Not much new to report. I had to change my plans when I found out you can’t ride the Interstate in Utah. So I headed south through Salt Lake City, stopped to see some of the Mormon sites, and then aimed south and west.
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Near Bear Lake, Utah. I compute my MPS: "Miles per shake." |
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Model of a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. |
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Abandoned school, Ovid, Utah. |
It’s hot again, 101 degrees yesterday, when I did 92 miles. They say, “It’s a dry heat.” But on a bicycle, when it’s 101 and the water in your water bottles is the same temperature or higher than the air, it seems hot no matter what anyone says. I had to climb nine miles to Eureka, Utah at one point yesterday, and it was sad to see. The town is shriveling, like so many small towns in the West today. Every single storefront in the downtown was closed.
Every one.
Today, I pedaled 96 miles from Delta, Utah to the Border Motel, just inside the
Nevada line. I’m putting up a tent in a few minutes; but if I wanted I
could play the slots, since there’s a little casino attached to the motel
building. I’m using “The Loneliest Highway in America,” Highway 50, today
and for the next few days. I don’t think more than one car per mile passed
me today and there was a stretch of 92 miles, from Hinckley to here with NO
SERVICES.
I carried eight bottles of water and drained them all; then had two 32-oz
bottles of Poweraid when I stopped here and got dinner.
I’ll post some pictures another time. I’m using the Border Motel’s “public
computer.”
Anyway, there’s no phone connection here. So if anyone reads this and
knows my wife, tell her I made it safe and sound across probably the worst
stretch of the entire trip. I was actually riding through the Sevier
Desert. Yep, that’s what the map said.
I hope to be in Yosemite National Park by September 1.
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The Sevier Desert: until I pedaled across it, I had never heard of it. |
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So glad to hear that you made it into Nevada, John. That trip from Delta must have been a killer. Once when Kathy and I drove across the Sevier Desert we encountered a dust storm blowing across the highway. Glad you were spared that! And to say that you climbed 9 miles into Eureka doesn't do that road justice. That's 9 miles of unrelenting 5-6% grade. Tough. Congrats. Now you only have maybe 15 or so more mountain passes and you'll be in San Francisco. Piece of cake!
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