Evanston, WY - Garden City, UT - The cat named Chevy won't stop this tour, and neither can COVID

July 6, 2020

Evanston, WY - Garden City, UT

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Last night Jacinto surprised me by saying we should leave at 7 AM to beat the wind. What? Jacinto asking to leave early. I asked him what time he would need to get up to be ready by 7. He laughed and said 4 AM. Sure, like that's going to happen. I had been all relaxed about the upcoming day. Even though it was high miles, there wasn't a lot of climbing. It doesn't take much to get me to worry about the day. I had looked at the weather myself. It was supposed to be windy in Evanston, but not in Garden City. I hadn't been thinking about leaving early. But the suggestion was all it took. I tossed and turned all night and didn't feel like I got any sleep at all. We had been planning to eat again at Jodie's Diner, but they didn't open until 7. I ended up having oatmeal in the room. Jacinto woke up at 6, but he didn't talk at all. He was waiting to go to Jodie's for coffee. It's amazing he likes their coffee. He never likes coffee anywhere but at home. I was out the door at 7:20. The only thing Jacinto had accomplished by then was buying coffee. Let's see what time he leaves.

Bertha wasn't talking at all today and I had several turns to make! I had looked at the map, so I knew where to go. Other than I doubt myself all the time and double check where I'm going. Which I suppose is a good thing.

It was 45 degrees when I left. That's Jacinto's official excuse for not leaving at the time HE requested - that it was too cold to ride. I put on my Earbags. They make all the difference for me in staying warm. It sounds silly, but just covering my ears really helps. I have also been wearing them on the windy days. The day going into Chinle' the side wind had been so bad that it took me a day or two before I could talk without sounding to myself that I was in an echo chamber. It was terrible. After that, I put on the Earbags to cover my ears in the wind.

I like a crisp, cool morning without wind. The sky was blue and I had fresh legs from a day off. 63 miles? That's more miles than I like, but the day was looking good.

I had 13 miles in Wyoming with a wide shoulder. As soon as I hit Utah, that was it. The shoulder shrank to 12". I'm sure traffic didn't pick up then, but it seemed like it because of the narrow shoulder. Most of the traffic was heading south and it was trucks pulling toys. People going home after the holiday?

Just before Woodruff I had a cement mixer blare his horn right next to me. I guess he didn't like my friendly wave as he approached. It wasn't a normal cement mixer, he had extra wheels for a heavy load. That is the first unfriendly honk I can remember the entire trip. Later a red cement mixer with the same extra wheels passed me. This mixer gave me plenty of room and no angry honking.

I was surprised at the wetlands and song birds I heard trilling the majority of the morning. That is a nice thing about getting out early, the birds and animals are out. I looked all day, especially once I got into sagebrush territory, for antelope. I didn't see a one. What I did see, sadly, was a number of squashed birds. One duck, and several birds of prey.

I forgot to say! On July 4th, the dirt road day, I was startled by a bird of prey that swooped down and grabbed a little ground squirrel right next to me. It was something to experience. The bird flew off with a fat little tidbit for lunch . . . . I wonder how often they are successful in capturing dinner. Let me google that . . . a very quick google search leads me to think this was a hawk and they only eat every several days, being successful 23% of the time in capturing prey.

The green wetlands continued between Woodruff (which was a town consisting of a co-op and a gas station) and Randolph. Randolph was an attractive little town. There were banners all over stating it was their 150th anniversary. A town employee was out mowing the berms coming into town. There was an attractive park and an extremely impressive Mormon tabernacle. All of this for a town with 498 people.

After leaving Randolph, the terrain gradually turned to sagebrush. I was still moving along at a good clip. I did not have any noticeable wind and the route was gradually downhill. At mile 40 I knew I had a 1,000 foot climb. I kept looking along the valley, wondering where the big climb would be. But the valley went on and on. I'm not complaining, but we sure have had a lot of level riding. I guess there has to be valleys in-between the mountains. Most of the time we seem to ride over the mountains instead of around.

