Day 13: Good people all around

Milford--> Cedar City (53 mi.)

More wind. Endless wind. With the promise of two nights at the Marriott in Cedar City courtesy of Sean's Dad, an existence that didn't require ineffectually impersonating a camel, and real live civilization, we were all anxious to get to Cedar City. We climbed the pass of the day at a good pace and excitedly pushed toward a descent that should have carried us coasting right into Cedar City. The wind turned the downhill cruise into an uphill struggle and the relatively short day turned endless. Right when we were despairing, we got another surprise from our good friend, Dave. He had completed his trip to Delta, joined up with his wife (happy anniversary!) and driven over to our path, all to offer us some cold lemonades on the rough and windy road. What a guy! Though we were approaching town, he could not have arrived at a better time. It was energizing to see the compassion of another person turn into something so tangible as a smile and a cold drink. Thanks so much, Dave, for your support and your conversation.

We left Dave and his wife to wind our way ever closer to Cedar City. About six miles from the hotel, we had our first semi-disaster of the trip when a rogue strap from Sean's pannier got caught up in his rear derailleur. He was pedaling so hard that the pressure actually caused part of the derailleur to explode, which was impressive, but still very unfortunate. We were all upset at the time knowing how flukey the problem was and worried about the impact of a replacement on our trip. While we were scratching our heads on the side of the road, a sweet woman named Angela pulled over in an awesome old, white F-150. She explained that her husband was a cyclist so she wanted to check if we were okay. She offered to take us back to her house where her husband could look at the bike or take us anywhere we needed. We were overwhelmed by how helpful she was and eventually decided to load up and get to the hotel. She drove us there though it was certainly out of her way and we became ever more appreciative of these generous people that make our trip possible.

All the best,
Nate