This week's title well summarises our current situation, we continue to surprise ourselves. We've started the week challenging our own limits, managing to pedal the intimidating distance of 144 kilometres, in just one day! But it wasn't all about distance and intensity, we ended up climbing 1300m vertically upwards during that same day. And to continue the list of records broken this week... We've gone a whole week without taking a shower! (I truly hope that we don't beat this last record in the future, but who knows...)

What an absolute shame having to say our goodbyes to this wonderful couple, Dave and Sharon. They've made us feel at home, sharing everything they could with us and with an unbeatable, kind warmth straight from the heart. Thanks for everything and we hope to see each other again in Europe when you get to do your own bike tour! After some welcome days of rest we set off, decided upon continuing our plan up towards Utah. On our way our of Flagstaff we did a spot of grocery shopping to fill up the panniers with provisions for the coming week and we decided to make a bit of progress until we found a place to camp that would fit the bill on the way out of the city.

I love these days when you don't know where you'll end up, and then what does actually happen manages to surprise you. We had a challenge before us called the "Navajo Indian Reservation", an area in which we were unable to camp. And I can assure you that it was not a small area. As we advanced towards this reservation our options were slowly reducing with no suitable places, until we chanced upon a petrol station just on the border of the reservation which, not long ago, was also a grand motel characterised by its joyful colours; sky blue and pastel pink. Now that we have spend a couple of weeks on the road we have a better eye for spotting the "good" camping places and I assure you that this met all the criteria: safety, water and a roof. We approached the petrol station to scout it out a bit, and grab a few cold beers while we were at it. It was here we remembered an interesting fact, that the reservation was dry and so lot of people who lived there came to this place to get their booze and even drink it out the back. When we asked about the possibility of spending the night they seemed very happy with it and even let us know a good spot a bit out of the way, with all the water we could ever need. We couldn't ask for more so, all excited, we headed over to put up the tent, make some phone calls and get some daily chores done. Just as well as the next day was certainly going to be a challenge.

We had a robust plan to take on the longest distance we had yet attempted, starting with getting a good breakfast inside us, then having an extensive amount of peanuts and water, lots of water. We started the day early, very early, at about 5am to make the most of the cool of the morning, however inevitably we spent most of the day in the blazing sun. A situation only alleviated by the odd roadside stall (empty at the time) where the local tribe would normally sell their wares. In reality, as we discovered a few days later, we were in the middle of a heat wave... After many hours, about 12 or so, we managed to get to our first destination, the bridge that crossed the Colorado river and that gave form to the canyon. WOW! What amazing views, huge dimensions and ceaseless beauty. Even if this point wasn't as deep as it gets to be later downstream... This gave us a good boost, but we still had 15-20km to go till we would arrive at the place we'd been recommended to camp at. Just when we arrived at the gate which lead to the camping spot down a dirt track we bumped into the most peculiar couple ever. There was a lady in her 60's and a guy who was maybe in his 40's, both fair skinned and blonde in a Toyota Prius. They stopped just as we reached the gate since they were planning on going to the same area as us. Everything was fairly normal until we started chatting with them... Firstly, they both had European type ascents but insisted they were local Arizonans (Rob assured me that the lady didn't even speak English well...) and the conversation was very odd indeed when the guy asked us why we had chosen bicycles as a means of getting around. We were so tired we didn't know quite how to answer, to which he replied "I chose the bike as there is no space left in this world for gentlemen" (Huh!?). After that, we guess due to how knackered we were, our minds started to run wild and we figured they were fugitives and that they had committed or were going to commit some kind of criminal acts. We just hoped were weren't to be the next victims... A little confused and scared by the weirdness surrounding the conversation we pulled out the strength from somewhere to finally reach our destination. Then with the sun almost completely set, we ourselves set about putting the tent up , right on the rim of the canyon with a few more campers, which made us feel like we weren't alone so we could sleep more comfortably.

We said goodbye to April with an amazing feeling. Waking up next to the Grand Canyon with our bodies totally spent after making such a huge effort the day before but satisfied knowing we were living a unique and incredible experience. We'd been told that in a bar nearby they made amazing burgers and margaritas worthy for a king. So we decided to make the pilgrimage. After the day before we were totally spent and while we were already tasting the long awaited burgers, juices oozing away in our mouths, we discovered that the kitchen was closed due to refurbishing. So all they could help us with was some tap water, which we deeply appreciated in any case. We had nothing left but to return to the tent and rest, under a sizzling sun and a hill that seemed eternal. But as always happens, even this little low moment ended and we rested up until the sun gave us some room to breathe and we returned to consciousness for the final moments of the day.

