THE TRIP BY THE NUMBERS

Total money raised for Bicycles for Humanity

$1,700 and counting

That's enough to send an entire shipment of bicycles, helmets, bits and pieces to an African township, where they will transform community access to school, work and healthcare. Bike mechanic traineeships will be implemented, creating jobs for proud local men and women. As an added bonus, think of the new generations of bicycle enthusiasts we've inspired!

Click here to donate. It's not too late!
Every cent goes to Bicycles for Humanity

Total kilometres
4,567

Total hours spent on the bike
268

Toughest climb
Luke Towne Pass, entering into Death Valley. Even though it was cold out, I've never dripped sweat and stamped the pedals like this before.
Ada A country backroad between Porterville and Auberry, very relentless steep inclines, a small crash and a few chasing dogs for good measure.


Best descent
Luke Yosemite Valley. Flying along at 50km p/h through magical forest, long dark tunnels, and into some of the most gobsmackingly good scenery ever.
Ada Yosemite Valley.

Best feeling
Luke Despite being warned it'd be seasonally closed for days, and despite riding 3 days on a one-way uphill road to get there, and despite the rumours that the bush-fire smoke would mean certain road-closure, finding the Grand Canyon North Rim to be open was the best feeling for me.
Ada Summiting Towne Pass, a very challenging days ride but I was finally feeling very fit.

Worst feeling
Luke Hawthorn losing the Grand Final. At least it's nothing trip related.
Ada One day I stopped suddenly going uphill without warning, and Luke was behind me, causing him to crash...I felt very guilty


Best new food
Luke Mustard.
Ada Big Hunks.  (it's a candy bar...)

Best new drink
Luke Coconut water. Delicious, and apparently better hydrating than sports drinks.
Ada Root beer! (carbonated sarsaparilla)

Favourite piece of equipment
Luke Sleeping bags. Sea to Summit Trek III. No matter how cold I was before crawling into bed I knew I'd soon be roasting, a massive comfort.
Ada Sleeping bags

Least favourite piece of equipment

Luke Hiking boots. Big, heavy, somewhat smelly, and the inserts keep riding up out of them.
Ada I hated my cleats- I never clipped in and it was so annoying when going uphill, accidentally stomping on the pedal and clipping in.

Best days rideLuke Lake Mead to Valley of Fire. We expected nothing from this days ride, just outside Vegas, which made it all the more enjoyable. Constantly changing desert scenery without another soul on the road.
Ada Capitol Reef. All downhill, extremely varying Utah terrain, a myriad of colours and textures.

Worst days rideLuke There weren't many bad ones, but the gale force winds from Valley of Fire to Mesquite (ironically a day after my 'best ride') coupled with the necessity of riding on the freeway and a lost driver's licence made this one a shocker.
Ada Exeter to Porterville, it was one of the few unenjoyable days rides, to be likened to riding on the Monash Freeway. Very straight and very boring.

Favourite small town

Luke Ely, Nevada. Couldn't stop laughing upon arrival at just how classic this old mining/gamblin' 1990's timewarp town was, and just had to pencil in a rest day here to enjoy it all.

Ada Ely.

Favourite American thingsOther than the scenery, we loved the people (friendly, hospitable, polite, proud, refreshing), the abundance of sport to watch, the abundance of individuality (both the people and the places), and watching Steve Harvey's Family Feud til the wee hours.

Top 5 Destinations

Luke
1. Yellowstone
2. Yosemite
3. Zion
4. Bryce Canyon
5. Death Valley

Ada
1. Yellowstone
2. Yosemite
3. Zion
4. Las Vegas
5. Bryce Canyon

People to thank...

