Length of the State of
We got up, ate a great
breakast at the Thunderbird Restaurant, checked out of the motel, and continued
on our way at
Ready to
start the 2000 foot climb? Where did
Aere go?
We had a long, steady climb
of about 20 miles, all the way to Long Valley Junction. Fortunately, it was mostly rideable, but it
was the “Energizer Hill” that kept going, and going…
Time
for a rest stop
Thankfully,
we had a tail-wind. The only problem
with the tail-wind is that while you toil uphill, you have little air blowing
over you, and it gets hot!
Knowing
we would end up at 7000 ft. altitude, I had dressed warmly, with two layers of
top. Soon, I was hot, and looking for a
convenience store restroom, where I could remove one of the layers. In spite of some towns, there were no stores,
and I finally went behind a tree to take off my extra top.
Looking
back after more uphill
Looking
back downhill
At
long last (with a few stretches too steep to cycle, where we both had to get off and push), we
reached Long Valley Junction at
Soon
we encountered the Sevier River, which Malcolm noted was flowing north,
contradicting what his geography teacher had declared, years ago.
Downhill, getting
toward Panguitch in the lengthening afternoon shadows
We
arrived at Panguitch at 6:45 PM, and got a motel for the evening.
There
was a Cowboy Barbeque restaurant across the street, and it must have been good
(judging from the line of people waiting to get a seat). Not wanting to stand around waiting, we went
up the street to a fast-food place, which had a surprisingly good Mexican meal
option, and I could get my usual caramel malt with extra malt.
On
this day, we travelled 49.8 miles, at an average speed of 8.9 MPH. The bicycles were moving five hours and 37
minutes. We took 8 hours and 15 minutes
doing it (including rest stops).