We’ve been remiss in posting due to long days, uninspiring surroundings, and a lack of Internet access. But we’re back! A special Bon voyage to Shauna as she heads to China! And to Ariela and Andrew on their bike trip in Scotland!

Day 64: Cedar City, UT rest day
July 19, 2011

We took the day off here to rest our derrières and take care of some important errands before entering the Nevada desert. Did some laundry, stocked up on important food items (important these days means Clif Bars, almonds, and fancy peanut butter). The kind people at Walmart wrongfully accused us of shoplifting. It’s great. We are quite ready for a new state.

Day 65: Cedar City, UT to Milford, UT
July 20, 2011

Today was a day of awkward kindness. On the way out of Cedar City, we passed a day rider going in the opposite direction. He turned around, rode with us for a while and asked a series of appropriate, but VERY awkwardly delivered questions. We had a very gradual climb and then a nice downhill into Minersville where we stopped for an early picnic lunch under a giant pavilion in the town park. A big Canadian goose squawked at us a lot. Then, a guy came out of the house across the street, yelled “Do you want some cold watermelon?”, dropped a huge tub of watermelon with 2 plates and a fork on the table, turned around and went back inside. It was so nice of him but so weird that he didn’t even stop to talk with us. The remaining 17 miles were easy except for the millions of giant grasshoppers on the road that kept jumping up and landing on us as we rode by. Millions of them. It felt biblical. When we crossed on to newly paved asphalt we could see them on the ground and aim better; crunch, crunch, crunch. In Milford, we thought we’d eat dinner at the chinese food diner but when we discovered the boast on the menu that “we use salt and MSG in all of our dishes,” we opted for Subway sandwiches. Surprisingly, this was only our 3rd visit to Subway, and it’s already getting a little old. After dinner we reorganized our bags so we can carry extra water tomorrow.

  • Start: Cedar City, UT
  • End: Milford, UT
  • Slept: motel
  • Miles: 58.8
  • Avg: 11.7

Day 66: Milford, UT to Baker, NV
July 21, 2011

After a mediocre night’s sleep (due to the television in the motel room spontaneously turning itself on at full volume throughout the night) we got an early start for our longest no-services day. There are 84 miles between Milford and our destination with no services or water. From Milford we began the first of 3 climbs, each about 1,500 feet. The first one was nice and gentle and dropped us into the Wah Wah Valley. It was pretty bleak and we lamented our surroundings by channelling Dave Neway and making sad trombone “Wah Wah” sounds all the way across the valley. The rest of the day was more of the same. The elevation profile of Nevada looks like a child’s drawing of waves. Up down up down. That’s what we did all day. Baker has a cafe where we ate dinner and some delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

  • Start: Milford, UT
  • End: Baker, NV
  • Slept: motel
  • Miles: 83.9
  • Avg: 8.7
  • Notes: Wah Wah. We saw 1 tree today!

Day 67: Baker, NV to Ely, NV
July 22, 2011

Second verse, same as the first! Today was like a repeat of yesterday, only with a really, really horrible headwind for a lot of the day. Are we there yet? Right after Baker we got on Route 50 (“the loneliest road in America”) which we will take most of the way home. When the map said “63 miles no services” it was a little bit of a lie. Halfway between Baker and Ely is a bar. Just what a cyclist needs! We had a lot of thumbs up signs out of car windows today. And a couple stopped and offered us Gatorade. It was nice. We got some groceries when we got to Ely, showered, and ate a huge dinner. Not sure if it’s the heat, the long days, or what, but our voracious appetites are back. We are both suffering from conflicting desires: wanting to get to San Francisco as soon as possible and wanting to take enough time to make the trip as pleasant as possible.

  • Start: Baker, NV
  • End: Ely, NV
  • Slept: motel
  • Miles: 62.7
  • Avg: 7.5

Photos: entering the Wah Wah Valley, in the Wah Wah Valley, a tree! (only one all day), another nameless valley, Nevada!