The day before we had some ideas for how to busy ourselves today. Firstly, we were to leave this little camping spot since we couldn't imagine cycling the same distance as the day before in the heat. Secondly, since all the places of interest we wanted to see were all fairly close to each other we thought we'd bash them all out in a single day. This, it turned out, was a little too optimistic as we ended up half arsing it a little. We kicked off the day with a good old early start to up end the camp to the new location before the sun began to turn the place into an oven, but things weren't thought out as well as we would have liked and we ended up significantly further away than would be ideal. We had in mind to go on a couple of hikes, see the "beach" that was on the river bank and then return to the tent. Far too much for the available hours of bearable sun in a day... In any case we set off as fast as we could manage on the first hike, which was to be the most demanding. The difficulty was in the height gain rather than the distance, making it a tough one. We started the climb when the sun was in a position which cast some shadows over parts of the path, but this didn't last long and soon the sun was beaming down on the entire side of the canyon wall we were climbing. The heat and fatigue were so much that I decided to turn back half way and Rob carried on alone. And thank god he did as the views of the other side of the cliff face were unbelievable. You could see the canyon from the highest point to where it ploughed through the valley floor to make its way downstream. Afterwards we headed to the beach by the river, where it was possible to take a dip, to spend the rest of the afternoon. Although the water was so cold we only managed to dip our wobbly bits in for brief moment before feeling accomplished and just paddled for the rest of the time. It was a little paradise but shade stood out in its absence. So after a couple of hours we decided to move on and rest under a pavilion until the sun began to weaken.

We still had a hike to go, the "Cathedral Wash", that we planned to undertake on the way back. So at about 5 we started the accent out of the canyon. The weather conditions really were not on our side, the wind in out faces joined forces with the sun and heat which made it knackering to make even the smallest amount of progress. But finally we arrived at the trailhead, which was about halfway back to the tent, and slipped inside the wash. The name of this hike comes from a grand looking rock formation just next door in the form of a cathedral. The wash spat out its contents in the flow of the Colorado river and although the aim was to get to this point, time run out on us so we had to make do with just over half way. The sunset was imminent as we still had a good 15km cycle to get back "home". As we imagined, the night set upon us on the way back and we had to tackle the cycle mostly in the confines of darkness. This wasn't a major issue since at least it was cooler, the problem became evident on arrival at the tent. We found it totally at the whim of the strong winds that had been holding us back all afternoon, without tent pegs as the ground was so hard it would only laugh at them. Effectively a sand storm had taken over the inside and everything was covered in red dust... It looked like Ali Baba's cave from Aladdin. You can imagine that this was the last thing we needed at this point. So since cooking was impossible we decided to eat some recently purchased chocolate bars, originally destined for breakfast, and get in the sand filled sleeping bags. We now understand how poor old miners feel after a day breathing in dust.

And here came the good stuff, to get out of the valley we had to cross a mountain, and according to the map it was an accent of some 1.3km! The prospect of getting to cooler climes and shady trees spurred us on to undertake our plan. this was to wake up before sunrise to make the most of the early hours of the morning. When it started to heat up we would stop, rest on the side of the road and wait out the furnace to continue to ride in the later afternoon. Making as much progress as our bodies would allow. The plan went smoothly. Tough, very tough, since the road was climbing constantly but from our perspective it looked perfectly flat... even still, we made it half way up the mountain.

I like how this day started, but much more how it ended! Without any surprises, the night before we camped just on the side of the road in order to make the most of the last rays of light from the sun, and when it rose once more we were already on the road again. In little more than a couple of hours we'd arrived at our destination, Jacob Lake where there was a petrol station and a restaurante/lodge. We were spent, had run out of water and almost out of food (since the last few slices of cheese had been our breakfast and helping hand climbing up the huge hill). So we couldn't resist the home made cookies that seemed to be famous the world over, together with a big take away breakfast. After finding out that we could plug into the electricity and use the wifi, we sat down on some armchairs in the corner and started to get the blog up to date.

While I was writing away, totally immersed in my story telling, Rob overheard a guy asking how it was possible to see the Grand Canyon, as we were relatively close to the north rim (the south rim being the most common place to view from due to its accessibility, although closed due to the virus, and the north rim being closed anyway due to the season). It seemed that through the national forest roads it was possible to get to a good view point. Rob was very sharp and casually had a quick chat, letting him know we were interested in seeing it too although with the bike it was a bridge too far. To our surprise he returned a few minutes later and said to us "I've decided to give it a go with my brother and camp out there for the night, would you like to join us?" We jumped on the chance and in a couple of minutes had everything ready to chuck in the back of their pickup and get in. What amazing fortune! Just when we had given up all hope of seeing this part of the canyon. We chained up the bikes next to the restaurant and climbed aboard their newly acquired pickup truck. David and Jason took us under their wing and we spend an amazing afternoon with them. We went to the lookout point together and loved every minute of seeing what nature is capable of creating, truly incredible. Afterwards we found a place in the woods to set up camp, made a campfire and spent the evening entertained in story telling. From the heart, thanks so, so much to David and Jason for making our last day in Arizona so special, it's been a pleasure to meet you both!