Angie Conron and Melanie Poole, for cooking and going the extra yard to organize the BBQ fundraiser; Marlene, Rod, Isabella and Betty Martin for their donated food, time, money and support; Paul and Val Hodgson for their donated food, time, money and support; Amy Blazewski and Emma Fulgenzi for their delicious baked goodies; Andy Gild and Matt McCullough at Bicycles for Humanity; KNOG, Paintmypicture.com and The Red Triangle Pool/Snooker Hall Fitzroy for putting up raffle prizes; Mark Kennedy at Saturday Cycles for his time, expertise and friendship, and for having the best personal collection of bikes ever; Christy Jensen for her hospitality, friendship and cycling inspiration; Steve and Heidi Hayden for their hospitality and advice; Mike DeVisser of OHM e-bikes; Kim and Sharon Lennard for a sequence of events we'll never forget; Joseph Viellette for helping us out when we needed it most (and the pizza); Henry and his family, of Squaw Valley; Merril of Grand Junction; Ryan of Moab; all those we couch surfed and warm-showered with: Josh in Carson City, Susan in Carson City, Donna in Pahrump, Lyman in Torrey, Teri-Ann in Moab, Adrienne and Tyler (and the rest of the gang) in Moab; 94.7 The Pulse Radio; all those who donated online, at our fundraiser and at Ocean Grove Fresh Fruit to our cause, you were an inspiration up many a hot hill climb; all the cycle-tourists we met on the road for the comradery and good times (a special shout out to Alex from Austin and Kyle from Houston, who we rode with for days).

THE LAST FEW DAYS

Our final days ride for the trip was the descent from Canyonlands back to the Moab Highway, all of it fittingly downhill, easy and enjoyable, all of it alone, all of it with plenty of scenery and time to think and reflect on the last three months. We pedalled our last few strokes riding two-abreast to the highway junction, where we stopped and embraced and generally felt really bloody good about ourselves and what we've accomplished together. All the highs, all the lows, all the places we'd been and the people we'd met. This three month journey was indeed the physical, emotional and mental test everyone knew it would be, and we'd done it with flying colours. We'd done it.

We hitchhiked (again, there was absolutely none of public transport we assumed existed) to Price that afternoon in a tiny, squished sedan with Ryan, a local Pastor. The next day we tried unsuccessfully to hitchhike back to Salt Lake, for a total of four deflating hours, getting so desperate to get back to sort out the flights and the bikes and everything else that we phoned our friend Mark Kennedy, of Saturday Cycles, and asked for a lift, which, of course, he was only too happy to do for us. We spent our last two days in Salt Lake warm showering with Christy (excuse the unfortunate figure of speech. Christy is also from the bike shop), packing up the bikes to be shipped home, going on a mini spending spree of bikey goodies, and going out for a lovely mexican dinner with Mark and Christy. The whirlwind which was our last few days in America had come to an end, and about 30 hours later we were back in Geelong telling our families all about it over pizza and turkish bread.

OUR CAMP

This is how we've lived for the last three months....

How everyone else camps...

 

DAY 80

Rest Day - Canyonlands National Park

First thing in the morning we meet the people camping in the site next to us (there are only about 6 people staying here, it's unbelievable how quiet everywhere has been for about a month now) and they show us the footprints in the snow (yes, there's a lot of snow lying around up here) and the scratches in the earth made, overnight, by a mountain lion! The couple are retired Park Rangers, so they'd know. Unbelievable to think one came so close to us in the middle of the night. We put it's appearance down to it being threatened by a new kid on the block: the couple have with them a 6 month old male kitten. 

So after tracking it's prints for a bit, we laze the day away eating and reading, then visit a few overlooks of the incredible canyons here. The views are surreal. It looks like the backdrop for an old film, completely fake. We stand about 300 meters above the first plateau, which again drops a similar distance to the Green and Colorado Rivers below, like two massive sets of steps into the sky. What's amazing is that the depth of the Grand Canyon (which, remember, was covered in smoke from fire when we were there) is about 5 times as much as this! 

This whole region is one big awe-inspiring visual lesson in geological history and erosion. We take in the views for hours, reflecting on the trip as we stare vacantly at the chasm below us. At night, we join our few fellow campers around a campfire, telling stories and keeping warm, delaying an early night in the sleeping bags.

DAY 79

Moab to Canyonlands National Park (UTAH)

We ride to our final destination of the trip, the Island In The Sky section of Canyonlands. We're both getting a bit sentimental by this stage. Our journey has flown by, part of us wants to keep it going forever, part of us is eager to get home to family and friends and sink our teeth into all that we want to do. The days ride is all constantly uphill, with standard Utah scenery: Buttes, Mesa's, rock, canyons, although it's all on a smaller, faraway scale. Both of us are lost in thought for the most of it. 

