Day 14: Baker to Milford, Utah

May 12, 2010

I got away from Baker at 8AM Pacific Time. The morning started out sunny, mostly flat, with a tailwind. 7 miles down the road I crossed into Utah, and into the mountain time zone. So for all practical purposes I started at 9AM. But now it won't get dark until 9:30 PM.

The basin has views of desert, ranches, a creek, a lake, and snow-covered mountains. But very few houses for the entire day's ride. No services or shelter of any kind for 84 miles. Utah highway 21 has less traffic than US 50. About 1 car every 5 minutes.

The weather was pleasant for the first couple hours when it was still mostly sunny. But most of the day was overcast and cold.

I never had to use the granny gears to get up to Halfway summit. It was a long but gradual climb. A wall of gray clouds closed in from the north. But I was able to outrun the clouds on the downhill.

Halfway Summit, a gradual 800 foot climb. Utah doesn't put a name on the summit sign.

The second range is a 1200 foot climb, steeper than the first climb. The wall of clouds caught up to me near the bottom of the climb. The temperature steadily dropped during 15 minutes of sleet followed by 15 minutes of rain. 39F just before the rain stopped.

Fortunately the rain stopped before I got to the summit and there was no more rain for the rest of the day. A long fast descent in 39F rain would have been more miserable than climbing in the rain. The temperature rose to 50F. Not warm, but better than 39F with rain. Still mostly cloudy until 6PM when it became partly sunny.

The weather cooperated on the 1400 foot climb to Frisco summit. But the long downhill to Milford was cold with the temperature dropping as the sun went down.

Finally the sky clears just before sunset.

I arrived in Milford (elevation 4970 feet, population 1451) at 8 PM, 11 hours after leaving Baker. I pedaled to the center of town to a motel that advertised $35 rooms. But nobody was at the office. A sign gave a number to call, but my AT&T cell phone had no service. So I reluctantly backtracked a mile up the hill to a more expensive motel on the edge of town. $66 with an AARP discount. At least it includes free breakfast at the diner next door. I ate dinner at the diner because it was the only restaurant still open. Mediocre food with portions too small for a cyclist who just pedaled 87 miles.

Culturally I'm in a different universe now. The eastern 3/4 of Nevada is mostly desert with ramshackle mining towns, casinos, and virtually no agriculture. Milford Utah is a stereotypical Mormon farm town. Clean, tidy, and bland. Every available drop of water is used to irrigate farms and lawns. Dry land is significantly more overgrazed than in Nevada.

Today was a long hard day, 11 hours on the road. The longest segment of the tour with no services, and one of the coldest days. All work and no play. But at least I had a tailwind and there was no traffic. It would have been worse if the rain was more persistent.

Distance: 87.3 mi. (140 km)

Climbing: 4047 ft. (1226 m)

Average Speed: 10.3 mph (16.5 km/h)

Maximum Speed: 39 mph (61 km/h)

Today's ride: 87 miles (140 km)
Total: 708 miles (1,139 km)

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