Day 46, Natural Bridges to Hanksville, 100 miles

Setting out by 7:30, we were rewarded with cool air, a light tail-wind and deserted roads. It's hard to describe the boundless, rugged beauty of this part of the world. The words we keep throwing glibly around as we ride are 'epic'; 'vast'; 'monumental' and 'whoa!' Luckily the new camera can capture the scenery more eloquently (in a thousand words.)

Our route followed the canyon through increasingly dramatic and er, vast landscape to Glen Canyon -where the Colorado river meets Lake Powell. It was like riding through a film set; we could have gone back to the future to the last crusade! Fifty lonely miles down, we reached the dot on our map titled 'Hite'. Expecting a small town, instead we found a rangers' station and an outrageously priced food store (with 50 miles in any direction to their nearest competitor, we could all but smile and accept their 'take it or leave it' prices!) I duely swallowed my pride-in-thriftiness along with some exhorbitant crisps and nuts.

From Hite we hit the road towards Hanksville, following the path of a canyon and past 'endless quality climbing problems'! The landscape here is of such immense proportions that you feel very insignificant; just a blip in the millions of years of geological history exposed literally as far as the eye can see. After miles of empty road, we were happy to spot another cyclist on the horizon -slowly nearing us. Wei was a sprightly guy on his 15th day of cycling from San Francisco to New York. Having quit his job, he was cycling across the States, running the New York marathon in November then travelling around the world. Thrill-seeker! We exchanged details and wished Wei well.

Having climbed consistently for a few hours, we enjoyed a nice downhill slide into Hanksville. A bustling metropolis compared to Hite, Hanksville boasts several gas stations, an RV site and a restaurant. It was great to shower, peruse the restaurants' menu and get our stinking cycle clothes into an unfortunate washing machine. However we will probably remember Hanksville in years to come for its' incessant insect life; worst mosquitos either of us have ever encountered (this includes midges of Scotland and mozzies of Newcastle Uni.) Heres' hoping for an uninterrupted sleep in spite of the blighters...