After a late start to the day (to let it warm up a bit to at least over zero degrees), and, now that the winter sun is setting around 5pm, we find ourselves riding pretty hard just to make camp before sunset. There are strangely no facilities in Canyonlands, not because things have seasonally shut down like seemingly everything else America-wide at this time of year, but just because for whatever reason there's no water/food/electricity/lodging available, even the visitor centre's closed. Anyway we make it right on sunset, set up camp, woof down one of Ada's great little cooking creations (re-fried beans and cheese dip with tortillas), and because it's already well below zero we simply get in our sleeping bags and call it a day. It's 6pm.

DAY 78

Daytrip - Arches National Park

Today we leave the panniers at the house and ride blissfully unloaded back to Arches, this time the skies are clear and blue but it's still extremely chilly out. Even with 2 pairs of gloves each and two pairs of socks with shoes and booties, by the time we reach Arches it feels like every finger and toe has been slammed in a car door then left in a freezer, then made to handle a bicycle, just for good measure. 

We ride a little further into the Park this time, our destination is Delicate Arch, the most famous of the arches and the unofficial emblem of Utah. From the trail head we hike for about an hour until we reach the arch, which apart from being precariously balanced and having an incredible backdrop, is well known for making its first appearance to the visitor in an all-of-a-sudden and altogether breathtaking fashion. It certainly delivers on that. Let the photos speak for themselves. We loved it. 

Back in Moab we warm shower with Teri Ann, who turns out to be a legend! She's a mountain bike enthusiast, an artist, she built her home herself (possibly the coolest house we've ever seen, decked out in art and lights and colour and antiques and all-round style), and, to be honest, Teri Ann has a hell of a lot in common with Ada: bikes, costumes, art, chunky boots, everything.  She makes her own faux fur jackets. 'NUFF SAID! To top it off our sleeping quarters are an old school bus complete with electricity, bed and furnishings!

DAY 77

Rest Day - Moab

Possibly our first actual rest day. Every other 'rest day' has included some amount of cycling and/or hiking, so this is nice for a change. We're taking this rest day because today's high temperature is 3, with a low of about -5, and it's still blowing outside and we're not falling for the same trick twice. We don't do much at all, read a bit, watch movies with the gang, go to a thrift store where Ada buys some chunky Harley Davidson boots (?). We also eat heaps of chocolate. The gang that we're staying with are a bunch from all over the world, living together by night and working together by day as interns building a sustainable house around the corner as part of a community project. Good people. Anyway, till tomorrow!

DAY 76

Rest Day - Arches National Park

It's absolutely freezing! The cold-front has well and truly hit, todays Max Temp is 7, a low of -5, but it's blowing an icy gale so it feels more like zero. Arches is great, a bit Monument Valley like, but it's too cold to really take in any of the views and sights for too long, we have to be on the bike and moving to keep warm(ish)! We do make time to see a couple of the bigger arches, which are just eroded rock formations, in the windows section of the Park. There are also a lot of delicately balanced boulders, some monolith sheer rock walls, a petrified sand dune area, all of it with the La Sal Mountains covered in snow for a backdrop. We had planned to camp the night in the Park but abort mission, it's just way too cold. We will come back when the snow storm abates...

On our way back to Moab we, wait for it, get caught in a blizzard!! The snow is falling light, fast and sideways into our faces. Neither of us have even seen snow before, so this is really something else. Back at the Visitor Centre, trying to warm up inside for a minute, we meet Tyler, who offers us a couch to sleep on for the night, which we accept. Back at the house (he lives with 8 others) we pack into the car and head up to the surrounding hills where the snow is full-on dumping! Our first experience of snow is a surreal and freezing one!

A few hours later...

DAY 75

Hanksville, UT to Moab, UT

Did we mention Luke's shredded rear tyre? Well he has one, it's wearing extremely thin. Why, you ask? Because, and we only realized this today, when we changed a flat a week ago we put it on backwards so the tread is being completely chewed up. Dumb idiots. So after fixing this problem the newly inflated and correctly oriented tyre officially karks it! 

