southern UT spring centuries

[Lifesgreat]

I found this on the internet today, but I cannot vouch for its accuracy.

4/22/2006
Ghost Town Century
Join us as we ride by & thru old Ghost Towns, the Pony Express Trail, & the old wagon train trial on this fun ride to raise money and awareness for Blood Disorders. 100, 65, & 50 mile options on this supported ride.
Phone: 801-677-0134
E-Mail: Bob@bike2bike.org
Web: http://www.bike2bike.org

[yellow]

When I printed out the entry form for Zion County it also listed those same distances for Ghost Town. If I do that one, I'll prolly go for the 65.

I do wish that Bike2Bike site provided route maps of all the rides. The way they describe Ghost Town you can't tell where the heck it is. I wouldn't know if sulis hadn't clued me in.

[sulis]

Hiya ladies

Sorry for the delayed posts. I have been off line for a while..
I actually emailed the Ghost Town Century contact and they said that it supports and half and metric century as well. Here is what they said.

"The Ghost Town Century does indeed support a metric century (65 miles)
and ahalf century (50 miles). The Metric will have 3 rest stops plus a
lunch stop and the Half will have 2 rest stops and a lunch stop. If you have
any additional questions please feel free to contact us. In the mean time:

Take Care & Bike 2 Bike "

I'm waiting until the last minute to commit because I want to know what the weather will be like then. I'm a woose...I just don't think it will be fun to ride in the rain. But I don't foresee a problem signing up for the Ghost Town if weather permits. If I do go, I'll probably do the half century.

I'll keep ya'll posted.
Happy Training!

[yellow]

sulis, I'm a woose too (DH is threatening to make me go mt biking tomorrow....noooo! I haven't ridden outside since my last near-hypothermia episode). I too will prolly wait to sign up. Heck, we can prolly sign up the day of! I'm not too worried about them running out of space since it sounds like the ride is out there where there's a bunch of....space.

[Lifesgreat]

I will probably wait too because that is the last day of spring break and I don't know what our plans are for the week. If I do it, it will be the 50 miler, that I do know.

[CyclaSutra]

Ladies,

I'm your Huckleberry. I rode Ghost Town's 65-mile route last April. Best I can remember, it went something like this:

Horribly cold and rainy weather (40 degrees?) to start from the Recreation Complex or something, just east of the Tooele Army Depot North. Ride headed due east into town, then turned south along what I believe is Hwy 36. Light traffic on a Saturday morning, great road surface, slight downhill. Just after the first rest stop (15 miles?), the route turned left onto a spur road and started gradually going up hill through sagebrushy sort of flats. Turned again on a teeny road and started winding its way through a beautiful canyon with a rushing creek. Road got smaller, still great surface, and steeper. The final grunt to rest stop #2 passed by cool old mining equipment and chutes sticking out from the hill. In lowest granny gear and chanting "I will not walk my bike" as me and my 50-rpm cadence ground it past a couple of bike-hikers. Slammed cups of Gatorade and water, then turned it around and FLEW back down the hill. Passed a cop as I was doing 41 mph, but he didn't bother with me, rightly assuming I was only endangering myself. Back out to the highway again, south again and then west on a smaller road. Lunch stop at the lower left corner of the route rectangle, and then north again slightly uphill back to Tooele.

Food was a bit crummy: 25-cent granola bars, boiled potatoes with no salt (blech!) etc. I think they did have banana halves and I was ready for the Little Debbie brownie by the lunch break.

But if the weather had been decent, all in all a great ride. I would do it again. But I'd BYO PB&J.

[Lifesgreat]

Thanks for the report. I will need to get my map out, but maybe you went to Ophir? Ophir is a former mining town located in a small, beautiful canyon. There are a few residents there, I believe.

If I do it, I will dress warmly and bring cold pizza.

[yellow]

I'm your Huckleberry. I rode Ghost Town's 65-mile route last April.

Thanks for the report. Horribly cold and rainy does not sound good right now! Hopefully this year won't be a repeat of last year.

Weather forecast for Zion Country next weekend (2/25) is partly cloudy with a high of 64 F in St George, light to no wind (yay!) and mostly cloudy with a high of 62 F in Springdale, 7 mph winds. I would LOVE IT if it just got to 60!!! Now I'll just have to survive the 40s in the morning at the start. Good thing they SAG your clothes for you!