Since we knew it would be a long day we wanted to get as early a start as possible, so we ate breakfast in our rooms and rolled out a little after 6:30 Utah time, which was 5:30 Nevada time.
This sign was just as you leave Garrison, but Garrison itself has no services. The Adventure Cycling map says there are 84 miles between services.
The Utah desert seems a bit wetter and greener than the one in Nevada.
The climb to Halfway Summit was very long and gradual.
At dinner last night we had them pack us some turkey sandwiches to go. We stopped at this abandoned farmhouse to have our first lunch.
Obviously some cyclists had already been there.
Looking back down the second ascent:
The key to sucess when climbing is to maintain your moomentum. (Sorry!)
The climb to Wah Wah summit is much steeper.
We speculated that this might be an old prospector's mine:
The ascent to Frisco summit was the toughest. A little before the top is a memorial to the town of Frisco, a mining town that died out when the mines closed down.
The descent into Milford was a relief. We arrived a bit before 7 pm, to make another 12-hour day.
The only campground we could find near Milford is the one in the Adventure Cycling map, but there was no phone number. We Googled it and found it was a 6-stall RV park, but we could find no evidence to prove that it still existed. Since we didn't want to risk looking for a place to stay while wandering around in the dark, we had made reservations at the Oak Tree Inn, which is now a Travelodge.
We're camped at the KOA in Cedar City.
After setting up camp we rode around looking for Charlie's Barbecue restaurant for dinner. We finally found it but we got in 5 commute miles after the ride.
In the morning we all took our bikes to a local bike shop for minor servicing. I needed new brake pads. Jim needed to have his hydraulic brake lines bleeded, and I thinkKate also needed to have her brakes looked after. So now we're good to stop, if not good to go.
While we were waiting for the bike to be worked on we did some errands. First we checked out the Shakespaere theater in town.
The bard of Avon himself and Queen Elizabeth's costume.
We found the doors unlocked so we wandered inside and got to see the green room and the backstage area until we were told the area was not supposed to be open to the public.
Then we went to a sporting goods/hardware store where I was able to get new O rings for my fuel bottle and Kate and Jim checked out inflatable pillows.
Then shopping at a supermarket, lunch at a cafe, and back to the bike shop to pick up our bikes.
I'll be parting ways with Kate and Jim tomorrow as they pursue a route via Zion and Grand Canyou national parks. But I will be picking up a new ridiing companion that I met electronically via the Adventure Cycling "Companions Wanted" list. Val lives near St. George, about an hour's drive from here. She is fairly new to bicycle touring, so her plan is to bring her car. Each day she will drive to the destination and cycle backwards on the route until we meet and then ride back again together. She had a last-minute work committment pop up yesterday but is trying to get that done in time to meet us for dinner tonight. We're planning to go to Sizzler so we can partake of their all-you-an-eat salad bar (which includes non-salad items as well). "All you can eat" is music to the ears of a touring cyclist. :=)
Last updated May 30, 2018