So we're stuck in this hell-hole, Hanksville, and the beginning of a fierce cold-snap is rumbling overhead as we try and hitch a ride to Moab. After a while Merril, a Coloradan, gives us a ride in his pick-up truck. He kindly goes out of his way to take us into Moab itself. Onya Merril. 

On the ride there he takes us to the most popular diner in Utah, Ray's of Green River, then we buy some melons from a fruit stand, a fruit for which Green River is famous. Merril is a legend. Dressed in denim overalls, he makes us laugh when answering his mobile phone by yelling "yeah this is me" and later describing the slowness of his old truck as similar to a "terd of hurdles....I mean a herd of turtles". 

In Moab we fix the tyre issue, hang out and explore a bit. Turns out very quickly that Moab is extremely bike-friendly with bike lanes and paths everywhere, cyclists everywhere, and mountain-bikes atop every second car roof. It's also super-friendly. We should fit right in.

DAY 74

Capitol Reef N.P, UT to Hanksville, UT

We start the day with a short walk to a natural bridge (of rock) before getting back on the bike and hitting the road proper. It's windy, very very windy, so much so that we're literally blown off the road 3 times, pretty scary and a little dangerous, but it's only when the road turns side-on to the wind momentarily, otherwise it's a full-blown tailwind, which is a heck of a lot safer, faster and fun. The scenery is just as good as the ride here yesterday, in fact today's white overcast sky possibly makes it even look better. It's one of the best day's rides of the whole trip, constant scenery-wise, despite the cold and the wind. Hanksville, however, is butt-ugly and full of junk in people yards.

Sidenote: Luke has $81 left (LOL he is such a frivolous spender)
#2 We have just about everything matching now, bike, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, high vis cycling tops, black cycling pants, sunglasses, windproof jackets.  We ARE SO CUTE!

DAY 73

Torrey, UT to Capitol Reef National Park, UT

It's a very short day today, only 20km or so, all downhill, to Capitol Reef National Park, a place that isn't really mentioned much as far as Utah destinations go, so we A) don't know what we're in for and B) have little to no expectations. 

Well, it's incredible. 

The descent into the park is breathtakingly good, past the red and gray rocky backbone that forms the waterpocket fold of Capitol Reef. It almost looks excavated, at least hardly natural, how the earth and rock is mounded and crumbled at random. Towering sandstone cliffs, part and parcel of anywhere in Utah, rise roadside. 

We pitch a tent in a former Mormon settlement, Fruita, which is now part of the Park. Fruit trees and golden autumn colours line the Fremont River. It's as nice a campground as we've stayed. We spend the afternoon hiking through a rocky, sandy weathered gorge to a viewpoint over it all, and on the return leg stop at some Native American Petroglyphs of Bighorn Sheep and Demi-God creatures, dating from roughly the 1500's. We can't believe the comparative little-rap Capitol Reef gets, it's quiet and it's stunning.

Sidenote: Ada completes a child's activity book to earn her Junior Park Ranger Paleontologist Badge, which is fastened proudly to one of her front panniers for the world to see.  You have to complete as many activities in the book as how many years old you are.  There are a maximum of 12 activites.... but the badge rules!

DAY 72

Boulder to Torrey

Long steady climb to our second highest pass yet, 9,600ft through thick Aspen forest.  We reach our record speed on the descent, Lukes GPS clocking 66km p/h, although Ada was definitely going faster, but she is not allowed the control of the GPS....

We spend the night Warm Shower-ing with Lyman Kinney in Torrey, eating well and playing the board game Catan.

Sidenote Luke is a sore loser at Catan.

DAY 71

 though

Escalante to Boulder

Uphill, uphill, uphill... Downhill through red/white sandstone caverns and canyons.  We stopped at Calf Creek and had a healthy lunch for a change.  We'd given up on trying to be healthy as it is rather difficult if not impossible at times.  

