Swine Flew: Day 14 - Provo to Price

So now we feel like we are back into the routine. Get up, pack, breakfast, load the van, ride! I will admit I am less excited some mornings than others but once I'm going it's good! I wasn't really looking forward to the climbing today but it really wasn't that bad. Didn't mind it a bit. Pretty much. :)

I started off with the pace line group today. Felt pretty good about hanging with them. I knew I'd drop back once the climbing really started but I figured I could enjoy it while it lasted. Then as we turned onto highway 89, my cue sheet and clip blew off. Since I knew I wouldn't be with them the whole time, I needed my own directions so had to stop and retrieve them. I learned later that they actually waited for me a while up the road but then continued when I didn't reappear. I just figured they were gone so started cycling more leisurely and taking more pictures! I passed back and forth a bit with a few of the other riders. The shoulder for the most part was not wide enough to ride double so I didn't mind riding along alone and just soaking up the beauty. It was another gorgeous day and things are green! The canyon was beautiful and if I'd stopped to take all the photos I wanted to I'd still be out there! Once I got to the first sag stop I reconnected with some of the riders and continued to the top of Soldier Summit. From there we had a couple stretches of road construction and narrow lanes and we had to really pay attention to the traffic and the riding conditions but we had some nice downhill stretches and eventually shot out the bottom at Helper where we decided to check out the town and find some food! We stopped at a great little place called Balance Rock Eatery and enjoyed a nice lunch. We were only six miles from our motel and came in at a decent time. After we cleaned up, Fiona and I went on a shopping excursion to K-Mart for some accessories for Flag Day tomorrow and a few other necessaries. Dinner was at our motel and we were back in our rooms before 8:00. It felt like we had all the time in the world and now it's 10:30 and I'm just finishing the catch-up blogging! Tomorrow breakfast will be at 7:00, we load the vans at 7:45, and we will have a shorter 67 mile day. Hoping for favorable winds!

Approaching Spanish Fork canyon

Windmills at the mouth of the canyon and the wind was blowing! Andy on the left, Marv on a recumbent bike directly in front of me. The America By Bicycle van is waiting to turn onto highway 6.

I told you it was green!

I was tempted to go exploring here.

Vern needed new shorts and someone bought these for him from Bingham Cyclery. Nice camoflauge pattern and the orange circle on the left is a beehive symbol since Utah is the beehive state. He's also wearing a Copper Triangle jersey from 2007 which is the same year I did that ride.