Cannonball day three: Cedar City, UT to Blanding, UT

Today was the best of days and the worst of days. We left Cedar City with a chill in the air, as a group of hot air balloons were launching into the sky. Before we knew it, we ascended to over 10,000 feet, past colorful rock cliffs, with some great views of the hills below. After descending into the valley below, our route took us through the absolutely breathtaking Red Canyon. I can't even find the words to describe how amazing it was to drive through these gorgeous cavernous red cliffs.

On a side note, my pictures would do a much better job of expressing how amazing that place is, but I still haven't had a chance to upload my pictures on flickr. I've taken nearly 1000 pictures so far in just 3 days, and it's going to take me a while to sort through, organize and upload them. At this rate, I'm afraid I won't have a chance to do that until the Cannonball is over, since there just isn't enough time left in the day, after riding 300+ miles. But anyway, back to today's ride...

After passing through Red Canyon was, the next checkpoint on the ride was Bryce Canyon, which offered us even more spectacular scenery, even though we only got to see the edge of the canyon. Continuing along Highway 12, we were treated to even more fantastic views of beautiful canyons and cliffs, for miles and miles.

After the first 130 miles or so, we took a turn down a very amazing but brutal goat trail of a road, County Road 1668, better known as Burr Trail Road. It's a narrow, winding, rough road that snakes its way through some of the most spectacular canyons I've ever seen, but which pushed all of us to our limits and some of us beyond them. About 25 to 30 miles of the road was nothing but plain old dirt, gravel, rocks and silt, which took down at least 6 of our 23 riders, injuring one seriously, my good friend Jim Tillman. From what I gather, the linked brakes on his Honda Ruckus caused the front wheel to lock up on the loose dirt of the road and throw him to the ground, breaking several ribs and the collarbone on his right side. I was the first to scooterist to come across him, although a passer by in a truck had already helped him up off the ground and got his bike up by the time I arrived. I helped him duct tape up some of the broken pieces of his bike, and he insisted on riding the rest of the road, although he didn't admit to the extent of his injuries. He insisted that I carry on and ride my ride, so I pressed on.

Thankfully, the dirt road gave way to paved road again (at least for the most part) for the remaining 25 miles to the ferry across Lake Powell. I arrived with 10 minutes to spare before the 1:00 ferry was scheduled to disembark, otherwise I would have waited 2 more hours. Mark and Patrick were already there ahead of me, who had made it through the Burr Trail safely. Jess and Rich arrived several minutes later, just before the ferry was about to leave, and they got on board just in the nick of time. Just as the ferry was starting to pull away from the dock, Dave from PA showed up, soon followed by Jim T. The very cool ferry captain actually backed up and let the two of them on board. It was a good thing too, as Jim was not doing so well. He laid down for a while, but then wasn't able to get back up, and when I helped him up, he nearly fainted. At that point, we knew that he needed medical attention and a park ranger who happened to be riding the ferry called for help. Another park ranger came out and transported Jim to the emergency center to have him checked out. Patrick went with him, and we left both of their bikes on the dock where the ferry landed. We figured we'd need to come back to pick up Jim's bike, so I took his keys with me, and since I planned to come back with Rolf in the truck.

I rode the rest of the way to Blanding through some more fantastic scenery, and made such good time that I was the first one to arrive at the motel. About 10 minutes before I arrived, Patrick called and said that he and Jim were going to ride the rest of the way. I tried calling him back to let him know that I had Jim's keys, but I only got his voice mail. I didn't hear back from him, but after some of the other scooters arrived, I learned that Jim did have a spare set of keysand that he was on his way. Someone commented that he's tough as nails, to which I added, "and stubbon as a mule too! ;)

The last scooterist to arrive was John Smith, with his scooter in tow on a trailer, behind a AAA service truck. Apparently part of the tread on his rear Dunlop tire came off completely, something unheard of for scooter tires! Luckily it somehow still held air and he didn't lose control of the bike, but scary, scary stuff - and boo on Dunlop for producing such a crappy tire!

Thankfully though, with all of today's mishaps, just about everyone made it through the most challenging day without major issues. Jim is having one of the support trucks take his bike and he's going to fly home to see his doctor to get checked out. I hope that Jim's able to make it home soon and that everyone else has a safe rest of the trip. Tomorrow we'll press on to Salida, Colorado - stay tuned!