| Show Horizons Cf Thursday August 29 1996 IT Standard Examtoer IT TTT ci !7A COOUNG OFF: I Along the way riders still found mustef the energy to have fun Here Taka and Jeame Tanaka of Lindon find themselves in the ' ’ fight middle of a water-pisto- l between Jeanne O'Brien (left) and AJiaa Petersen both of Salt Lake City 5eiwrvre: I STEVE CONUNStandard-Examne- V sitm m v - s ’ r l¥i ' CaS v r nty - ' - rr P 'it?T k 'V jBfnliti £ IWtert 8WfcferBaafla THOMAS INN BRADLEYStandard-Exanyrta- t 6 gsiprae vi © 'Six WORK AND REST: - “ v - s'’ VI & u h-- 45V Days From But IF Monday Aug 19 Cedar City to Panguitch I s r “Nothing like we had today” a third cyclist said “Nothing like we had today?! don’t want any hills!” von ' stf' Foller said “Too bad” the third cyclist fv a (Below) Joe! Bingham of Binghjy Cyclery and his brother Jon “f provide support for the riders by giving away tire tubes and making' repairs each afternoon 58 miles dreaded Tuesday Aug 20 Panguitch to Richfield 837 miles - the climb over Cedar Breaks’ 1 0500-fo- (Below left) A rider from Salt Lak City finds time to write a few postcards for friends and family after the cyclists have finished constructing their tent city V-f'- said “This is Utah You can’t avoid them” his is the day we all O (Left) Tour cyclists enjoy a breathtaking view as they bike u$ v ftte pass to Cedar Breaks - 1 ££ i jy yfa T I V ot summit We fell easily into the tour routine - awake before sunrise pull on padded shorts visit the coffee truck eat breakfast (unless they were making you ride for it) fold the tent load the and gear onto the ride The ranger at Cedar Breaks Monument said parts of the road semi-trail- er going up included grades which means die road goes up one foot for every 13 feet of pavement Whatever Steep was pretty obvious My speedometer didn’t go above 4 mph for nearly five hours About 7 miles into the climb Albert Schmid a California transplant from Germany stood at the side of a curve with his bicycle seat in one hand We asked if he was OK and he said he was rubbing a squeaky screw 1 with Vaseline “It was all I had!” he shouted to us as we pedaled past CVclists try anything in a pinch A constant squeak under the seat is like water torture on long slow tedious climbs The slightest thing out of whack will make you crazy Lunch was at the top in a sprawling green meadow dotted with blue columbines and some flowers tiny butter-colore- d “This is some dining room” one rider said The 31 mile coast down the other side was one we all deserved We stopped for every scenic overlook into Cedar Breaks admiring the striped canyon formations “just one more time” We stopped for a flock of sheep crossing the road We stopped to watch the RITA’S Petersons sequined belt She was dressed as Elvis The altitude gam made her body swell and her belt kept popping off We climbed 5290 feet today but did it all in the first 21 miles Folks were walking a little funny coming out of the showers that evening “So what's tomorrow like?” Sandra von Foller asked the group congregating around the sinks She was riding with her daughter and teenage son They were on new bikes on their first tour “83 miles" another rider answered “Yes but what about hills?” von Toiler asked -- en I e could see our breath this morning It’s difficult getting out of the sleeping bag on mornings like this I was wearing long underwear and all that could fit over it as I stumbled back to the tent with a steaming cup of coffee from what we called “Ivy’s Happy Coffee Truck” Ivy Blechman of Park City owned the coffee and latte RV that followed us every T day “Susan! How many have you had today?” Linda Moffitt of Alaska shouted as I walked past Sheesh Ride a couple of days with people and they think they know ALL of your habits (OK so it was cup No 2) We sang “Happy Birthday” to Alicia Stevenson in the breakfast line and in the bathroom and later that night when we surprised her with a cake She spent her 6th birthday with a group of folks whose average age was 40 Swears she had a good time Good sport They called this “Rolling Through the Hamlets Day We pedaled through Circleville where Butch Cassidy was raised Junction Marysvale past the Big Rock Candy Mountain then into Monroe Austin and Richfield Now if there’s one place bicycle