Segment 6: Ride Day 29

Route: Dinosaur, CO to Myton, UT (Myton Community Presbyterian Church)

Distance: 73.9 miles

Riding Time: 5 hrs: 26 mins (6am: start riding, 1pm-ish: arrival)

Average Speed: 13.5 mph

Max:  37.5 mph

Weather: Cooler (upper 50’s? lower 60’s?) and calm in the morning… and a little hotter later (probably upper 90’s?) with some scattered monsoon showers later in the afternoon (after our arrival – yay! :-).

Extra-Special Bonus Stats

Current Elevation: 5085 feet

Population of Myton, UT: 578 people

Membership of the Myton Community Presbyterian Church: 11 people

So we are definitely back into the desert west that reminds me an awful lot of some places in Arizona and New Mexico – marked by buttes, plateaus, and unexpected rock formations in all kinds of color, shapes and types. Here is what our road looked like today: a lovely 20-mile downhill, followed by 20 miles back up and then some rolling hills for the rest of the day out into a big Utah basin. It wasn't too bad... nothing above a 3% grade.

  

And what made today different from any other day this summer? Here are a few stories and pictures…

This is Kay. She made us supper and bought us breakfast supplies, told us a bit about the town, the church and her own life and then was on her way almost before we had time to thank her properly. She said that she decided to host us since she was the one to answer the call to see if we could stay here, and host us she did. As she said, we are incredibly fortunate to be able to be on this trip and so many of the people we meet would love to be able to do what we are doing. This seems very true. In some ways, we have been treated like rockstars wherever we go this summer: being fed extravagant (often homemade) meals, having unrestricted access to church buildings, receiving packages and notes of encouragement, putting up glamorous/ridiculous/fun/goofy pictures on Facebook and blogs like this one. Granted, sometimes the showers aren’t particularly clean, or the TP is a little sparse, or the floor a little on the hard side, or we don’t have a kitchen or ice for the coolers, or sometimes I would just love to have a big fluffy pillow again to sleep on. But, on the whole, we have been living extremely well this summer. It was good to have someone who recognized this and still cared for us so kindly anyway.... especially as one of an aging,11-member congregation.

A woman from the nearby Ute Tribe Reservation stopped by the church when I stepped outside to look at the rainclouds gathering above Myton. She pulled up on her 4-wheeler with its torn seat and cracked red fenders, hopped off and asked for a card with our address so she could send us a donation… almost before she even knew what we were riding for. Miss. Amy Lou Hansen had seen us biking through a nearby town and decided to stop by to see what was happening. As we were talking she fumbled with the zipper on a cloth cooler and pulled out a faux-suede purse, opened it, and handed me a $70 in cash. I gave her a FCBA T-shirt as she talked in broken sentences about housing problems on the res and her own broken life. She then asked for a brochure with our address so she could send more money and then, before I could get in another word, she hopped back on the 4-wheeler and tore off down a gravel alleyway behind the church and was gone.

How do you even begin to be able to make sense of the generosity of women such as her, and so many other we have met on this trip? I can't help but think, as I have said so many times on this blog before, that there is an awful lot of goodness in this world and a whole lot of reasons for hope, even in the midst of brokenness.

Good morning Dinosaur, UT! (lovely breakfast spot :)

Hello Utah all you sleepy faces! (taken just before sunrise, 3 miles into the ride)

Hello Sunshine!

Not a bad start to the day. Coasting 20 miles downhill... :-)

Riding Buddy #1 for the day: Itsssssss Lindsey!!

Aaaaand Riding Buddy #2: Itssssss Nicole! Yay! The three of us had a lot of fun today and laughed a great deal more than we should have. Everything is just funnier on a bike. True story.

Cheeeese at the rest stop.

Flat tire for Brett. :(

Aaaand we're rolling again! Right on downhill on the last 3 miles to our church home for the night. Good Day.