Our ride from Natural Bridges Monument to Monticello Utah began with a special surprise when we got out of our tents….a smattering of snow! Sleeping on top of a plateau in the middle of canyons and one of the darkest night skies in the country with the brightest stars was a treat. Hadley and Sebastian even helped point out some constellations before we went to bed and for the first time I was actually not just pretending to see some of them.
However, overnight many of us were pretty frozen in our sleeping bags as the temperature plunged!! To go along with our snowy morning surprise we had an unconventional breakfast of mac and cheese and hot dogs provided by our wonderful rider from Vermont Medical School, Scott Davis! Since our provisions were running low we had to get creative.
Fortunately, as the day went on the temperatures climbed. The riders bravely kept on despite tough climbs and fierce winds. We stopped in Blanding for a quick lunch at the A and W root beer stand where we enjoyed delicious root beer floats and my personal favorite…chili cheese fries!!! In the evening we stayed at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. The generosity of the parishioners was evident not only from the wonderful Navajo tacos they made us but also the great lengths they went to help us all get access to showers. After more than 24 hours without bathing we were all incredibly relieved to feel so fresh and so clean. Some of the parishioners even drove us to their own homes to let us have a shower with warm water!
During dinner the riders chatted with Father Joe and some of the families that helped out to make our food. We displayed our wonderful Global Health care fair posters and answered any questions that emerged. We talked about the mission of the ride and shared some of our stories from the road.
After dinner we participated in a journal club that discussed the benefits and limitations of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Since many of us have had the opportunity to participate in medical electives abroad we were able to compare our experiences of the serious deficiencies in third world countries’ health care systems to those described in the article. Fortunately the restaurant across the street hosted us and after a lively discussion we ended the night with some karaoke. The staff at the restaurant were very hospitable and forgiving of our less than stellar singing talents. We closed down the night with an all team performance of Sweet Caroline. It was an exhausting day and we all crammed into the church to sleep with our bellies full of fry bed and visions of Jeff Jenks’s “Safety Dance” in our heads.
Clara Ruiz, 2009 National Team Rider