Good day

Today started out bad but definitely got a lot better. The first couple of miles were up a steep hill, and I was still feeling the miles from yesterday. After that though I was able to cost downhill all the way to Arizona and then somewhat to Mesquite, NV.

In Mesquite I stopped by the library to take care of things online. I was planning on spending the afternoon there to avoid the heat and sun in the middle of the day. Instead something even better happened, which made up for yesterday.

While I was outside the library two locals stopped by, Dan and Dennis, on bike. Dan was interested in my travels and invited me back to his house to shower and clean up. We biked back to his house, dropping Dennis off on the way. The offered shower actually turned out even better than advertised when I left my bike in the garage and Dan drove me to the local pool. I'm not sure when the last time I was in a pool was, but it was definitely a while ago.

After getting out and drying off Dan took me to the local casino for a good hearty lunch, which was very filling. After lunch we went back to his house where I took advantage of having a good place to work and fixed all of my tubes. I've lost count, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the 10-15 flats range so far. Utah is definitely where bikes go to die.

After I was all fixed up Dan showed me a couple different routes on a map, basically trying to avoid highways and stay out of the 100+ heat for the next three days or so. He also showed me pictures of a bike trip of his own in New Zealand. Definitely on my todo list, and has been for a while now. Still not sure if I'll bike it or backpack, but at some point I'll be in New Zealand.