With a 4,300ft climb looming on the morrow, and a town only 20km away, we decide to push to Boulder, uphill, uphill, some parts 14% uphill!  The scenery was just absurdly good, we are very spoilt.  And despite it being a very tough UPHILL ride, we both really enjoyed it in a sick sadistic way.

DAY 69

Rest Day - Bryce Canyon

The night is easily the coldest we've spent yet, well below the -5 benchmark we experienced in the Grand Canyon. It's still so cold by morning that our cooking-stove fuel won't light! Looks like it's uncooked pop-tarts for breakfast. Before long we begin our hike into and around Bryce Amphitheater, combining 3 trails into one day-long walk. It's such a pleasure, the erosion of rock by millions of years of rain and snow is incredible. We'll let the pictures do the talking.

Sidenote: We clocked 4,000 km's yesterday, a big milestone.

Sidenote: For those of you who have been initiated with the Martin family card game of switch, today Ada hit the holy grail: black two, black two, joker, joker, red two, out.

DAY 68

Hatch, UT to Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

Guess what!? Another flat tyre this morning, making for a rotten old start to the day. But we get over it very quickly. We're on highway 12, a stunner. There's a bike-path skirting the road and we ride through typical Utah red-rock country. We arrive at Bryce Canyon National Park late in the arvo, set up camp, and take a quick hike along the canyon rim at sunset and are blown away by the views! The Canyon forms an amphitheater of red and white and orange sand and rock spires, called hoodoos, rising like castle walls. This sneek peek makes the wait to explore it tomorrow unbearable! It's like Christmas.

DAY 67

Kanab, UT to Hatch, UT

Buffet breakfast again. No flat tyres for once. Fairly average day. Ada buys some crystals from a rock shop. In Hatch we stay up to 1am watching Family Feud and Jerry Springer's new show Baggage, our two favourite things on American TV. That's about it.

DAY 66

North Rim, Grand Canyon, Arizona to Kanab, Utah

It got super cold overnight, about -5, but our sleeping bags held up. We have to backtrack back to Kanab, which sucks, but it's all downhill and will only take one day this time, which is great. We average our fastest overall speed for the day, which at 23 km p/h (considering we're descending about 4500ft) shows what a snails pace it is riding fully loaded. Who cares though? Considering we've already ridden this road there isn't much to report, except for the gourmet hamburgers and locally renowned cookies we down at Jacobs Lake for lunch, and the 5th flat tyre we've had in 3 days, which although frustrating at least we've getting very good and quick at changing them. Back in Kanab we stay at Parry's Lodge, where John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Gregory Peck, and a bunch of other Western Hollywood stars have stayed while filming in this beautiful part of the country.

DAY 70

Bryce Canyon to Escalante

Another below freezing night, before making our way though the quiet, pleasant scenery of Dixie National Forest and the expansive Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument.  Then we hit a bit of a hill, 1 mile of 12%, up.  This was a serious test- and we both smashed it, feeling extremely fit! 

On the road we meet Laurant who has ridden 15,000kms in 6 months WOWZ!

DAY 65

Rest Day - Grand Canyon N.P

Smoke from the nearby controlled fires has settled in the Canyon by morning, making for a misty but masked view. We spend the day hiking into the Canyon itself. We do about 5 hours (yes this is how we spend our 'rest' days) of the North Kaibab Trail. While the views are unfortunately obscured by the smoke, it's still wonderful, the canyon floor appears bottomless, rock faces a mile deep silhouette each other, the autumn colours are vibrant. What's really interesting is the blatant geological history of the Canyon, 100's of millions of years of it is visible in the changing nature and colour of the rock. Back at camp (which is located right on the rim, gobsmacking!) we spot two Kaibab Squirrels, go for more short walks around the rim as the smoke lifts and views improve, and meet practically all of the handful or so people staying here (it's amazingly quiet in every sense), including a fellow cycle tourist, a Swiss, who on his day off ran 40km's from the North to South Rim's. Life's good.

