Hanna - Woodland, UT - The cat named Chevy won't stop this tour, and neither can COVID

July 2, 2020

Hanna - Woodland, UT

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2,629 elevation gain

Our night's sleep went about as well as you would expect for sleeping over a bar. The music started at 9 PM and must have finished about when some loud, giggling people came upstairs banging around. I slept in my clothes because I knew I'd need a bathroom run or two during the night. I think my days of bathrooms down the hall are over . . .

This was the only riding morning of the entire trip that we've gone to breakfast. The food was good and so were the prices. We both had leftovers for later. Jacinto ordered a ham steak breakfast that was an exceptional deal with a HUGE steak.

Monica was staffing the entire place. Service was a bit slow. There was a crew also lodging here who were there to install/repair (?) a cell tower. Otherwise, we were the only customers. While I waited, I went outside and squeezed the bicycle tires. Damn and double damn! My rear tire was flat. Jacinto thought I was joking. I definitely was not. It was a bad idea to check the tires before eating, it rather ruined my appetite. I was slightly nervous about the big climb anyway, now I would be delayed rolling out.

I couldn't see anything obvious in the tire and it looked to me like the tube might have a defect. There was about an inch of seam that didn't look good and it had a puncture at one end. I put a large patch on it. Jacinto questioned my work - saying that I'm the one who taught him to put the glue on, walk away, and come back much later to patch the tube. He is correct . . . that's what I do when I don't have a pass to climb. I checked the patchwork in a sink of water. It looked good. We reassembled the bike, Jacinto pumped up the tire, and I was off.

Terrain was a gradual uphill to start. I'm happy to report my legs were in the grove today. Perhaps all of that stair climbing going up to the bedroom helped move the lactic acid? I certainly didn't lay down on the floor and do any stretching!

I was relieved my legs were up to the task today. That freed me up to look around. We originally had an RV booked at the Over the Hill RV Park, which I had written down as being six miles away. It must have been .6 miles - because it was right there. I had to laugh in irony. For $10. extra, I'm sure our overnight experience would have been better. Ah, well. We have good stories and no bugs that I'm aware of.

One hour down the road, I had ridden only 8.5 miles. Hmmm. This road is up. But that's good, let's get the elevation out of the way to start. I squeezed the rear tire. Did it seem a little soft? No, it couldn't be. Jacinto pumped it up all the way.

Now I had something to worry about. Suddenly my energy was going the wrong place. Why do I do this? I stopped again about mile 10. The rear tire was definitely soft. Should I try to keep pumping it up and ride? Or put in a new tube. I elected to install a new tube because I was at a nice pull out. Two ATV guys came riding down the mountain and started loading their machines on trailers. They did not say anything to me one way or the other. A road bike rider going downhill slowed and asked me if I had everything I needed. That is not the same as asking me if I wanted help. I did have all I needed. I asked him to tell my husband to hurry up. He laughed, and took off.

I pulled out the offending tube and installed a different tube. I had two more spare tubes. One had a patch and the other was brand new. I installed the patched tube. That was a mistake. I reassembled the bike, put everything away, and reflexively squeezed the tire. It feels soft already. That couldn't be. I pumped it up again and started riding. This part of the ride seemed really hard. I stopped a couple of times, perhaps 1/10th of a mile apart. This is just not working. My muscles were feeling so good at the beginning of the day and now they weren't. I checked the rear tire again. Very soft. I can't believe this! I'd really like a good day today, after two bad days. I wasn't in a great spot, I decided to walk until Jacinto showed up. I even went so far as to put on my walking shoes to save my cleats. A man driving the opposite direction stopped and asked if I needed help. I debated asking him for a ride, but I haven't bicycled all this way to take a ride now. Not for a flat tire. I thanked him and said I was fine. I estimate I walked a half mile or so before Jacinto caught me. He asked me what would make me happy. That brought a laugh! There wasn't much to make me happy at this point.

I told him I thought I had bad patch jobs on the tubes and that probably the tire is good. But I sure didn't want to take the rear wheel off a 4th time today. We put a brand new tube in and used the new spare tire. Here we were 1,500 feet elevation gain from the top and I was already hungry and out of energy. I ate a Perpetuem and a couple of Anti Fatigue capsules, drank Spiz, AND had part of a Cliff bar. What a cocktail. I got back on the bike and did well. My legs weren't complaining, I had plenty of energy, my breathing was steady. This was just fine. Thank goodness! The best part is how easy it is to pedal when my tires are properly inflated.

Jacinto hung back quite a bit. It was awhile before he passed me. I hadn't gone far when I recognized our friend Jim's car coming toward me. He would have quite a wait until I got to the top. At four miles an hour and nine miles to go . . . you do the math. Even though things were still going well, climbing takes time.

Jim went by two more times. the last time he told me that I was a mile from the top. I yelled back that it would take me 20 minutes to get there. That was the last time I saw him on the uphill. I don't think he realized how slowly I climb. When I got to the top, Jacinto was waiting. His opinion was that the last mile was tough. But I think the steep section was back where I had the low tire. I did allow that it could have been difficult because the tire was low.

Jacinto said I was going to be wasting my brakes. What does that mean?? He pointed to the sign in front of us - 8% downhill. Yes, I would be using the brakes! We had only 15 miles to go from the top. That was fine with me, I had been on the road for four hours and only ridden 18 miles.

I pulled into a pull out so a cautious tanker semi could pass. He honked a thank you. We took off riding again. Irony is that the semi was going 18 mph on the steep downhill and now we were waiting on him! I pulled over again. Jacinto had pulled in behind me and check the rims on both bikes. He said his were hotter and that he would go ahead and pass since he was faster descending. That was fine with me.

I saw Jim again and waved. Then he pulled up at our B&B after I got to town. I told him we'd like to shower and get organized before we go to dinner. Our suite here is very nice - we have a little addition to the historic farmhouse that has two bedrooms and a kitchen area. Tomorrow we are eating a leisurely breakfast before our 30 mile downhill ride to Coalville. Our original schedule had us riding Mirror Lake Highway (150) to Bear River Lodge and Cabins. That road goes to 10,500 feet and had snow a couple of days ago. It is also a 4,900 foot climbing day. Jacinto could do it just fine, but we agreed to take the easier route to Evanston through Coalville.

One advantage besides saving my legs for another day is that I won't be in a hurry in the morning and can enjoy our breakfast. Marilyn was referring to the 10,000 foot climb out of Morenci, but her wise words stuck with me when she said to keep my eye on the end goal of reaching the Canadian border. There's no use frying myself taking a remote, tough road when there's a reasonable alternate. We can still take a backroad into Evanston - it just won't be epic.

Our friends picked us up and gave us a whirlwind tour of the Heber City area. They moved to Heber 15 years ago when they purchased the theatres from my mother. This was our first visit. I hope it doesn't take us 15 years to visit again! Jim fixed us huge plates of enchiladas for dinner, complete with all of the sides. Neither of us could finish our food. Jacinto was happy to have some leftovers to add to his stock.

We were back to our nice B&B by 9 PM. We were hardly here - this would have been a good night to stay at the bar!

We didn't have a fridge in our room above the bar. Jacinto repurposed this cabinet as a pantry.

This Hanna post office is long closed. I could still see the boxes through the window.

Today is the only day the entire trip that I've seen aspen for an extended amount of time.

We saw sheepherder cabins at two spots near Soapstone, complete with sheep.

Jacinto took my photo arriving at the summit sign.

This was the larger of two patches of snow at the top. 9,500 feet.

Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 1,376 miles (2,214 km)

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