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SECTION 5 - Cedar City Utah to Pueblo (Colorado)

This section of the down and across America on route Motel 6 was completed in September 2010. This ride was section 4 of a 6 section route

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This was the hardest physically so far but the best mentally because the route passes through some of the most amazing scenery in North America, notably-Cedar Breaks National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument,Capital Reef National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Natural Bridges National Monument, Black Canyon of The Gunnison National Park,Curecanti National Recreation Area.

Twosolverable problems presented themselves when I was planning this ride. To me planning is to right of the following scale the scale being reality to perception

1. I have respiratory problems with altitudes above 10,000 feet if I have not acclimatised. This route has 3 major climbs over 10,000 feet namely Cedar Breaks,Lizard Head Pass and the highest over The Great Divide at Monarch Pass - 11,312 feet. I live in mid- wales in the UK at approx 150 feet above sea level so clearly cycling to Cedar Breaks on the first day is a no brain er. Clearly I had to organise the route so that i gradually built up the height for cycling thisI did , for people coming east west the climb up Monarch pass must be considered.

The second problem for me was the sparsity of services on the first part of the route from Cedar city to Dolores. Here you our working in the gap between reality and perception. The section of the route between Hanksville and Blanding looks daunting in terms of services -this being water and food however if you our young this secton would not be of concern. I meet John from wisconson who did this section in one day.He said that he was thirsty when he arrived in Blanding.For me I felt like a control freak in the amount of planning. I come from the UK we are

the third most densely populated Country in the world ( people per acre.) We have no wilderness. As always I found the park service to be outstanding I made contact with Ranger Gordon of Natural Bridges National Monument He advised me on water sources apart from hite and allowed me to send a small food [parcel by UPS I swear i saw the ups van on over take me on route.The first part of this 150 mile Journey be outstanding in terms of that wonderful wilderness feeling. As dh lawence would put it"

i arrived at glen canyon after about 50 miles of theis feelin and camped at a small camp ground at hite i survived a massive wind of 50 mile an hour in my hubba hubbaa tent. The next known water source was Natural Bridges National Monument. tHIS DISTANCE WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR ME IN ONE DAY WITH THE EQUIPMENT FOOD AND WATER I WAS CARRYING. I WAS FORCED INTO AN OUTSTANDING AMBITION TO SLEEP IN PRESTINE Wilderness some 10 miles from hite so that the ride to arches would not be too far thew next dAY. TOO LITTLE TIME IN MY LIFE AM I TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON MY OWN RESOURCES.

PART 4 OF RIDE

ACROSS AMERICA ROUTE

ACROSS AMERICA ROUTE

For this route I shall be using the adventure cycling association routes and maps (see map above)

These to me our outstanding guides and rely on the members /anybody to keep them up to date by sending in ammendments.

There our essentially three major routes across 1. Southern Tier which starts in S DIEAGO

WEST COAST ROUTE(SEE ROUTE MAP BELOW

For the west coast route I used the Lonely Planet Cycling Guide- USA WEST COAST- ISBN 186450 3246. (unfortunately this is now out of print however amazon has second hand copies) I did this ride in two sections of 4 weeks. The first section from Vancouver

This is a blog in the making (Oct 09).The blog relates to an ambition to cycle down and across North America. The route choosen being from Vancouver in Canada to The Mexican Border near San Diego and then across America from San Diego to Yorktown in Virginia on the east coast. It is called the LastBikeRide because if I succeed in this ambition I propose to cycle up the east coast and then across America to Vancouver and so on! Its a simple philosophical approach by a retired babyboomer to have a continuous dream and therefore to die before completing the ambition. This ambitious dream gives rise to a healthy aging body and mind and a structure to retirement. for me 4 weeks cycling on my own in America is probally an my optimum time. Longer periods change the nature of the challenge miles per day dominate the mind the places passed through and there natural history become of secondary importance.The focus of the ride is the people met on the way and the Natural history