DAY 64

Jacob's Lake, AZ to North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

We both wake up to slowly deflated flat tyres, caused by staples that apparently come from trucks wheels or something but all that matters is that they are a major pain in a cyclists butt. On closer inspection, Luke's rear tyre is also getting very very worn, it's actually shredding in parts, and we're days from any sort of bike shop, but we'll cross that bridge if we ever come to it. We head out on the one-way road to the Grand Canyon North Rim, unsure if the road, let alone the Park, is open. We've had a lot on conflicting evidence as to whether it is or not, it closes every year at the first snowfall, which is right about now, plus there's controlled burning in the forest just outside the Park and there are rumours this may close the road too. We push on though, confident luck will be on our side. As we near the Park entrance we're both overcome with dread; dread that it won't be open, dread that we've ridden 3 days to get here and will have to pointlessly re-trace our steps back. The thick smoke doesn't look great. To cut a long story short, it's open! We're overjoyed. Fist pumping and yelling our way until we're forced to be escorted through the 'dangerous' smoke in the back of a fireman's pick-up truck to the end of the road: the Grand Canyon. The first glimpse knocks our bloody socks off. But it's late and we'll check it out tomorrow.

Sidenote: we meet Jerry, a tourist from Alabama, a total cliche southerner who is one of the biggest legends we've ever met, who, among other things, takes our picture while getting his own taken by his wife at another lookout.

DAY 63

Kanab, Utah to Jacob's Lake, Arizona

Again we made the absolute most of a buffet breakfast by eating about 4 servings each, our appetites are through the roof and we're still losing weight! The day is short in kilometres but long due to the overall ascent of around 3500ft. Not too much to report really. We're in Arizona. We ride through a lot of National Forest land. We get a few tyre and minor mechanical issues which we overcome. We pitch a tent at a closed campground. We play cards all night by the fireplace at the only dig in town so we don't have to sit and freeze in our tent.

DAY 62

Zion N.P, UT to Kanab, UT

There is a tunnel bored right into the mountain exiting Zion in which bicycles are banned. It also happens to be at the end of a series of steep switchbacks. So, being forced to hitchhike through it, we do so at the bottom of the hill to kill both birds. It's actually very fun, a pick-up truck gives us a lift and we sit in the back with the bikes, watching as we rise up and up, it's a lot like being on that Las Vegas rollercoaster again. On the other side of the tunnel, we ride though stunning Zion country, topping off a wonderful experience here. The rest of the day is spent over two manageable climbs before a long smooth descent into Kanab, a town with a fair bit of character and a big history in the American Western film making business.

Sidenote: We meet a dutch cycling duo in their 60's who've cycle toured over 85,000km's in their lives!
Sidenote: Ada found a very useful and very cool hi-vis thingy to put on her rear pannier. Yes, she found it on the side of the road.

DAY 61

Rest Day - Zion National Park

Zion is renowned for it's world-class hikes so we do another, The Narrows, which is a hike through a slot canyon, in the Virgin River, walking in the ice-cold water (sometimes knee-deep) as the canyon 'narrows' to only about 5 metres apart overhead in some places. The walls of the canyon have been made smooth and sculpted over millions of years of waterflow, the water almost a perfect aqua in places, sunlight makes its way to the bottom only infrequently. It's needless to say it's a very unique walk, it's also very fun and very very cold. 

Most of the other hikers are decked out in booties and wetsuit/waterproof materials. Us? Nah. Try runners and shorts. Although we both finish 4 hours of it completely numb after "playing with hypothermia, man", as one decked out hiker put it, it's one of the coolest things we've ever done, pardon the pun.

DAY 60

Rest Day - Zion National Park

We ride up Zion canyon free as a bird - there's a shuttle bus system in the park, so no cars. Today we do a big hike, to Angel's Landing, which is pretty well-known and for good reason, it's awesome. First there are a series of steep switchbacks carved into the rockface, then an almost vertical rock scramble to the top, some of it chained, all of it very precarious with sheer dropoffs pretty much all the way to the bottom. At the top there are magnificent views over the canyon in all directions, a couple of over-fed squirrels and a bloke who sounded and acted exactly like Chris Farley.

From this vantage point it's clear what a powerful, beautiful place Zion is, it's full of huge red and white rock formations seemingly rising vertically skyward. A great day's hike.