Rocky Mountain High

Day 9 - Bluff, UT to Cortez, CO (65 miles and 4,000 feet of climbing)

Today, we crossed into Colorado and I could not get the John Denver 'Rocky Mountain High' song out of my head. Unfortunately, I only know the chorus, so it was on repeat for a while. We slept in today and left after sunrise for the first time in a while. We have moved so far north, that there was not an excessive heat warning . Every other day I had to click the check box on my Garmin acknowledging the warning, which was depressing.

Shannon started the ride today. She fully stretched her left hip, which was bothering her.  The good news is the left one was fine, bad news was the right one gave her problems today. She rode through the pain for 20 miles before Robin took over. At one point, a dog chased Shannon on the road. She got a burst of adrenaline and sped away with no damage done. After living with Maude for 10 days, we forgot how aggressive dogs can be. Maude has been extremely chill, the perfect temperament for this adventure. We also saw wild horses, which kept their distance as we got close.

We rode through the Navajo reservation for a while before turning and following the San Juan river. The route today included a few turns, which we had not done for 2 days. Imagine, turning on your Garmin and it shows the destination as 70 some miles on the same road. As we hit the river valley, the landscape turned from brown to green with agriculture and livestock farms. Best of all, there were trees with much needed shade, which we had not had for a few days. We are finally out of the desert!

Robin rode a strong 32 miles, mostly uphill, with me. Shannon drove the car up the road 10 miles so we could get mor ice and water when we needed it. Although there was not a heat advisory, it was still 90 degrees at noon. On the road, it feels a lot hotter. At one point on the road a small bird flew directly into my front tire. We did not stop to see the damage, but we suspect he did not make it. That makes two birds who have given there lives on the journey. Rest in peace!

I rode the final 15 miles by myself and met the girls at McDonalds for a large Coke. We then drove to Durango, CO to our hotel. The Rockies are an impressive sight. They are also a bit intimidating. We will be riding in the mountains for the next few days. We will be driving some of it because we want to keep this fun and we had planned to do the southern, flat route before the excessive heat wave so we figure we are even. Now, it is time to check out Durango where Sepp Kuss (riding in the Tour De France) is from.