May 15-18

After a rewarding, but exhausting day of water-deprived climbing, I took the 15th off to recover in Monticello, before proceeding to Colorado.

May 16: Monticello, UT to Dove Creek, CO

I intended to get to Dolores, but we stopped in the tiny town of Dove Creek,CO before the road turned south, into the teeth of the wind. Even when we were broadside to the wind, it was hard to control the loaded bike and trailer when the big gusts hit. This southerly wind would plague us all the way to Albuquerque! On the plus side though, the roads in southwestern Colorado were a HUGE improvement over the roads of southeastern Utah.

May 17-18: Dove Creek to Dolores to Cortez

Having waited for the wind to ease off (a little), we set out for Dolores. Shortly after departure, I saw a couple of squalls moving north across the high plains. Like a racing tortoise, I tried as hard as I could to outrun it, but one of the little storms caught us and hailed all over us for 10-15 minutes. The hail was small, but still, I envied Jax in his covered trailer. No problem, keep pedaling. The storm moved on and so did we, all the way to the beautiful home of our hosts, Tony, Sharon and the two sweet German Shorthaired Pointers they have rescued. After a fun, GSP-filled evening and morning, Jax and I rolled to the Canyon of the Ancients Museum and then made the short remaining ride to Cortez, to position ourselves for a longer trek to Farmington, New Mexico.

All is well, I feel great, Jax feels great, I just need to work harder to get caught up with these posts!