Exploring Colorado and Utah: 2 Weeks Cycling for Cancer.

Me googles “living on the edge”

Google’s response, “To have an adventurous or perilous lifestyle; to behave in a manner which creates risks for oneself…”

Me to myself, “why does this feel like this is “almost” me….”

…at least for the last 3 years

Let’s start with the most insane yet EVENTFUL cycling trip I’ve got myself into

So I recently got myself onto a GIVING cause that came with adventure🥳🥳

Drum rollsssss……

CYCLING ACROSS THE US

You know what that means?!

….spending 70 days cycling a distance of about 4,000 miles, and covering an average of 70 miles every day

Ponder that…🤔🤗

When I saw the ad about this adventure, my mind went like rrrrrrraddd……sureeeeee, YOLO!

My heart definitely wanted to play along

My PhD work however just was not buying it

PhD supervisor’s advice in some sort of conflict

Putting all this into consideration

I decided to do just a potion of the 4,000 miles that had the best sceneries and then hoped for when I will have enough time to do the entire 4,000 miles or more (I tell myself this sort of thing every time I can’t complete the entirety of a trip or mileage)

The mountains were calling and I answered…and within a jiffy…. I signed up for the trip.

Logistics about the trip

The Ulman foundation is a non-profit organization aimed at fundraising money for young adult cancer awareness. Details here.

Among other fundraising activities, they feature rides and runs in different parts of the country as their way to lobby funds to support young adults affected by cancer.

What I signed up for is a ride across the USA where with 12 riders and 6 runners, we would traverse America’s landscape from Baltimore, Maryland to San Francisco, California

…….yes, RUNNERS too

The difference between the journeys we covered was that while cyclists rode bicycles(of course, they rode bicycles😅) for the entire mileage of the day in groups of 3 – 5, runners handled it relay style where they divided the miles amongst themselves.

Case in point: for a day where we had to cover 60 miles between the start and end locations, cyclists rode the entire 60 miles while each runner ran about 10 miles such that in total they all covered about 60 miles

Cycling groups; well this happened to be random; sometimes based on pace, sometimes names in alphabetical order, and other times height….at least for the days I was there

Each of us was mandated to fundraise a minimum of 5,000 USDs, LINK HERE if you would like to help me reach my goal

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How cool is that?!

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I was pumped and ready to explore and doing so, for a good cause – colour me feeling all DARING, EXCITED and ALTRUISTIC 

Our sleeping sites included homestays, churches, campsites and schools – which meant that we all had to have portable beddings for when push came to shove.

How did we carry our beddings and personal items you might wonder?

We had three vans in total: One van for cyclists, one for runners and one that transported snacks, water and sports drinks to help with refueling during the pitstops we had along the journey.

Food…..well well wellllll

Because all the money from donations was aimed at going to cancer awareness, we survived on donations and leftover meals from restaurants and grocery stores along the trip plus the most luxurious nights BEING homestays too.

Yeah, you feeling the missionary–work kinda lifestyle here?!

Believe you meee, this was exactly what this adventure felt like

In this blog, I will be sharing the highlights, Challenges, lessons and of course, addressing any questions you might have in the comments section

HIGHLIGHTS

Most Memorable route: Trail Ridge Road

What a DAY!!!

If I told you the whole shooting match of what that journey felt like, my oh my…

We are talking about the highest paved road in the United States; the TRAIL RIDGE ROAD, that stretches through the scenic Rocky Mountains National Park

It’s about 48-miles in distance and reaches a high point of 12,183 ft (or about 3,800 m)

You know what that meant for a new comer like me?!

….either I rack my bike for that day’s journey or get to the great accent business with a dogged attitude

The most plausible choice for all kinds of tourists it attracts is either to drive it or ride it

The WONDROUS scenic overlooks, whose views provided perfect breaks to rest during the strenuous climb, were a promise I stuck onto when I chose to BIKE IT.

…..and things like “A journey of a thousand MILES starts with a step…” got me through this particular turmoil

So much so that, I reached one of the many majestic views – the best along the ride – and got emotional (tears started streaming down my face) – it was UNBELIEVABLE

Non Ulman foundation tourists kept on commending us for the job well done, and boy oh boy did that not feel heroic – we got names like beasts and the like…

Besides the scenic overlooks along the road, an alpine tundra at the top, so UNIQUE, was something else to look forward to.

