I got everything I possibly could ready ahead of time the previous day. I also opted for no tent to save time in the morning. I was up at 5:30 AM and still didn’t leave until nearly 8 AM. Cathedral Gorge was beautiful though, and it gave me a taste of what Utah will have in store!
The start of the day had me climbing back to over 6,000 feet before a 50 mile stretch of fairly flat road where I was given water from a couple from New Zealand. This helped get me through those 50 miles until I hit the base of the climb up to Cedar City.
There I got some snacks and noticed a bunch of cyclists on the other side of the road with support vans. I asked one of the riders what was going on and they said it was a 500+ mile relay race done within 26 hours. He said some riders don’t even use a teammate and do it all themselves, although they all have support teams. Must be nice having a support vehicle…
All that was left for me was the climb and I started up passing numerous other cyclists coming the other direction the whole time. I cheered them on. They looked a little puzzled why some guy was riding the opposite direction of their course. It’s a highway, but I think many thought I must have been a support member or something because why else would anyone be out here?
I finally crested the climb and punched out the final miles to Cedar City. I passed through a time zone change, so I arrived around 3 PM. Pretty early! I went to a bike shop to have my bike tuned and wheel trued up finally. My front wheel had been wobbling all the way from the crash back on the way to Fallon, NV. There were no bike shops through my entire ride through NV, so this was my first opportunity to get it taken care of.
I was soon back on my way to meet up with my hosts for the night, Ken and Pat. They have hosted numerous cyclists throughout California and Utah and have been involved with ultra endurance rides and races for a very long time as Ken has volunteered as a support member for RAAM, a supported race across the US. The top riders complete it under 12 days. It’s kinda crazy. They are also great hosts and I felt exceptionally welcomed!
They treated me to a malt and then we met their neighbors and some missionaries for dinner next door. We had a big taco bar where, despite eating three times the quantity of everyone else, there was still food leftover somehow. The missionaries were previously in Singapore for a couple years. I couldn’t have asked for a more Utah first day in Utah!
I’m pretty beat after getting up early and riding hard all day, so this will be a short and sweet blog. Goodnight!