Today's ride was tough. The road surface was rough all day and traffic was constant and fast. I loved riding through Nevada when a car would pass every 30 minutes or so. Nicole is the opposite. She likes the traffic, it helps motivate her to keep going because someone is watching. For some reason, the truckers didn't like Dan today. He would be riding 100 feet in front of Nicole and me, trucks would pass and then blast the horn when they got to Dan. And it wasn't the friendly honk.

We rode up and down hills and the scenery didn't change much all day. I don't know if we were physically tired from our “century” yesterday or if the emotional high was gone, but we had low energy all day.

We rode into Vernal, Utah and saw that it is a real town. We hadn't ridden through a real town since Carson City, Nevada. A real town has a Walmart and a bicycle shop. Vernal has two bike shops and we stopped at the first we came to. Basin Saw and Cycle, a combination chain saw store and bicycle store. I guess they both use chains. Dan had broken a spoke when fell on the second day and we hadn't found a place to fix it since then. He has been using a wheel that was graciously loaned to me be Mike at High Gear Cyclery in Sterling. (Yes, that is a plug, they are good people, go buy things there.) Dan isn't using the newest bicycle equipment and the kid in the shop was a bit perplexed when he saw Dan's rear wheel. He called the boss over and they said they could get the gears off the wheel and put in a new spoke.

I talked to the boss guy about what we were facing in Colorado. Until Utah, we were following bike maps that I bought and they let us know about elevations, climbs and where to stop. Now we are just following road maps and have no idea what is ahead, so I thought the boss guy could help.

He said he really hadn't ridden much in “the mountains” but we were in for a tough ride. I thought we were in the mountains for a week!!! I'm hoping it is like folks from Brooklyn saying they are going to “the city” when they head to Manhattan.

Vernal, Utah is near Dinosaur National Monument and that is their claim to fame. They even have a state natural history museum that supposed has lots of local bones. I have a fondness for campy, big things and Vernal's dinos are great. One end of town has a big pink one welcoming everyone to town. There was the 12-footer wearing a bikini promoting a motel's swimming pool, one wearing a cowboy hat and a Sinclair gas station had a green one fenced in. It looked rather lonely, all caged in with no playmates.

As we left Vernal, Dan and Nicole were out ahead of me because I kept stopping to take pictures of campy dinos. I caught up them right as a garbage truck gave Dan a rude honk that nearly knocked him off his bike.

The only thing we saw for the next 25 miles was prairie dogs. Actually, we heard many more than we saw. They were barking at us as we rode by. It is really more of a chirp, but we would see them sitting on their hind legs beside their burrows. I tried to stop and take their picture several times but they would quit yelling and run down their hole. I decided they were cheering me on as I rode. I'm quite sure I heard them saying “Go Loren, Go.”

Nicole was pooped all day and hoped in the van after 51 grueling miles. Dan and I pushed on for some reason. We made it to the Colorado border as a headwind came up and it looked stormy. Some rain started to fall and I put on my windbreaker to the cheers of a prairie dog family.

We pulled in to Dinosaur, Colorado around 4:30 p.m. and went to the Dinosaur welcome center. We asked what facilities are in the next town, where we had planned on staying. She said there is nothing for 70 miles past Dinosaur, which has two motels, a campground, welcome center, bar, café and gas station/mini mart. So we went to the Terrace Motel, right there at 10 Brontosaurus Boulevard.

I was hoping for a Fred Flintstone sighting, but went to bed dissapointed.

Dan takes a break after climbing a big hill just before Vernal, Utah.

Vernal, Utah is fond of its dinosaurs.

I know, it isn't a dino but I like it..