Well, I'm now out of Colorado. After putting in my first three miles I had crossed the border. I started riding around 9:30, a little late but I had a good breakfast in me and the cold weather had passed through. I headed west towards the first town on my list for the day, Vernal. It was a good 30 mile ride, but it was great biking weather. It was overcast, slightly sprinkling, and about 70 degrees. I ate and was quickly back on the road because I didn't want to miss much more of the great weather. I started to get closer to about 60 miles into the ride and the sun was starting to show its' true colors. It was around 4 and was now around 85 degrees. I pulled over to fill up my water bottles and was about to head out when I noticed a nice shaded bench in front of a grocery store. I pulled in and sat down, it felt great. No more than two minutes passed and a fellow cycler from Utah came to chat with me. His name was Bill and he went on to tell me how great it was to bike. He had hip surgery last year and as soon as he was better he hopped on his bike and hasn't stopped riding since. After enjoying a good conversation and shade I was on the last trip of the day to Duchesne. When I left it was a little cooler, but still hot and not a cloud in the sky. I rode for about 10 miles and was biking so hard that I didn't even pay attention to what was overhead. I looked up and to the south and all I saw was a black sky. I figured if I pushed it I might make it ahead of where the storm looked like it ended. So I started moving on my bike and sure enough the storm was moving to the north and was going to go straight overhead. I couldn't think of much else than just being in front of the end of the storm so when I started to feel a little sprinkle it was like juice keeping me moving faster. I was now 10 miles outside of Duchesne and the rain had turned into larger rain drops. I was now pretty exhausted at htis point so it felt kind of good. From the large raindrops I experienced nothing I had ever experienced before, it turned to hail. I was within 10 miles and in a good sized hailstorm. It stung when it hit me on my arms and back and I was thankful to have a helmet on. One hailstone landed and stuck on my arm so I was able to see that it was about half the size of a golf ball. I was tired but i wasn't going to slow down. I looked behind me and in front of me and cars had decided it was a good time to pull over. I had to look twice to make sure none of them were inviting and might let me sit this one out, but no. I went almost two miles in the hailstorm and couldn't have been happier to make it out alive. As soon as I was out I didn't see a cloud in the sky for the remainder of the night. I had just experienced my first bike ride through hail, and at the same time, my first time seeing hail in August, it just doesn't seem right. I went the last 8 miles and found a good sized school on my right, and so i pulled out the tent and was ready to call it a day. One hailstorm down and hopefully not another one to come.
Daily mileage: 94.2 miles
Average speed: 13.7 mph
Total mileage: 1,055.4 miles
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