Day 71…. Plan today was get up early, grab breakfast at 7 am when the restaurant opens, ice at the store and head off before the heat. Today is supposed to hit 94 again. I was packed and ready to head off by 7:15 to grab food. Not bad since normally I am running an hour later than planed. Food in me, ice in the water bag, it was time to head off for the journey to Dinosaur, CO. 58 miles and 2844 ft of climbing this would be an interesting day if my pace was slow.
There isn’t much to explain of talk about heading this far west in Colorado. Just dry, hot and arid landscape. The few pictures I had taken on the ride were not very exciting for me.
Nearing Dinosaur the heat was peaking and sun was relentless on my body. Being so fair-skinned I am amazed that I have not fried often in the sun. Gingers usually do not take to hours upon hours in the sun everyday. Rolling through town it was time to grab an iced tea to cool off and replenish my glucose quickly. After some experimenting I have found that an Iced tea at the end of the day to replenish the glucose supply for morning well.
Once the tea was in me time to get a room for the evening. To hot to camp and the camp sites were still another 30+ miles away. Rolling up to the office another guy was trying to check in to. We started chatting and waited to check in together while the woman drove over to let us in. Next to the town is Dinosaur National Monument. We both wanted to see the site. Luckily I was invited to join in the truck instead of having to spend a day cycling through the park to see it. Word can’t explain the shear scale or beauty of this area. From the road it was 31 miles winding through Colorado and Utah, then back into Colorado. If it wasn’t for my new friend this all would not have been possible. So glad I meet awesome people all the time.
