We get by with a little help from our friends!
Actually, we get by with a whole lot of help. The Watercycle Adventure is fully fueled by the kindness of our community, including old friends, family, new friends, and random strangers who pass us on the side of the road.
One of our goals on this bike trip is to build community and foster connections across the watershed and we have been doing that in more ways than originally expected. We thought that students sending letters to their downstream neighbors would help them understand that the river runs to far more places than what they can see in their backyards, and it does that. We also thought that intentionally making time and space to hear people’s stories would allow them to tap into the tangled web that is the Colorado River basin, and it does that. On top of all of that, we have found that simply by showing up and doing what we do, we create community every place we go.
This is my ode to all the trail angels who have supported us along the way. It is by no means a fully inclusive list, but every little bit counts, and we have received help in innumerable forms over the past two months. We truly appreciate all supportive gestures from encouraging comments to places to lay our heads at night and everything in between. Some moments of kindness and generosity have caught us so off guard, the way we have been honoring these trail angels is naming our trail treasures after people. So here is a non- exhaustive list of trail angels, we want you to know that we named a road side treasure after you! :
Colin: We are huddled under the only shade for miles, a big boulder in Capital Reef National Park, eating lunch and lamenting that National Parks don’t have better bike lanes when an RV pulls over and stops. A friendly man skips over, hands full of cold seltzers and gummy bears. He tells us that he biked across the country a few years ago with his sister and he remembers hiding from the sun under the same boulder.
Greg: We are taking a break at an awe-inspiring overlook in Escalante after slogging up a really big hill, probably fantasizing about dinner and wondering what’s on the other side of the hill (is it more up? Or, ideally, a big down…). A man in a “Coexist” tee shirt brings us a large bag of Pirate’s Booty and cans of Pepsi and tells us about how his daughter biked across the country with a group while in college. He insists on taking our picture because Kate looks just like his daughter. We tell him about our trip in between handfuls of the cheesy popcorn.
Adam and Louise: After biking 30 miles in the rain the day before, we are once again slogging up a giant hill in Bryce National Park. A car rolls to a stop and out pop two good from Colorado who have been in the area visiting the parks and their family for the week. They load us up with snacks, beers, leftover pizza, and headphones, making the rest of the hill much more enjoyable! They don’t pull away until making sure we have enough toilet paper and snapping a photo to send out to our group chat so everyone back home knows we are doing alright.
Stoney: Leah has to take a ten day break from the trip to take a medical certification course for her winter job (boo hoo…). Stoney, a kind stranger from the Facebook ether, drives out from Las Vegas to pick her up and regales her with stories about growing up in the Las Vegas valley, rafting the Grand Canyon over 30 times, and geological knowledge on the area over the 4 hour drive to the airport. We will be staying in touch in case either of us secures a Grand Canyon permit.
Kevin and Kelci: The icing on the cake in the Leah relay is Kevin and Kelci, (friends of friends) allowing her to store her bike in their garage and then stay the night on the flip side of the course before meeting back up with the group. Kevin not only gives Leah a ride to meet the group in Peach Springs, but he also shares a ton of information about the river, Lake Mead, and the surrounding area.
Our families, partners, and gracious hosts have been fundamental in this journey as well, but they deserve their very own post, and hugs, high fives, etc., for everything they have done to make this dream a reality. Know that we love and appreciate each and every one of you. They say it takes a village, but we know that in reality, it takes a whole watershed to make amazing things happen. So next time you are driving past a bike packer slogging up a big hill, give them a wide berth, holler supportive comments, share a snack, a seltzer, and a story and join us in this community of giving and receiving gifts for the pure joy that it brings on both ends of the interaction
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
All we ever want- gummy bears and cold seltzer! Thanks Colin :)