Monday June 17:  Green River, Utah to Fruita, Colorado
Distance:  89.4 miles
Total time:  7 hours 29 minutes
Riding time:  6 hours 10 minutes

Today was a long ride through the desert, punctuated by three or four long, steady climbs.  I wore my Honduras jersey, representing the Association for a More Just Society, Honduras' premier NGO on whose Board I now proudly serve:

When I say it was a long ride through the desert, I'm not kidding.  There was nothing.  For miles and miles the only signs of human habitation were mile markers and the occasional fenceline.  No houses, no commercial enterprises, no people.  This sign gives you an idea of how desolate the ride was.  Can you read the blue sign?

As always, I rode with Jamie from Maine and Michael from Ohio.  Michael has become very skilled at the in-motion selfie.  Here we are early on in the ride:

Our first SAG stop was at 24 miles.  Steve from the UK proudly exhibits his Jelly Babies:

It was 40 miles between SAG stops.  The only place to get a little shelter from the sun in that 40 mile stretch was under an overpass.  We all needed a rest by the second one, our bikes included:

We thought we were going to get drenched at any moment throughout the day.  These clouds to our north followed us for most of the ride, but we only felt a few drops.

As the miles sped by, the Rockies loomed into view.  A gentle reminder that the next four days involve riding up and over them.

But for most of the day, it was more lonely road and desert.

At about the 68 mile mark, we left Utah behind and entered Colorado.  We wanted to pose in front of the sign, but a guy from California was parked in front of it, just chilling out.  We respectfully asked him to move his car, and to take our picture, which he did:

I thought I should have my own picture as well, and Jamie obliged.

Of course, the actual state line is about three feet behind the big sign:

When I arrived at the hotel in Fruita, there was a package waiting for me.  My kids had sent me a Fathers Day gift.  After eating three or four myself, I generously passed them around to the other guys at our afternoon meeting.  Thanks guys!

Finally, a shout out to my daughter Maureen, who climbed Mount Kenya over the weekend - 16,000-plus feet.  That's her and her crew at the summit, Maureen in the foreground.  Congratulations!

So, now we face four days of climbing through the Rockies, culminating at Monarch Pass, the Continental Divide, at over 11,000 feet.  After that, it should be all downhill until Vermont, right?  Right?