Green River, UT
Elevation: 4,026 ft.
Distance: 66.2 mi.
Odometer: 2,274.4 mi.
Today may have been the only day so far of consistent tailwind, or at least total lack of headwind, and it was full of declines to boot. Too bad it was a short day and I couldn't enjoy it longer. After spending some time scarfing down as much free hotel breakfast as I could, I left a little after 7:00 AM and still got in by noon. Good riding today.
Halfway through the state, I gotta say Utah has the worst roads so far. Every day there's been about 10 miles of construction, and when there isn't construction, the shoulder is either full of gravel or entirely taken up by the rumble strip. I may avoid Utah on further bike tours just for that reason.
Spending eight hours a day on the bike gives you lots of time to think, and just like during Texas 4,000, I'm at a point where I'm unsure where I want my life to head. So it's good that I have all this time to figure it out. I know for sure that I want my life filled with adventures like this one. I've just always felt like there has to be more to life than going to work 9-5, coming home to your wife and 2.5 kids, watching TV for a few hours, then doing it all over again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, every day for the rest of your life. I don't necessarily want more, I just want something else. I don't know if I'll have enough time on this Earth to do everything I want, especially since I don't know what that is.
Some of that stuff got me thinking, So what more IS there to life? What are we supposed to be doing? But that's a question that's been asked for millennia. Probably ever since humans got to the point that they didn't need to spend every minute of every day just finding a way to survive and reproduce. And now that we have that spare time, no one knows for sure what to do with it. My best answer is to make the world a better place and to enjoy the life you have. But I guess there's no one answer how to do those things either.
Yesterday was probably the last time I'll see snow this summer, and I think trees are soon to follow. I might not see hardly any trees, aside from planted ones, until I get back to the Hill Country of Texas. And since you can easily go 50 miles without seeing a gas station out here, shady rest stops will soon become a thing of the past. Not good news at a time when I'm headed into triple-digit climates again.
Sharing a KOA campsite tonight with a couple named Mack and June. My brother knows June from work, and they were planning on being in Green River this weekend anyway, so they offered to let me sleep in their camper with them tonight. They also let me throw in some laundry with theirs and stuffed me full of awesome food. June and Mack, thanks for everything, and have fun on your own travels!
June