Highway 16 ended at mile 41. I turned left without Bertha's help. That's when the climb started. Except, I didn't see a climb. Hmm, is this going to be like the day going into Hanna where we had the most gradual climb ever? I kept riding and riding in my middle chainring. The elevation was ticking up. It looks like I was going to be lucky again! I saw a brake check area. That must mean we are near the top. Yes. There's a sign for an 8% downhill. I'm happy not to be climbing up. There was even a runaway truck ramp. I was doubly glad to be heading north!

I stopped at the top and finished my Spiz. I didn't bother with any other supplement type things, this had been an easy day. Now I had 13 downhill miles to town. What a life! The downhill was quite steep, but not too long. When it appeared I had leveled off, I ate an apple as a treat. Except it wasn't much of a treat because it had gotten frozen last night in the fridge and had turned brown and soft. I ate the best parts. Yuck.

I came over a rise and there ! was a huge lake. Bear Lake. Here's where all of those boats have been going to/from. The holiday might be over, but there were still plenty of people on tubes, paddle boards, boats, ski do's, etc. Lots and lots of outdoor recreation here. No wonder our lodging was expensive. Jim had a hard time routing us through here because most places wanted multi night stays. Originally we had an airbnb house to share. Since we ended up going alone, we canceled the airbnb and got a motel room.

I rode on the non existent shoulder around the lake. This is a bit too skinny and a bit too much traffic. Riding in tourist areas is a double edged sword. Of course cyclists like to see the beautiful sights, but so do other people who are driving vehicles . . . I looked at the lake and the people playing when I could. Soon I saw big equipment working on a bike path. That's a good idea! I stopped next to him to ask if I could get on the path. He either ignored me or really didn't see me. He was spreading sand up next to the fresh pavement. I continued on the roadway. Not much further I saw a man working on the path with a shovel. I asked him if I could get on the path. Yes! I rode it into town where it hooked up with an old section of path that had lines drawn on it. Now that I was in town, the path got busier with families riding. When the path crossed the road, I was only a couple of miles from the motel, and I could see a family with 3-4 little kids on the path. So I stayed on the roadway. I was hungry (what's new) so I was checking the food options. I went past a busy place called Rici's and went a couple more blocks. Bertha suddenly spoke up and said the motel was in 1/4 mile. Where has she been all day? If it's only 1/4 mile to the motel, maybe I should go back and eat at Rici's. I turned around. Rici's had sandwiches and wraps. Of course. I ended up ordering a salad for $9.99 and a raspberry lemonade. I waited a very long time for my order. That was sort of ok because I was editing photos and checking email. It wasn't a very good salad, definitely not worth the money. It was an attractive shop though, done in sufer style with Easter Island type heads at the entry and tables all over outside. They didn't appear to have any indoor dining at all. They were built for COVID dining . . .

I received a text from our lodging - I could check in any time I like. Here's the code. That's pretty handy. Off I went. I hadn't been in the room 15-20 minutes when Jacinto showed up. He didn't leave until 9:30

We both had good rides. I appreciated that it wasn't windy today and 63 miles wasn't onerous. I wish I could cure myself of performance anxiety. You'd think at this point it would all be old hat.

We are going to Primo's Tacos for dinner.

I"m not sure if he appreciated the money or not.

We've spent all of this time on the road and I had my first negative honk from a cement truck driver just before Woodruff. He must not have been a local - he didn't have a warm heart.

The Randolph Tabernacle is still used today. It's over 100 years old.

It's an amazing building, but especially so for such a small community.

The second half of the day was mostly sagebrush with some cattle.

They are working on extending the bike path out to Bear Lake from Garden City.

I ate an overpriced, too small salad at Rici's.

This is the second motel this trip that had contact-less check in.

Today's ride: 63 miles (101 km)
Total: 1,518 miles (2,443 km)

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