Day 50 - 2,910 Miles To Date - Escalante, UT

So I have a lot to blog about, it’s been about four pretty eventful days. I tried to blog a couple days ago but we haven’t had any service, and as I’m typing this into a word document I’m wondering when we will have service for me to post this. But, wow Moab was amazing! It’s not exactly my kind of climate and area as far as living, but it definitely has a lot to offer and explore. We rode out of Grand Junction knowing last year’s team encountered some road issues on the way to Moab, so we were prepared to possibly have to shuttle. We arrived at the Utah state line about 33 miles into our trip and the water van discovered the bad roads from last year. There was also a large portion of interstate we would have to travel as the only way to Moab, so we came to a group decision to shuttle to a spot and pick back up on our biking through Arches National Park. We hiked to the Delicate Arch viewpoint then biked down through the park at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful as the sunlight lit up different portions of the red rock. Once we got back to the host, we hung out a little bit but eventually called it a night since we had to wake up for skydiving at 4:30 (Jeff and I of course HAD to run beforehand.) There was a mix of emotions across the board, nerves, excitement, fear, and definitely the need for coffee. Whatever the feelings before we hopped in the tiny propeller plane and climbed 10,000 feet above sea level, every single person that went had the time of their lives. It was easily the most amazing thing I have ever done in my entire life. I will admit, I was kind of nervous but I think more excited. I decided there was no reason to be scared and if anything was going to go wrong, it would for a reason. Luckily, we all safely landed. The flight was absolutely gorgeous; flying over all Moab has to offer in national parks as our tandem partner pointed out all of the landmarks. Draper decided he wanted to jump out of the plane first, so as we arrived at 10,000 feet the door was opened and that was my only “holy shit” moment. I was honestly pretty calm the whole time, nervous but calm, until that point. Draper and his partner jumped out and we followed soon after. In the 35 seconds of freefall, we did a backflip, waved goodbye to the plane, I drooled a lot (and apparently no one else did) as you’ll see in my video, and then the parachute opened and we had an enjoyable descent into a sandy landing. Absolutely amazing, and the day had just begun! Draper’s family reserved a few ATVs for some of us to go ride, so Jeff, Elliot, Draper, Michael, and I got picked up by his aunt and uncle (and parents that surprised him) and headed to the trails. I kid you not, riding in that ATV with Jeff was definitely scarier than skydiving, which brings me to a very good point – everyone always hypes up skydiving as being dangerous, but all of the things we do in our everyday lives are definitely more dangerous, including this trip. So if you haven’t gone, I definitely recommend it! (I’m in the process of convincing my dad.) Anyways, the ATV tour was so much fun. It was about two and a half hours and the tour guide stopped a couple times to show us some cool monuments and famous rocks. We stayed in the back on our tour so we were able to wait and go as fast as we could on the flat, straight parts. Eventually, of course, we went to fast and hit a curve and spun out (getting a flat that we found out about later.) It was really awesome nonetheless, and I got the almost-flip all on gopro video. After, Draper’s family treated us to lunch at a Mexican restaurant, my favorite. Needless to say, it was an incredible rest day. We went back and hung out for a little while, a few people went golfing, but dinner was at Draper’s aunt and uncle’s place they rent in Moab. We had amazing barbeque and a really fun evening. The next day, day 48 I believe, Rachel Eddy and I had a van day, which ended up being semi-eventful but not super stressful. There was absolutely no way to Green River without taking interstate (I guess last year’s team took I-70) so we shuttled again. It wasn’t too bad with water van’s help. We mailed a few packages in town, got coffee then headed out to pick up a couple teams and take them to Green River. Once settled, Jeff, Draper, and I went for a run and came back to some awesome pasta and veggies cooked by our teammates. Everyone took a hose shower (I believe our third of the week, they’re getting pretty normal) and headed to bed because we had another century in the works for the next day’s ride to Capitol Reef. That ride was definitely a rough one, it was hot, windy, and a lot of unexpected climbing – not to mention the century part. It was also set to be our first night of camping, which we just knew would be super stressful with the chores we do in the morning and not having showers, etc. I believe we were at about mile 50 of our really tough day when we got the group text from Harshini. “No camping for us! We got 7 hotel rooms, so we have showers, beds, and complimentary breakfast donated!” You do not understand how excited I and all of us were after reading that. To have a long, hot, hard day and go camp would just be very miserable. Of course – this trip is all about being out of your comfort zone and you could say we got spoiled, BUT it was awesome. On our day to Capitol Reef we also met a guy WALKING across the country. He started in Delaware in March 2013 and is making his way to San Francisco as well. You may think he could walk quicker but I think he's just taking his time and seeing all the country has to offer. Major props to him, biking is hard enough. Today, which will likely not be today when I am finally able to post this, is day 50. Only 20 more days, we are getting pretty sad about that part. Especially with rest and van days left to go, each of us only has about 15 more riding days. What are we going to do without each other?! Escalante was one of the days the alumni warned us about. Trail Ridge Road was so hyped up that we forgot there are in fact more mountains after it. We had 65 miles, but 6500 feet of climbing and it was definitely harder than Trail Ridge Road. I wouldn’t say it was my hardest day mentally or physically, but it sure was a tough one. The scenery was absolutely beautiful though, continuing with the crazy red rock. We had a long descent into a really cool canyon towards the end of the ride, of course we had to climb back out of it, but it was fun! There were definitely A LOT of climbs today, my legs noticed every single one, but as one of our hosts said at dinner tonight, life is good. His main point was for us to remain positive even on the hard days, so I will definitely try to keep that in mind as we continue with the hard climbing. We arrived finally to the high school in Escalante, which is a really nice big setup with AC and showers (I don’t ask for much.) We cleaned up and went to the local pizza shop where our dinner was being hosted. The homemade pizza was so delicious, definitely one of the best I’ve had. The homemade red velvet was the icing on the cake (no pun intended.) Now, I plan on having an early night as I write this at 9pm in my bed (sleeping pad and sleeping bag.) We get to sleep in tomorrow!!! Wake up is at 6:15 because we have a short day, lots more climbing, but only 52 miles. I will probably continue on this post after tomorrow, fingers crossed for wifi! My skydiving video link will be at the bottom of this along with amazing Moab pictures! Goodnight from Escalante, UT.

Skydive video: http://youtu.be/uZp4euZaZx8