Introduction

This little journal documents a brief tour I did back in 2010. I was newly married, and was a stranger in a strange land: Utah.

Joy and I had moved the year before for her first job out of grad school. I'd never lived anywhere except Kentucky, and living in Orem, Utah was a profound culture shock that I never really got over the three years we were there.

The journal is not very interesting, I'm afraid, which is probably why I never bothered putting it on CycleBlaze until now.

I think some of the photos are nice, though, and maybe someone will stumble upon it and be inspired to try some of the route, which was pretty good.

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Gregory GarceauHi Jeff,

I, for one, thought your journal was interesting. In fact, it was so interesting that I felt I should come back to this page to tell you so.
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3 years ago

Jeff LeeTo Gregory GarceauThanks. We made a brief visit back to Utah Valley in 2019, and the place seemed as strange to me as it did a decade before. Maybe even stranger. It's hard to explain to anyone who hasn't experienced it just how unsettling it is to be an outsider living in Utah Valley (aka "Happy Valley.")
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3 years ago

Lyle McLeodI'll echo Greg's comment, quite a nice journal and as you noted, looks like a pretty good ride too. Some big days too! Impressive , even more so on loose gravel.
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3 years ago

Jeff LeeTo Lyle McLeodThanks, Lyle.

The funny thing is that before that tour, I replaced my usual 32 mm tires for some slicker 28s.

And then proceeded to foolishly use them on a bunch of Colorado dirt gravel, for which they were ill-suited.

I've learned my lesson, though, and these days most of the time I tour on a Salsa Fargo mountain bike with much wider, tougher, heavier tires.
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3 years ago

Kelly IniguezI think I've read through this journal several times. It's always interesting to read someone else's take on my home territory.

I did not see that memorial today - that doesn't mean it wasn't there, 12 years later, just that I didn't see it.
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2 years ago