…..it leaves you in awe.

Have I confessed my fear of heights?

Well, while at the highest point, the beauty was just too STUNNING to trigger any fear(and NO, you are not allowed to use this against ME)

National Parks

Arches National Park

Oh My GOD this place!

Exquisite!

The landscape is just breathtakingly astounding.

As the name suggests, smooth-looking mounds with curved tops are pepered throughout this national park

And all of them with glorious diverse looks, that made every glance along the way WORTHWHILE

My team(runners and cyclists) and I hiked through these on one of our rest days….til the one and only RENOWN and PROMINENT natural-stone arch in the world – the DELICATE ARCH that stands tall and wide, and delicately holding still along its height.

In its presence, you just don’t want to leave

…Like yoooo, can I be like you when I grow up? I mean, how are you this real?!

Capitol Reef National Park

Oh this place…

I remember its dramatic landscape being one of the reasons I racked my bike amidst Utah’s 40°C-scorching sun

Google a precise more informative and realistic description of a water pocket fold

In my eyes, this was just out of this world…

I mean, layered red-rock towering cliffs layered with golden sandstone existed side by side to form deep and wide valleys – I recently learnt are called CANYONS

These were in different forms giving the entire journey through the national park something to jaw drop about.

Landscapes

Boulder, Colorado 

Oh this place…. (Oh yes, I am repeating myself again)

Nestled at the base of the rockies, “Bolder” in landscape may attempt to play this place justice when compared to the places I have been to in the US

Every part of it is BREATHTAKING

Water…mountains … .trees….kindness of strangers…..GOSHHH what’s there not to rave about this place?!

The sceneries reminded me of Mallorca’s Experience

Scenic places were all I could see and in fact, what limited me was how much time I had in Colorado.

Hiking trails, biking trails name it

One of those being the Royal arch trail, which is a must hiking trail for you that plans to be in Boulder, Colorado

Even the places to sleep at are imbued with nature.

I found so much comfort at A-lodge as this gave the perfect “BOULDER” experience: freshening sounds of birds amidst beautiful star-lit skies, accompanied by bug bites to give it a real natural experience

Bryce Canyon, Utah

Hands down to my favourite desert place in America

This place DID it!

My mind still recalls it as the epitome of wilderness beauty and views

I rode through this place on my final day and it just gave me the best last day experience

It is home to Bryce Canyon National park which houses the MIGHTY hoodoos, and the best in the world

What are hoodoos you might wonder?

Collection of erosion-formed rocky towers graced the landscape in different shades of red and gray

Amidst the hushed beauty, we rode through these with a couple of stops and echoes from our amazed loud voices

Dedication Circle

Every morning, before embarking on that day’s journey, we got together (cyclists and runners) to dedicate that day’s journey to someone who lost their life to cancer

This was accompanied by a story from the MANY in a book, that were put together by Ulman foundation

We would also personally dedicate our rides to someone we knew that inspired us to do the trip, and for me, these are people that I knew personally that beat cancer or those that lost their loved ones to cancer

This way, we purposely got onto our bikes remembering the courage and resilience of these men and women

Challenges and accidents

It was not just sunshine and roses, views and scenaries – no

There were moments that kinda sucked

Like;

Did I talk about insect bites at camping sites?

OR, how we ran out of actual food sometimes and that meant having snacks as dinner

…..the STRONG headwinds while going downhill

Oh and accidents

Two GODAMN times – one left both my palms bruised with deep wounds

One for just being a newbie when it came to using clip ons (shoes customised for cycling) – I was told everyone falls at least once with these

On other days, exhaustion got to me

After the highest climb (the trail ridge road), there were still hills to conquer – a couple throughout the journey that just messed with my resilience

Furthermore, we are talking about a someone that just was not a morning person and who believes that eating before a certain time messes with their entire well being – including concentration and motivation.

