June 12, 2019
Jacob Lake - Hildale, Utah
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I was awake early. I ate oatmeal in the room. We didn't have a fridge or microwave, so my oatmeal was only tap water warm. I'm getting fancier though. I put the craisins to soak early to plump them up some. I walked to the restaurant to get ice for my water bottles. My legs were happy, no tightness from nine days in a row of climbs. Today should be a pay back day for that big climb from Marble Canyon to Jacob Lake. Wind shouldn't be an issue. The only real factor is heat - we are going from 8,000 feet elevation to 4,000.
It was 70 degrees and sunny as Oren and I rolled out. We were slightly delayed chatting with a man who had ridden the Northern Tier with his son. We've been quite the tourist attraction in our own right in this area, especially at the North Rim.
We had a long, cruising 30 mile downhill to Fredonia. I reminded myself to look around at the ponderosa pines. I don't know when we will see pine trees again. At least not for the next few days. The road surface was a touch rough, traffic was light. Oren stopped at the gas station at Fredonia. I bought a V-8, he had a chocolate milk and a pastry. We agreed the day was fine, our pace was similar, and let's get moving before it heats up anymore.
I looked at RWGPS - surely we have to climb at some point? At this moment we had 3,600 feet of descending and 800 of climbing, but I sure don't know when we were climbing. Looking at the profile, we had about 400 feet of climbing in the remaining 34 miles. Basically, a flat ride to town.
From Fredonia all the way to Colorado City, we had a roomy shoulder marred by a rumble strip. The shoulder was dirty and since there was little traffic, we tended to ride to the left of the white line.
The scenery opened up. To the left it was a long view with no mountains. To the right there was still red mountains. Close up I could see sagebrush and long grasses. The springs flowers had disappeared.
Overall it was an easy cruising day. That doesn't mean I wasn't ready to get to town. Tom, from Zion's Most Wanted B&B had let me know that the grocery was before town. I wanted an apple and a banana. I kept my eyes open for the grocery. We saw a couple of liquor stores way outside of town. I was surprised to see any at all in this area. We got to our turn. There was a Dollar General on the corner. But no grocery. We asked a couple in the parking lot if we could buy an apple inside. No, we needed to go two miles back up the road to the grocery/liquor store. Nope, not happening. We went inside to see what we could find. This was a well stocked store with plenty of groceries. But nothing fresh. The little fruit cups that Oren has been buying for $2.50-$3.00 was $2.50 for a four pack. I told Oren he should get some. But he didn't want to carry the extras. I told him I would carry them. No, that's not acceptable. We finally settled on we would all eat one tonight and that would leave one for Oren to eat in the morning. I'm a cheapskate! I noted that the Cliff Bars I had paid $2.50 for at Jacob Lake were only $1. here. Julie Lovegrove was correct - these are the same things that cost far more other places. They also had pool noodles . . . .
Oren and I sat outside and drank cold Gatorades. We still had three miles to our lodging. Darn. We agreed to stop for lunch. You would think that would be easy . . . . there were 3-4 places listed on google right on Center Street . . . could we find even one? No - we had to circle around and check the phone twice. The Hub was closed (permanently it seems). The Brewery was closed M,T,W. The bakery/pizza placed appeared permanently closed. We finally circled back around and found The Bistro.
Yay! Food! They had lots of fried foods. What are potato logs? We didn't order any. Oren had a BBQ chicken sandwich. I ordered a greek salad, which I thought would have lamb. No meat, but it was a good salad. I sent Jacinto a text and let him know where we were. No reply.
I really wasn't in the mood to get back on the bike and ride to our lodging, but I certainly wanted to be there. We had a couple of miles to go. I looked left and right. I felt that there were an abnormal number of extremely large houses. If you followed the link on the previous page, you know this community is known for polygamy.
https://fox13now.com/2014/11/06/i-stayed-at-a-bed-breakfast-in-warren-jeffs-house/ - I did not realize we are staying in Warren Jeffs'actual home. That gives me the creeps, thinking of staying in a room that belonged to one of his wives. It is a very nice room . . . spacious, with a giant walk in closet and a roomy bathroom.
Jacinto got in right behind me. I was just unloading the bike when he knocked on the door. He hadn't seen any of the places to eat (not that they were open) and he was hungry. All he'd had all day was a half of a left over sandwich. That wouldn't do it for me! He's ready for dinner. I think dinner is Subway - but that's 1.1 miles away. Which Jacinto says is a nice walk. I might agree if it were 30 degrees cooler. Now it's 90 degrees. I'm not walking. I'm not even sure I'm riding. I might ask for him to bring me dinner back. I guess it's salad again for me. I didn't think this one out. The Bistro had a whole chicken for $8.99. I should have gotten one.
Breakfast is sausage, bacon, eggs, etc. I'd rather get down the road, but breakfast sounds good. Tomorrow is another downhill day, but it's supposed to be 22 mph winds from the west. Totally not in our favor. We are headed to Saint George, which is a big enough city to have to navigate. Poor Bertha (my name for RWGPS) hasn't had much work this trip. Mostly she tells me "ride 50 miles then turn into the motel parking lot". This time there will be several turns and directions.
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Today's ride: 64 miles (103 km)
Total: 507 miles (816 km)
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