Swine Flew: Day 13 - SLC to Provo

This was a fun day! We traveled from Salt Lake City out by the airport to downtown Provo mostly via bike trails that I had no idea existed! There are bike trails across the airport property with gates we had to stop and open, then a bit of city riding before getting onto the Jordan River Parkway Trail. There are a lot of trails leading off to other places and our cue sheet that tells us where to turn got pretty complicated. Shane, one of the staff members, started out an hour before us to do some arrows for us with sidewalk chalk. They were very helpful! It was much easier to follow the arrows then to keep constantly checking where we were on a paper. It was beautiful riding - lots of parks and trees and people out enjoying the morning. Eventually the chalk arrows and the path ran out and we ended up on highway 89 somewhere in Sandy I think and rode past the Salt Lake Real stadium. After a bit of time on Bangerter Highway, we got onto another bike trail that took us past the gravel pits at the point of the mountain and over into Lehi. Here there was quite a bit of confusion and riders were doubling back to figure out where they'd missed something in the directions. We ended up with a group of about 10 trying to figure out where we needed to go. By sheer luck - at least it seemed that way - we ended up on the right trail with an extra five miles on our computers. Side note - as the director was going over the route for us, he told us we would cross Timpanogos Highway. He pronounced it Tim-PAG-a-nos. I was amused. :) I later told him how to pronounce it and a bit about Mt Timpanogos and the sleeping indian maiden and all. Anyway, it was fun riding with the big group and we stuck together for quite a while, stopping for lunch at Subway. Things came to a halt when we spotted the 9th Street Creamery in Provo! Those who wanted ice cream - including me and Fiona - bailed here while those who were more in favor of beer continued on. There was a bit of a wait but it was very tasty and welcome after a warm day of cycling! After the ice cream we had only 5 or 6 miles to get into the motel. Later that evening Reed and Pam Morrell, my friend Ann's parents, stopped by with fresh berries from their garden, a supply of Clif bars, and some Gatorade! Fun to see them and get a quick visit in.