I racked my bike a couple of times

Starting as early as the 3^rd day as I was actually overwhelmed 

I just couldn’t

Initially, it started with the self-talk of, “you can do this Brenda, you got this, I mean you can’t give up now – it’s only 3 days in”

Seeing how I was dragging the team however, just made me feel worse

I called out, “…hey guys, unfortunately I can’t do this…”

I was sleepy, I was tired, I was sore, my eyes were red and baggy, I was everything I didn’t want anyone to be if they embarked on the journey I was on

I went to a stream of beautifully flowing water and couldn’t stop crying my eyes out.

You see, I am currently a firm believer of being an embodiment of nature – that whatever is around you is what you will embody, regardless of what you are experiencing in life – if you believe it of course

And for me, that day was the RIVER flowing

Looking at the water was very telling for my situation

I watched it cruise itself against the rocks and while it did, it produced beautiful consistent sounds that in many aspects reminded me of what I was going through in that moment

Seeing that got my eyes to release “their own water”, accompanied with sobs I just couldn’t control

Never felt so much in sync with a phenomenon so beautiful, and that, that reminded me to be patient with myself about the journey 

There was so much about me that was being challenged

I went through the evening of that day thinking I couldn’t ride the next day or the day after, ONLY TO WAKE UP and to be reminded that I am only getting stronger – what a wow!

And indeed, I was ready to bike more

For the remaining couple of days, as long as my body cried out to me and my pace telling me that I am lagging a bit behind, that was the message to take a break.

Lessons 

…..Let’s see

To venture into this journey was one of the most exciting thing I have done so far and yet so intimidating

The one thing I’ll mostly talk about is climbing mountains or moun’ns as I have learnt from many Americans

Travel brings people out of their heads and into their hearts, and offers the promise of expanding the truth…, sagely said by Gloria Steinem

….and I can’t agree more

That journey was more than just cycling through forests and mountains

I am afraid of heights – and to think that I could climb over 11,000 feet of elevation and in the miles I did over the days I did – WOW

We are talking about overcoming fears of heights while cycling on the edge where there is no guard fence to hold onto, should I tip myself or slide off my bike

The whizzing and the resilience to keep going, to keep fighting my muscle pain that wanted me to stop – and then finally made it!

Whorayyyy!

…..And mountains

The creation of “mountains” just astounds me: I not only marvel at the beauty while at summits but also how ridges and landscapes define their entirety, when climbing the terrain gracefully

One wise woman…

“funny thing about a mountain: It always looks easier to climb when you are at the foot of it,” Oprah Winfrey

That is the power of zeal! 

My mind before the trip was sure I would manage the elevation we had to cover in most parts of the trip

I was sure I was ready, I mean after all – I have a great bike, strong legs and I have ridden enough miles to get me prepared for the ascent

I was wrong

There was more and it was only while I was in the real deal that I got to experience the hardships that came with my life’s choices.

On top of the exhaustion, I was not ready for the altitude change

My internal navigation of hardships had underestimated the power of reality and how much patience I needed to have to overcome the challenge.

The idea that regardless of how ready I thought I was, I was actually not really ready to do the climb.

Regardless of whatever reality I was in, I had to remind myself of how much all this will cease, and that all I needed to do was my best regardless of how small it was in regards to speed while going uphill

…..that while the climb is hard, the view is way better once on the top – goshhhh!

It’s giving motivational speaker vibes now, right?

I could write for hours, to share what these mountains taught me and what I reckon might be something to ponder every day

This outlook of realizing how marvelous and glorious it is to climb the magnificent landscape changed my view of this challenge

Small small victories like climbing mountains IN BITS speak volumes of what we can conquer, if we give it time and effort

….and most importantly; my team

Team effort is something underestimated when venturing on a tough journey like the one I was on

So many perks tied to this

Cycling along, infront or behind my teammates was in itself a pushing force that got me out of my comfort zone to optimally get to any destination

In the middle of no where, I found myself chatting and connecting with my fellow cyclists which was a GREAT disctraction, by far, from the tardiness of the journey.

This was also an opportunity to learn safety rules and cycling ettiquette when sharing the road with other users.

But most importantly, being a part of a family that made every ride worthwhile.

Happy to answer any questions if any, other wise happy 2024!