Finally made it past 50 miles!

[AuntieK]

I had another great ride this past weekend in southern Utah. It was during an event called the Cactus Hugger.

Friday, when we pulled into town, it was raining and flooding and cold. This is NOT what I came to southern Utah for! It's supposed to be warm here!
On Saturday morning, things were looking better. The sun was peeking out behind some clouds and the temp wasn't too bad. DH, a friend, and myself rode to the start of the ride from a nearby parking lot. Somehow along the way I got lost from them. As I'm standing there looking for them I can hear the announcer counting down. Then, go! I take off with the pack and motorcycle police escort, feeling great, and wondering when I'll find the others in my group.
About a mile and a half down the road, with me at the front of the pack, my cell phone starts ringing. Dang! I pull over and answer as I watch the pack leave me behind. It's my friend, "Where are you? We're still back here at the start looking for you. Wait for us."
I impatiently wait for them as the last of the pack and the police-follow-vehicle pass me by. A few minutes later here they come, and we all take off together.
We head west of St. George into the desert town of Kayenta for rest stop #1.
Here I am with my friend in Kayenta (I'm on the left):



From Kayenta we rode down into a tiny town called Gunlock. So much recent rain had caused the reservoir there to overflow. If you look closely behind me, you can see the waterfall from the overflow.



Out of Gunlock I knew it would be a monster climb up to a town called Veyo. Boy, I had no idea how steep and long these climbs were going to be. I had to laugh on the one climbs because someone had posted a sign on the side of the road that read, "It gets better than this!" So at the next hill another sign says, "Welcome to the Wall." And it was a wall. Straight up for about a mile. On the edge of a cliff!
You can see just how steep it was if you can see the road below us:



Rest stop 2 was in Veyo. By this time I was glad I had opted not to SAG my jacket at rest stop one, because the weather got cold and windy. From here there was another big climb out of town, then mostly false flats with a big descent into Snow's Canyon State Park. I wish I could have slowed down a bit here and really enjoyed the scenery, but I was doing all I could to hold it at the posted speed limit of 25 mph! I did stop and get this picture though:



Then it was back into town to have lunch. Total mileage ended up at 54 miles!

The things I wish had been different on this ride:

1) Wish the weather had been a little nicer. It was no fun doing the big descent with a strong side wind! Could've been warmer, too! At least it didn't rain!

2) I seemed to have bonked at about mile 20. Either that or I wasn't as hydrated as I should have been. Whatever it was, I felt quite sluggish for most of the ride. I can usually pass my friend on the hills, but couldn't quite keep up with her this ride. My average speed ended up at only 13 mph.

Things that were great:

1) The roads were absolutely clean. I kept thinking that they must have had the street sweeper go through the route ahead of us. No glass-induced flat for me this ride!

2) The route was so well marked, there was no chance of getting lost. Not only did the organizers have big posters with arrows, but they had painted the roads with the arrows as well.

3) Pretty much no traffic, and the traffic I encounted was so courteous! Down near Gunlock, I would seriously see a car only every 10-15 minutes. And they would go clear to the other side of the road to pass. It was great!

4) The scenery! It made all the suffering hill climbs worth it!

[Nanci]

Brrrr, it looks cold there! But gorgeous. Utah is one of my favorite states (to look at and visit- need more green and trees and water to live). You guys are so photogenic! Excellent photos! You, your friend, the scenery, the bikes- everything is so perfect. And I think 13mph average speed is _excellent_ with climbs like that! I'd be dying...

Sluggish- probably not enough calories, and also I think it's just normal to be really tired when you're breaking a distance record. Your body doesn't know what to do! Next 50 will probably be a piece of cake.

Nanci

[shadon]

It's so neat to make it past that magic mark...whatever it is. I was on cloud 9 all of last week after the Cindy, thinking, "Holy Cow! I rode my bike 66 miles!"

You've proven you can do it! even with hills!

[tprevost]

Great Job AuntieK!!! What a wonderful ride report and the pictures were cool too! I think I'd rather have warm sun too but your 13mph avg was well done; especially w/hills and feeling sluggish! I'm lookin' forward to meeting you at the LRRH!!!

Tracy

[tprevost]

ps. love the color coordinated tires! I'm gonna have to get some of those !

[Tater]

Way to go! Nice report and pics! I too, am looking forward to meeting you at LRRH.