Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 16, 2003

Bound for Bryce!
16 July 2003.
Escalante, Utah to Bryce, Utah.



This morning, the rooster (a.k.a. my cell phone) crowed at the comfortably belated hour of 5 a.m. Shortly after wake-up, Matt, our leader for the third leg, treated us to a nice surprise: he'd adjusted the route so that our day would involve fewer miles, less backtracking, and more scenery. That put us in a good mood, even though we had little to eat for breakfast. Babak and Meredith had sought heroically for food, but the town didn't have much to offer that early in the morning! Instead, we tried to take the paucity of provision as an opportunity to remember why we're actually bikind the trip (it's not all about food and comfort!) and to enjoy "roughing it." Katie's new friend, Nicole Beebe, whom she met at dinner the previous evening, joined us for our daily dedication and send-off. It was very nice to have (her) company!



We managed to be on the road in about two hours, after dismantling all our tents and packing all our gear. Usually, we prepare as much as possible the night beforehand, but when we're camping, the early nightfall and subsequent lack of light make it difficult to do so.



We set off into the sunset--err, or rather away from the sunrise--onto a stretch of road that was strangely difficult to ride on, despite its apparent downhill grade. This we found quite puzzling. It was as if gravity had decided not to do downhills anymore. Later we learned from a farmer who regularly hauls hay (or something) on that road, that it is actually uphill, and it is about as steep a climb as his tractor can manage. The phenomenon of "spatial illusion" struck once again! We'd been fooled by this quirky visual effect in the Rockies--only there we knew that we were going up, even when it appeared that we weren't.



A nice surprise in the form of a general store appeared along the way in the town of Tropic. We quickly overwhelmed the store in our frenzy to find food, film and other vitals.



Some of us also had an encounter with a cyclist named Ted who set off from San Francisco and was bound for Florida. Upon hearing that we were headed for his hometown, he recommended a restaurant named Blowfish Sushi, which is supposed to be one of San Francisco's finest. Evidently, his fiancee works there. We'll be happy to pass on a "hello." It's funny how small a country can seem even when it takes two months to bike across!



We arrived in Bryce, Utah rather early on in the afternoon thanks to the adjusted route. Some spent the afternoon hiking in Bryce Canyon National Park. Others caught up on writing letters and doing laundry and other such essential things in the enormous commercial complex that constitutes the entire town.



Ruby, whose family owns and runs almost all the businesses in Bryce, generously fed us with pizza and burgers at one of his restaurants.



Afterwards, some of us went to see the sun go down over Bryce Canyon. For no good reason other than that we were taking pictures at sunset in this beautiful place, at least two of us were mistaken for "couples." Why won't people believe us when we tell them what we really are--cyclists bound for San Francisco from Baltimore? Perhaps because out here, Baltimore seems unbelievably far away.



John Gahbauer