The Changing of the Guard - Moab, UT (Days 43-44)

Today marked the conclusion of my duties as leg leader, and in the epitome of bitter sweet endings, we left Colorado. To me, and I think a lot of riders will agree, Colorado was a turning point for the trip. Crossing into the state, the distance that we traversed on our bikes became abundantly clear: we were “out West.” The arid western landscape gave way to the Rockies once we reached Boulder, and then the second half of the trip began. I had never seen such awe-inspiring terrain in my entire life. From Boulder to Naturita, it was without fail that around every bend there was a unique and incredible view. It was truly unforgettable.

With that said, crossing into Utah was difficult. The vast difference in scenery was welcomed by most, but it was also clear that we were entering challenging territory. One of the riders told a story about how her mom reads all the blogs and doesn’t buy the fact that everything is peachy, and hunky-dory, and whatever other fluffed up adjectives we can conjure up. I thought that was funny because it is true that we avoid talking about the hard times, the exploding tires at 100 degree water stops, the swarms of terrorizing mosquitoes while we’re playing hide and seek with cell phone service in rural towns so we can try to talk to our girlfriends/boyfriends before bed, the saddle sores, the snoring, and the five day old bag of breakfast sausage that we gamble with. So in the spirit of the 4K journal entries, I won’t talk about barking like a dog on my way up the last big climb before Utah because I was delirious, or about hitting a pothole going down the mountain at 40 miles per hour. I won’t talk about the tourist trap “Hole “N the Rock” with its excessive use of apostrophes on the “”N” and out of place petting zoo with a wallaby that my team got sucked into. For that matter, I won’t talk about having to check for snakes in the abandoned gas station where we stopped for lunch. But because I know my grandma reads these entries ritually (Hi Gram and Gramps!) I’ll just talk about how excited I was to get to Utah and see Arches National Park, and to meet our gracious host Pastor Howe at Moab Baptist Church, because that’s what Moab brought to us.

As sad as it was to part with Colorado, I know that Utah will bring unique and exciting experiences, and I’m happy to hand my leg leader duties off to Meg so that she can get up 10 minutes before wake up to start hunting down riders who are sleeping in the most obscure of places!

Honestly, I conclude my leg with extreme satisfaction, and the minor bumps along the road pale in comparison to the magnitude, gravity and enjoyment that the 4K brings: no fluff.
With limited muttering and sarcasm (Tom, your impression still needs work,)

-Jesse Richter