tourists like to visit it’s bicycle shops in other towns Too bad the one in Monroe wasn’t open The sign outside read “Taxidermy Bicycles” A giant stuffed snow goose dangled from the ceiling Assorted antlered animal heads hung on the wall right above a stuffed burro And waaaay in the back were a couple of bicycles “Days like this one are why we tour” one rider said to the group We took a few photos under the sign learned from a local kid that the guy w hose grandfather built Monroe’s first pioneer cabin still lived m town then headed o(T to camp Alicia Stevenson sold kisses - the chocolate kind - at her Sweet 16 birthday party that evening The guys gave her $1 lor a kiss took the candy and smooched RI I A 1 instead Guess we weren't strangers anymore 1 mally got around to saying more than “Hello” to Jean (“John") Collet I he 71 year-old Salt Lake City resident was the tour's oldest rider lie’s trom I ranee and is just learning to speak English In 1992 he started what became an solo tour that took -- 1 1 ST 0 1 1 (5 him over 21000 miles and through all 50 United States He named his bicycle “Lancelot" is my friend for Collet said “He is a “This bike two years" great knight” When he arrived for his lour he didn’t even know how to set up his tent he said He practiced it in hotel rooms at night until he got it right RITA wore a pink dress in honor Alicia being Sweet 16 pufly-slecv- e of Wednesday Aug 21 Richfield to Mount Pleasant 745 miles self-planne-d He met hundieds of folks along the way - most of the states' governors and Kaye the Salt Uike City woman he mamed when he finished for me is the best “Bicycling sport m the world" Collet said r"' f b ands and fingers were numb Irom three days of gripping the handlebars If life were fair the fanny would be numb instead Today’s route was dotted with more liny towns d Chubby-checkecher jbs playing harps arched over the plaster columns on cither side of Gunnison’s movie theater entrance Fluffy white turkey feathers stuck out of the wtldiiowers along both sides of the rolling road out of Sterling The huge turkey flocks made squawking gobbling noises when spoken to properly (it’s an acquired talent) We were thankful for being upwind of them all day They however probably thought we smelled funny From the outskirts of Sterling it was easy to see the spires of Manti’s histone LDS Temple 6 miles away Just as we were propping our bikes against a Manti restaurant for lunch we heard a cyclist hit the pavement across the street Salt Lake City rider Janice Tolhurst hadn’t noticed her front wheel had gone flat while she was inside eating The flat made her wobble on the start-u- p and she fell Her head whacked the curb embedding pebbles in the rim of her helmet Townspeople seemed to come from every direction to help We changed her tire then flagged down one of our passing support vehicles Tolhurst’s head was throbbing and it was 25 miles to camp No one asked her whether she tell like riding We wouldn’t let her She was Tine the next day After lunch wc stopped to get in a group photo in front of the Mann temple's massive flower garden Spring City was the last stop before heading into Mount Pleasant Spring City is a tiny snip of a town with an old stone fountain b< over a tiny bubbling spring In 1853 a group of Scandinavian emigrants joined the LDS family that Brigham Young had sent thefe in ' ! 1852 American I ndians' forced the white settlers out twice the- -town’s sign said but by 1859 the settlers managed to take a -- foothold Mount Pleasant was t permanently settled in 1859 by Danish emigrants Many of itSA Main Street buildings look the same as they did when built in 1 the 1 800s The Old Pioneer Museum is the place where ' Chief BlackhawV signed a peace treaty in 1872 And the Wasatch Academy boarding school where our group stayed is the oldest continuously operating secondary school tn the state r RITA was dressed as Wonder Woman cape and all -- ld j Thursday Aug 22 t Mount Pleasant to Lehi 92 miles rv iv ow what would a trek over Utah's backroads be without a little chip-and-se- al action? Well perhaps more fun We hit one stretch about 5 miles into the day’s route There’s nothng like pedaling a over a stretch of gravel and gooey tar two-wheel- er le See DAYS7F I JUV POOR |
