great hosts and had a spaghetti meal prepared for us when we arrived. I really enjoyed the food and the great company.
Early last week we had a couple of cold nights and mornings. On Wednesday night we stayed in a school in Hanksville, Utah. We made a trip to Goblin Valley State Park, which was one of the most beautiful and unique places I have ever seen. There are hundreds or thousands of rock formations that look like goblins or mushrooms (depending on your perspective) - it is a wonder that nature could manage to produce such unique rock formations.
The next day we left for Natural Bridges Monument, where we camped out underneath the stars (Natural Bridges Monument is known to have some of the best stargazing in the country), but awoke to find snow all over the ground. We biked anyways, and the temperature eventually warmed up and it managed to be a pretty nice day.
That evening in Monticello we stayed at a Catholic Church, and a wonderful dinner of "Navajo tacos" awaited us when we arrived there that evening. Monticello is a small town in Utah, and our hosts were wonderfully kind and interesting.
The next morning we left for Dolores, where we stayed at a high school. The local Catholic Church again had a wonderful dinner prepared for us when we arrived. It just so happened that the local school was having their high school prom that evening, so we enjoyed our own separate prom in the gym. We attained very cheap clothes from the local Salvation Army store and got dressed up.
Yesterday we left Dolores and had a wonderful ride up a mountain, with our day ending in a descent into Telluride. Telluride, population around 2000, is a ski resort in the winter and a popular tourist destination in the summer. We had an event at the local grade school/high school this morning, but are otherwise relaxing and catching up on trips to the bike store, laundry, etc. this afternoon. We have a contact here who is a real estate agent and avid cyclist, and he attained three condos for us which are being donated. Needless to say, we are enjoying our stay here.
Tomorrow we leave for Montrose, Colorado with some challenging rides coming up this week. Overall, the scenery in Utah and Colorado has been beautiful and worth the hard work on the bikes.
Take care and keep following our progress!
