Day 11: Loa, Utah

The next destination was a small town called Loa, Utah. I chose to stop there based on the size of font on the map--it appeared to be a larger city. After leaving Hobie's house, I stopped at Walmart to pick up one of their $4.98, mondo, gut-buster sub sandwiches for lunch later that day and also to get a little breakfast. It looked like it was going to be another big ride, but I was up for it... or so I thought. I had ridden about 60 miles to Emery, Utah, when I stopped for lunch. I was feeling pretty good and as I was eating my amazing sub, this gentleman who was a chaperon for an elementary school field trip, came over to chat. We talked about what I was doing and why and then he told me that there is on average about 500 semi-trucks a day that travel the highway I was riding. I said, "I was wondering why there were so many..." He said that there is a coal mine close by that the trucks travel to and from and I had mentioned that I had seen quite a bit of coal on the side of the road. Semi's are frustrating and especially these ones because they throw a ton of wind. I finished lunch and headed on down the road. I finally reached the end of the highway, which was around 75 miles or so. I saw up ahead of me a motorhome that was pulled over and I thought that if I were to get there before they drove away, I would ask them for a ride. Well they left so I rode on. I wondered how much further I had to ride and as I rode wearily on I noticed these mountains next to me that seemed to grow out of the ground the further I rode. I thought to myself, "I really hope I don't have to climb those mountains." Sure enough, not but five minutes later I turned on a rode headed right for them. I saw a mileage sign that said Loa was 31 miles away.


At this point I had already ridden 80 miles, so I was ready to be done! It was only about 3:00pm, so I decided that I would go until I couldn't pedal any more. I rounded a corner, headed uphill and mountains shut behind me like closing doors forbidding me to regress. I then had to push against the wind that was blowing at least 20-25 mph, allowing me to ride at about 3 or 4 mph with serious effort. I found myself getting frustrated and for the first time I asked God, "What am I even doing out here? I was doing this for you so why are you letting the wind blow so hard?" I was already extremely tired, I was riding uphill and the wind was trying to push me back down the mountain. I became so frustrated that I just cried out to God, literally cried that He would hear my heart and calm the wind. I felt defeated. I thought, "I'll just camp here on the side of the rode if I have to." God had a purpose for me, but I was so caught up in my circumstance that I refused to hear it. My legs cramped if I tried to pedal any harder or if I stopped and because the wind was blowing so hard my throat would dry out quickly. That wasn't any good because it felt like I was swallowing needles so I tried to portion my drinks to just enough to wet my throat. I had about 3/4 of a bottle at this point and I didn't know what would happen if I couldn't make it to Loa on the amount of water that I had. On my ascent to the top of the first push and in the midst of my frustration I decided to sing out loud and as loud as I could sing, the worship music I was listening to. I sang "Shout to the North and the South" followed by "By the Grace Go I" by Chris Smith which gave me strength and reminded me of God's grace and purpose. I found some relief from my frustration as well as some comic relief! I passed a cow that seemed perplexed because of my singing and unsure what to do. It made me smile. I finally reached the top and began my decent, but my anticipation of speeding down the other side and enjoying the relax of little effort was interrupted by the wind. I had to pedal to keep a speed of 11 mph... UGH!!! I reached the bottom and felt like God said there would be two more climbs like that and there were. On the third climb I was frustrated enough and tired enough that I decided to get off my bike and walk. I hadn't seen many vehicles, just a guy on a motorcycle and some farmer pulled over in a truck but I thought, "Maybe someone will drive by and feel sorry for me and maybe offer me a ride." Not only that, but I was walking the same speed I was pedaling and walking was easier. I was out of water and I figured that I had to be close to Loa. I saw a white Cadillac Escalade pulled over up ahead and I had decided that when I get up to them I'll ask them for a ride and maybe some water. Well, when I walked passed there was some gentlemen on his cell phone looking away and I thought, "I can't interrupt him." So I kept walking thinking that I would just have to go without water. I looked up maybe two or three minutes later to see that same guy driving the opposite direction that he had come from, now going the direction I was, but he passed me so I looked down and said "Man I wish he would have stopped" then looked up to see him pulled over!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I walked closer and he turned around and headed toward me. He stopped on the other side of the road and said, "You ok?" I said, "Yeah, the wind is just kickin' my butt." He said, "You need anything?" And I asked, "You have any water?" He looked down and said, "Here's one that someone might have taken a sip out of..." I said that would be great! I didn't care if someone had some of it so I quickly pulled my bike out of the way and as I did this guy looked over to his passenger seat and said, "Oh, here's some." He gave me two brand new bottles of water! I didn't even think to ask him for a ride, but instead I asked him, "Is Loa much further?" He told me it was just a little ways further! I chugged the first bottle and saved the other. As I finished out the last push, God spoke to me very clearly and said, "I am not glorified in you giving up." I couldn't believe it. I stopped at the top and looked out to see a beautiful canyon with mountains cresting the horizon. I tried to make a quick video of it, but it didn't turn out. You can see that I'm frustrated, my mouth is dry, and I have a beard...

I rode on and the wind stopped. I started riding downhill and fast! I set a new record of 44.9 mph! I rode past a lake and right before Loa was some farmland that I'm describing as looking like "The Shire" from Lord of The Rings. Everything was so green! There were sprinklers everywhere, I even had to dodge some on the highway! The sun was setting and the scenery was beautiful! There were not many buildings and I thought "Did I just pass Loa...?" and also I wondered where I was going to sleep. I found a gas station and asked the guy there, "Do you guys have a hotel or motel here?" He said "Yep. Just up the street there's a motel called the Snuggle Inn." I was so excited! I prayed that there would a room for me there and I thought to myself that I didn't care how much it was! I walked in and it was fancy, not to mention the cute receptionist that was there who gave me the best news ever. They had room and they had a restaurant right there so I had dinner too! They let me put my bike in a "special" locked room. That day I rode 111 mph in 11 1/2 hours. I was able to email some friends and I decided to email Chris to tell him how much his song helped get me up that mountain.


Coming tomorrow...

A cup of coffee, a KOA, and a race against a storm. I encounter a couple of interested ladies and my faithfulness is challenged.