Day 65: 255 Miles
Posted by the girls on Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Today was a long day for us; we traveled 255 miles! As you can imagine, we didn't bike the entire way. Michelle didn't bike at all, Rebekah biked 18 miles, and Emily biked 28 miles. The rest of the miles were spent hitchhiking in multiple cars.
Now you're probably wondering why we ended up all the way in Flagstaff, a city not even on our itinerary. Well, let's start at the very beginning...
We woke up with wet tents and it hadn't even rained! We stupidly pitched our tents right next to the sprinklers that turned on at 5:30am. Not exactly a good start to the day. Michelle was also feeling nauseous right away in the morning. We decided it would be best for her to get a ride to Four Corners Monument. We quickly found her a ride with a nice woman who was headed that direction for work. We packed in Michelle's bags and bike and waved her off.
Rebekah and Emily biked together from the casino toward Four Corners (the meeting point of Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico). The beginning of the ride was mostly downhill and despite many miles of construction. the ride was enjoyable. That is until Rebekah's front tire and tube exploded spontaneously. Since she was headed downhill at a fairly high speed, there was no time to stop before the air was completely gone. She ended up falling off and skidding on the road. Emily was behind her and had no choice but to run into her which also caused her to fall off her bike.
Luckily, neither were injured badly. Rebekah ended up with road rash on her knee, shin, and elbow. Emily had less blood, but still several scratches and soon-to-be bruises. After cleaning up their wounds, they tried to fix Rebekah's bike, but the damage was beyond their capabilities (broken/snapped brake cables and possibly some fork damage). Just when they decided to get a ride for Rebekah, a man in a Volkswagen Jetta pulled over to see what was wrong. His name was Jim and even though he was headed east, he literally went out of his way to take Rebekah to Four Corners. Emily biked the last 10 miles by herself (her bike still seemed to be in good condition).
Once Rebekah made it to the Four Corners Monument, her and Michelle snapped a few photos before Rebekah continued on in the car with Jim who offered to take her to Red Mesa (about 25 miles west). Emily made it to the monument not long after. Since they didn't have a camera (was in Rebekah's bag), they convinced a teenage kid that we deemed must be tech savvy to take a photo of us and then email it later. Thanks buddy! Emily and Michelle planned to find a ride there as well. They managed to come across a young British couple named Peter and Jess who were headed that way, but they only had a rental car that wasn't terribly big. After about 30 minutes of readjusting all the stuff in the car, Emily and Michelle and all their stuff were on their way to meet Rebekah in Red Mesa.
We were reunited in Red Mesa, but still needed to find a solution. Rebekah's bike was un-rideable and the nearest bike shops were in Flagstaff or Durango. We didn't want to backtrack to Durango, so we decided that we needed to get to Flagstaff. Fortunately, Emily and Michelle's ride from Four Corners was continuing onto Flagstaff. Rebekah was able to flag someone down in Red Mesa who was headed to Kayenta. This woman, Betty Redhair, was a resident of the Navajo reservation. She remembered that her nephew, Jalen, was headed to Flagstaff, so after a few phone calls, Rebekah had a ride all the way there too.
After 2 hours or so, we were all reunited one last time in a Best Western parking lot in Flagstaff. It was too expensive to stay there, so we opted for the next door Luxury Inn (that was far from luxurious, but only $40). We ended the night with some yummy Thai take-out.
Now you're probably wondering why we ended up all the way in Flagstaff, a city not even on our itinerary. Well, let's start at the very beginning...
We woke up with wet tents and it hadn't even rained! We stupidly pitched our tents right next to the sprinklers that turned on at 5:30am. Not exactly a good start to the day. Michelle was also feeling nauseous right away in the morning. We decided it would be best for her to get a ride to Four Corners Monument. We quickly found her a ride with a nice woman who was headed that direction for work. We packed in Michelle's bags and bike and waved her off.
Rebekah and Emily biked together from the casino toward Four Corners (the meeting point of Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico). The beginning of the ride was mostly downhill and despite many miles of construction. the ride was enjoyable. That is until Rebekah's front tire and tube exploded spontaneously. Since she was headed downhill at a fairly high speed, there was no time to stop before the air was completely gone. She ended up falling off and skidding on the road. Emily was behind her and had no choice but to run into her which also caused her to fall off her bike.
Luckily, neither were injured badly. Rebekah ended up with road rash on her knee, shin, and elbow. Emily had less blood, but still several scratches and soon-to-be bruises. After cleaning up their wounds, they tried to fix Rebekah's bike, but the damage was beyond their capabilities (broken/snapped brake cables and possibly some fork damage). Just when they decided to get a ride for Rebekah, a man in a Volkswagen Jetta pulled over to see what was wrong. His name was Jim and even though he was headed east, he literally went out of his way to take Rebekah to Four Corners. Emily biked the last 10 miles by herself (her bike still seemed to be in good condition).
Once Rebekah made it to the Four Corners Monument, her and Michelle snapped a few photos before Rebekah continued on in the car with Jim who offered to take her to Red Mesa (about 25 miles west). Emily made it to the monument not long after. Since they didn't have a camera (was in Rebekah's bag), they convinced a teenage kid that we deemed must be tech savvy to take a photo of us and then email it later. Thanks buddy! Emily and Michelle planned to find a ride there as well. They managed to come across a young British couple named Peter and Jess who were headed that way, but they only had a rental car that wasn't terribly big. After about 30 minutes of readjusting all the stuff in the car, Emily and Michelle and all their stuff were on their way to meet Rebekah in Red Mesa.
We were reunited in Red Mesa, but still needed to find a solution. Rebekah's bike was un-rideable and the nearest bike shops were in Flagstaff or Durango. We didn't want to backtrack to Durango, so we decided that we needed to get to Flagstaff. Fortunately, Emily and Michelle's ride from Four Corners was continuing onto Flagstaff. Rebekah was able to flag someone down in Red Mesa who was headed to Kayenta. This woman, Betty Redhair, was a resident of the Navajo reservation. She remembered that her nephew, Jalen, was headed to Flagstaff, so after a few phone calls, Rebekah had a ride all the way there too.
After 2 hours or so, we were all reunited one last time in a Best Western parking lot in Flagstaff. It was too expensive to stay there, so we opted for the next door Luxury Inn (that was far from luxurious, but only $40). We ended the night with some yummy Thai take-out.
