Today: 58 miles – AVG Speed: 9.2MPH – Top Speed: 42.2MPH
Total: 4,164 miles
I could barely sleep because of the cold last night. The elevation in Panguitch is about 6,400 feet, which isn’t too high, so I spent the night tossing around in a confused state. When I awoke as the sun peeked through my tent the mystery was solved. I’d left the tent door open. On top of that, I left my kindle on the grass outside and it hammered it down with rain last night. I only have two friends on this tour in Betty and the Kindle, and if something would happen to one of them, then I…. I don’t know what I’d do. Luckily for me, this little piece of electronic equipment was pretty durable in the rain and as it stands, I shall have no problem continuing with page 4 of James and the Giant Peach when I finally retire for the evening.
Today was always going to be a long one. 4,000 feet of incline over a whopping 34 miles, 20 or so of that was severe climbing. I’m more than used to that kind of work out now, though, and as I was mentally prepared for it, I managed to get to the top without too much problem. At the summit was the National Monument of Cedar Breaks. Another vast natural red stone formation, it was more of an inverted canyon, and from one vantage point in particular, the views were, as ever, spectacular.
Almost immediately after this wee break, the descent to Cedar City began and it was a humdinger of a downhill. 17 miles to be exact, it took about 35 minutes from the top to the bottom and it was non-stop fun. I feel like I’m spoiled every day in these mountains as I now love the climbs as well as the downhills, but not as much. The thrill you get from going top speed for 15 minutes at a time controlling the bike and aiming for as smooth a ride as you can is a wonderful feeling, and one I had never really experienced until I began the tour.
I arrived in Cedar City delighted that we’d made it at all. For the last 210 miles I have been working with half a rack and a tyre that had been showing an alarming rate of green rubber (the indicator of a worn tyre) and I noticed today, that it was fully frayed through to the final layer. I doubt we would have got another 50 miles on it.
The only problem with this town is that there’s not a liquor store anywhere and I really fancied a can of lager as I have tomorrow off whilst I make some final plans for Zion and The Grand Canyon and Betty gets a tune-up. This is the downside with Utah, their attitude towards alcohol is wedged somewhere between that of a diabolically drab health freak and that aunty. The upside, I guess, is that they have pretty good national parks.
Total: 4,164 miles
I could barely sleep because of the cold last night. The elevation in Panguitch is about 6,400 feet, which isn’t too high, so I spent the night tossing around in a confused state. When I awoke as the sun peeked through my tent the mystery was solved. I’d left the tent door open. On top of that, I left my kindle on the grass outside and it hammered it down with rain last night. I only have two friends on this tour in Betty and the Kindle, and if something would happen to one of them, then I…. I don’t know what I’d do. Luckily for me, this little piece of electronic equipment was pretty durable in the rain and as it stands, I shall have no problem continuing with page 4 of James and the Giant Peach when I finally retire for the evening.
Today was always going to be a long one. 4,000 feet of incline over a whopping 34 miles, 20 or so of that was severe climbing. I’m more than used to that kind of work out now, though, and as I was mentally prepared for it, I managed to get to the top without too much problem. At the summit was the National Monument of Cedar Breaks. Another vast natural red stone formation, it was more of an inverted canyon, and from one vantage point in particular, the views were, as ever, spectacular.
Almost immediately after this wee break, the descent to Cedar City began and it was a humdinger of a downhill. 17 miles to be exact, it took about 35 minutes from the top to the bottom and it was non-stop fun. I feel like I’m spoiled every day in these mountains as I now love the climbs as well as the downhills, but not as much. The thrill you get from going top speed for 15 minutes at a time controlling the bike and aiming for as smooth a ride as you can is a wonderful feeling, and one I had never really experienced until I began the tour.
I arrived in Cedar City delighted that we’d made it at all. For the last 210 miles I have been working with half a rack and a tyre that had been showing an alarming rate of green rubber (the indicator of a worn tyre) and I noticed today, that it was fully frayed through to the final layer. I doubt we would have got another 50 miles on it.
The only problem with this town is that there’s not a liquor store anywhere and I really fancied a can of lager as I have tomorrow off whilst I make some final plans for Zion and The Grand Canyon and Betty gets a tune-up. This is the downside with Utah, their attitude towards alcohol is wedged somewhere between that of a diabolically drab health freak and that aunty. The upside, I guess, is that they have pretty good national parks.
Cedar Breaks
Ready to go...
RSS Feed